Tag Archives: Sta. Maria

Mommy, I’m home!

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If there’s one deathbed regret I’d have, it’d be not having gone to the sea often enough. There has always been this fantasy/dream/wish/wishful thinking of being able to breathe underwater and just play with the fishies.  Being a writer-photographer-rescue diver, many people ask why I have not gone into underwater photography. To me it’s simply not wanting to worry about anything–like taking care of gear, thinking of what shots to take, etc. etc–when I’m in the water. It really is, to me, a sort of homecoming. Perhaps some unconscious desire to just float around without a care, like we all once did in our mothers’ wombs. (Okay, amateur psychologists, get off my case, will ya? :p)

Yeah, that’s me in the corner, and No, not losing any religion.

 

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Teach Them How to Fish?

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The lucky bum that I am, I got invited to a private beach, close to undeveloped, and where local fishermen still fish the traditional way–fully manual. They set out in un-motorized boats, cast their nets, wait for a couple of hours, and in full bayanihan fashion, all the men–even young boys–help tow everything back to shore. I felt so bad seeing that they caught a whole damn lot of seaweed–not the edible kind–and only two fish. Not for long, though. The fisherfolk were so high spirited that when they saw me shooting, they even joked about having exposure on Facebook!

This is the day’s catch, and all the trouble it took! These babies must be worth their weight in gold.

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Sta. Maria–Getting There

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Over three hundred kilometers and six hours from Manila. We took off way before sunrise to hit SCTex/TPLex area at the crack of dawn. It was one dark, chilly, foggy morning and visibility was but a few meters, pretty tho. At some point I got sick of shooting through the windshield–just wasn’t cutting it–rolled my window down, only to have my lens all fogged up. Downside of travelling light–too light, it seems–I only brought a tiny Leica. Horrors, no spare, no back up!

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As we reached that part of the highway surrounded by fields, the sun seemed to rise “again.” I say “again” because it was hidden by mountains & trees, and voila, my lens has cleared!

 

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Then a sign says “Reduce speed.” Of course, scenery demands it.

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