Some years ago, we were about to board the plane in Davao when I saw a little girl who took a ride on her mom’s luggage. I thought it was amusing so I took this shot. She must have been tired of traveling or maybe she was just having fun. I guess she’s already a teenager by now.
This is one lesson I learned years ago in photography. You never know when an interesting opportunity to shoot arises so, the advice is, just be ready with your camera and bring it with you all the time. And don’t forget your camera’s settings! Be sure it’s ready for quick shots.
Photography: A Hobby
Here’s another one. Some people may not see it and some people see it. They must have fertile imaginations haha! It’s just a simple lavatory but then again, I thought it was funny so I took the shot. Just be ready with your camera so that when the opportunity presents itself you can record that moment, enjoy it and share it with others as well.
Ever since my Architecture student days (a long, long time ago—don’t ask me when haha!), I have been fascinated with photography as an art expression. It’s been my hobby since then. But I’m still a student up to now—still learning a lot more!
Visiting Angkor Wat was a once-in-lifetime and an exciting experience for me and my family back in December 2007. It never occurred to me that I would be able to set foot in Cambodia. But it was truly a blessing that was so unexpected. My sister who was then living in Phnom Penh invited us to visit there. What an opportunity it was!
We visited several tourist spots in Cambodia but the highlight of our vacation was our visit to the world-famous Angkor Wat, an ancient 12th century Buddhist temple, one among several other temples within a huge man-made (square or rectangular?) land mass (“island”) surrounded by a huge moat (like a wide river) isolating it to the rest of the world. It took us the whole day (about 6 hours maybe) by bus to go there from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap up north of Cambodia where Angkor Wat is located.
During my college days, my professor in History of Architecture talked about Angkor Wat, a great architectural masterpiece. I never dreamed I could visit and see it!
Angkor Wat: First Heard About it in Architecture Class
During my college days as a student of Architecture at the University of Santo Tomas – College of Architecture & Fine Arts, it was my first time to hear about Angkor Wat when my professor in my History of Architecture class told us about this great architectural masterpiece. It was considered an architectural wonder like the construction of the pyramids and the Mayan temples. My interest to see it was even heightened when I read in the Reader’s Digest (maybe during the 80s) that it was one of those wonders that was already forgotten (during the communist regime) but was “rediscovered” again.
Angkor Wat: World Heritage Site
Our tourist guide led us first to the backside of Angkor Wat —not the usual route for tourists. We had a better time away from the thousands of tourists. The tourist guide was really great.
It felt so good for me to actually see it myself (with my family who are all art lovers) and not just listen to my professor talk about it. I marveled at its huge size, how it was professionally crafted and constructed. It was so amazing to actually see the details of it all. Truly an amazing piece of architecture! I couldn’t fully describe it all in words. Our tourist guide was so well-informed and he helped us understand a lot about the place and the structure. Angkor Wat is considered by UNESCO as a “world heritage site.” What a great vacation it was!
At one time in Davao City, where I lived for about seven years, I was driving my Mitsubishi L-300 van when I saw a vehicular accident up ahead on the road. As my habit was, I took a shot of the accident. I developed this habit of just bringing a camera anywhere I went and just point and shoot. I learned this advice a long time ago in photography. So I did.
“Accidentally” Photographed Myself
But to my surprise, in this particular photo, I didn’t realize that when I took a photo of the vehicular accident, I “accidentally” (unknowingly) took a photo of myself too! What an amazing shot haha! By the way, for this photo, I was using a digital pen camera with low resolution. I bought this pen camera because I was amazed that there was such a camera. I was able to use it for a good number of years.
It was a good pen camera while it lasted. It finally gave up after being in use for a good number of years.
One of my interests when I was younger was photography. That was during the days of films. But I never really did pursue it to the fullest as I got sidetracked along the way by other pursuits. Also, I really was not able to acquire a professional camera to fully enjoy photography—up to now.
I do continue to enjoy photography though and I use ordinary digital cameras that I happen to have. I hope I could buy a more professional camera in the future.
Here’s one shot I made in 1989 at the White Island, just about 5 or 10 minutes away by pump boat from Camiguin Island. I happened to have been given a Nikon EM camera by my sister during that time. The opportunity presented itself. The fisherman happened to be just at the right spot when I took the shot. This is a scanned photo which was already fading on the right side of this photo. I had to do some retouching to restore some parts of the photo. I’m glad I was able to scan and save it after the passing of many years.
From time to time, there are some people who gives us inspiration to move on when things don’t seem to go our way. One person that stands out in my mind is Nick Vujicic, a man who was born with no limbs—no arms and legs. And yet he continues to inspire a lot of people all over the world through his motivational videos and appearances. He is such an inspiration to many.
I also have another person who inspires me. One day in Davao City, in December 2003, I took some snapshots of an inspiration as I was driving my car. I saw a man who was riding his bike. There was nothing strange with that until I began to notice and looked more closely. The guy had only one leg—a one-legged biker!
It’s been seven years since I took those snapshots but whenever I see these photos, he gives me inspiration when things are down—when I feel low. I don’t even know his name. I don’t even know him. It doesn’t matter. The thing is, he inspires me to move on. May I share this with you all. It just might inspire you as well—“when things go wrong as they sometimes will.”
