Watching the World Go By

Said and Done

No Longer New, but Hopefully Improved

USC BS Chemistry (Batch 2010)

Click on the thumbnail to access the full set on my Flickr page.




*Should I even say sorry for the late upload? Apparently, I fell into a hot tub time machine.

Thesis Formal

Denniell

*There’s a short feature and more pictures of Denniell on my Flickr page. Just click on the image above to open it in a new tab or window.

Of Likenesses and Portrayals

A portrait, as I see it, is a combination of two perspectives. It is first a likeness of the person in the picture. A graphical symbol of an individual as she existed in that particular moment in time. Unless gifted with an eidetic memory, it is the closest and dare I say the most accurate image one can have of a person. On one hand, a portrait is also a representation of how a person is portrayed by the person making it. There are mechanical and personal limitations to consider, but the final product usually speaks volumes about how the subject is perceived by the photographer than about the subject herself.

This segment of my blog is a collection of such portraits that I have made of family, friends and strangers through the years.

Rosemay

*Additional pictures of the individual featured can be viewed on my Flickr page, which will open in a separate tab or window when you click on the image above.

Watching the World Go By

Cling to Hope

Tarps for Pictures

Tarp (short for tarpaulin) is the new print medium of choice. It’s definitely cheaper than good quality paper and a lot more durable to boot. The now ubiquitous printing surface finds a variety of uses, limited only by intent or occasion.

During the campaign period for any election, you will find it with a headshot of a politician who apparently ate too many carrots (orange complexion), but chain-smokes at the same time (yellow teeth). At a toddler’s birthday party, you will find it with the cropped face of the celebrant tacked onto the body of an adult-sized cartoon character (poor Batman should have drawn up more stringent stipulations in the use of his image). And in front of your neighbor’s house, you will find an overly retouched photo of what seems to look like their child who just happened to (insert milestone here; ex. turn 18, graduate from college, pass the board, viciously attack their parents for putting up such an unflattering picture etc.)

Yet, after the occasion has passed, these tarps will mostly stay in some dark corner of the house, never to be seen again (until some relatives from abroad come visit and ‘beg’ the parents to show them the unflattering pretty picture of their kid). I’ve actually seen some tarps being repurposed as rain covers by the local tricycle drivers, which I highly commend (Note to the kid with the excessively proud parents: Why settle for exposure at the barangay-level when you can go municipal?).

I, however, found another use for these potential landfill fodder as a background for portraits. You can view my contribution to being green-minded after the jump.

5 Out of 5

The semester is winding to a close. Crap Papers, yet to be graded, are stacked high on my desk. The inutile clearance sheet makes its annual appearance. And evaluation forms spring up like fungi after an electrical storm. There’s often such a mad dash to the finish that the filling up of these forms takes on a mechanical, almost rhythmic, pace. A four here, a three there…

In the department, faculty members are asked to evaluate selected peers and their immediate administrators. Most often, the numbers that appear on paper barely do justice to the work that has been put in. I, for one, would like to put into words (and even these may not be sufficient) my deep appreciation for our assistant chair, Maricel.

Let me introduce you to a world without overtime pay after the jump.

Single Strobe Sessions (Remix)

feat. VAB1979 (aka Queenie)

What if you had to light and shoot a picture but had no light stands or clamps to secure your flash? Well, someone could always assist and position the light for you, right? What if the person helping you out is also your subject?

Hmmm… Why not?

There are lighting details and a short feature on Queenie the fledgling artist (not the chemist) after the jump.

Watching the World Go By

The Will of the Wind

Watching the World Go By

*This segment is borrowed from an earlier blog that I made. Every so often, I'll be featuring a picture of a select moment in my life. Most of these images will probably only hold significance to me, but I'd like to share them with you nonetheless (at the very least, you might just get a kick out of it). Each picture will be accompanied by a caption that befits the image.

The Raging Bull(horn)

Single Strobe Sessions

Patty (aka Frances Ann)

*Starting with this post, I will leave out the category to which the article belongs to in the title (because they can often get too long for my taste), since these can be accessed via the links on the navbar on the left. If you need a reintroduction to the Travelling Light series, you can check out its premise here.

Patty is an old soul. In fact, to be more accurate, I should say she is a fellow old soul. And one of the drawbacks of being such is that you are simultaneously aware of two things:

1. Life is unfair (and often crappy).
2. There’s rarely anything you can do about number 1.

I know, I know. I’m being cynical, but you have to admit — I’m also being realistic. Okay, some of you might say that you can always control how you react to life’s pricks and barbs. Well, that is true. But, unless you can exhibit some form of mind control over your emotionally-draining, soul-sucking co-worker, then good luck with that.

In her soul-searching, Patty may still be paddling her boat in the churning seas, but I hope she presses on, finds her beacon and gets herself on land soon.

A glimmer of hope light can be found after the jump.

Travelling Light: Single Strobe Sessions

Khristian

Khristian was busy working in the lab when we ambushed politely asked to shoot him. He insisted that he properly wear his PPE (personal protective equipment), which was the safe thing to do (especially if our chair happens to be reading this). I wanted to capture the moment that he combined the contents of both test tubes, so I asked him to pour slowly. However, I was about 3 shots in when he said he was running out of solution to pour, so he poured the contents of the full tube back into the empty one (which was unsafe).

I hope it was well worth the risk of causing a minor lab accident for the sake of making this picture.

This image is one of my favorites from that day, the lighting details of which can be found after the jump.

Travelling Light: Single Strobe Sessions

Harold

A person’s patience can definitely wear thin over time. Not even the steadfast optimist can keep his calm temperament from fraying at the edges after it’s been unraveled by a monumentally bad day.

If the ‘beating’ one took while working on his undergraduate thesis could be compared to the wear and tear on a pair of jeans — Harold would have one of the most tattered and faded pair among his fellow chemists-to-be. Did it bother him?

It probably did for a brief moment in time, but now he's probably thinking — 

Wow, these pair of jeans come pre-tattered and pre-acid washed! Rock and roll!

Lighting details can be found at the end of the rainbow after the jump.

Travelling Light: Single Strobe Sessions

Jonathan

The notion that men aren’t as comfortable in front of the camera as the ladies is one that hasn’t met Jonathan yet. I suppose he would have struck a pose for the doctor when she delivered him. But, could you really blame the guy for being aware of how photographable (yes, that is a real word) he is? And he’s not even close to being a good-looking one-trick pony because the guy has notable musical skills as well.

And no, he didn’t pay me to say that.

I’ll take credit for making this photo, but Jonathan’s parents can take credit for how hard it is to shoot a bad picture of him. For those who aren’t just reading this to ogle the guy holding up the ‘Chemist in Lab’ button, lighting details can be found after the jump.

Distilled Moments: Balak

The words that fall between a longing stare

And knowing heart, is only heard in hush.

These ephemeral wisps of what could be

Our life in turmoil. Intertwined, enmeshed. 

__________

 

I'm off to attend a wedding today. I’ve always been a guy who likes his social interactions in small doses (credit that to my being an introvert), so you can only imagine (if you're one of the carefree, extraverted types) how overwhelming it will be for me. 

 

Sadly, marriage has become more of an industry than an institution. And it doesn’t help how weddings are over-glamorized now that in the months leading to it, there are more plans made for the day itself than the years after it.

 

Well, I’m actually just trying to prepare myself for the onslaught event, which is why I’ve written down a stanza of blank verse that I will ‘grow’ into a full poem at a later time.

Travelling Light: Single Strobe Sessions

Timothy

Meet Tim. Air instrument extraordinaire. Air guitar? Watch that solo! Air drums? Groove to that roll! Just the other day, I caught him slapping a funky bass line in the air while walking down the hall. But, to the guy’s credit, he can actually play a number of musical instruments quite skillfully. Tim could very well be a music major who submitted his enrolment form to the wrong department. Hopefully, that is not the chance happening that brought Tim to chemistry.

And before I forget, you can view the lighting details after the jump.

Hey, Tim, drum roll please!