Late Bloomer

After more than ten years, this dragon fruit has finally flowered!

Originally planted by a neighbor, it crossed over our back fence and crawled up to another neighbor's wall and roof. But because this thorny plant was all over the place, we decided to cut it down, except for a short unreachable branch left on the other neighbor's rooftop. Without roots on the ground, it continued to grow hanging down the wall. And just days before I took this photo, we noticed a little bud.

I didn't know that the dragon fruit is a night-blooming cactus. It was my father who luckily found the flower blooming one night last May. Who would not take out the camera for this?

After this bears fruit, we would take it down for good to protect the neighbor's property from damage.

 

Sophie and Red

Late post.
Picnic date: March 11, 2017

As requested by my friend Annie, we had a mini photo shoot/picnic for her daughter, Sophie, who just celebrated her first birthday last Saturday, the first of April. We were accompanied by Eds, who also brought her son, Red, and all her props.

I only came for the food! :) jk

Meet Sophie.

She is a serious baby.

This is how you make her smile...

by swinging her about.

This is Francis Edward.

I gave him his nickname, Red.

He's very comfortable in front of a camera.

Red's mother, Eds, is very good with the props.

Sophie and her escort.

This Day Last Year

The haze in Davao last year was due to Indonesia's forest fires. It's not every day that we get a sunrise like this; it was waiting to be captured.

May+Jed Wedding

Last June 11 was a reunion of sorts for the del Castillo family (my mother's side). We celebrated the wedding of my cousin May, only daughter among five children of my aunt W. It's been a long time since I picked up the camera for an event like this, so I brought it with me.

This kid started running on the aisle.

This might be the first Catholic church wedding of a grandchild attended by my grandmother. The previous one was in Manila so she couldn't go. I'm glad she has been able to experience this.

Because I was lazy that day, all these were taken using the Auto no-Flash setting. I missed a lot of shots, and several were either bad or blurred. Maybe it's time to take up the hobby again?

Pine for Trees

If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.
   ~Hal Borland

The trees are God’s great alphabet:
With them He writes in shining green
Across the world His thoughts serene.
   ~Leonora Speyer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
   ~Joyce Kilmer, "Trees," 1914

Locations: Dole and Trappistine Monastery, Polomolok

Gab - Cy Wedding

Late post. This wedding happened last September 20 in Calinan Church and Malagos Garden Resort. It was my first time being the main, and for the most part the only, photographer. If not because the groom's my friend, I would not have accepted this job. The two previous wedding jobs I had were as an assistant, which gave me more freedom to move around. So I salute wedding photographers for doing what they do because the pressure's just way over the scale I can handle.

As for the wedding, thankfully it was the most laid-back and spontaneous I've ever attended. My directions were to take photo-journalistic/candid shots, which I liked. The couple didn't want any photo shoots, which I also liked. I don't remember any awkward moments. In many instances in Philippine weddings, guests would start to leave after having their dinner, even though the reception program has just started. But there was none of that in this wedding. Everybody participated and had fun! And the program? Well, no professionals were hired. It was completely a production of the couple's friends and relatives.

I brought two cameras with me. One was an old DSLR, which I thought already died, but suddenly worked when I took it to a service center just days before the wedding. However, the photos it takes now have a washed-out color and vintage feel to it. Below is one of the photos from the old cam.

The groom (right) and best man discussing some plans for the reception.

This is another shot from the old camera.

I was almost late to the wedding because there was some misunderstanding with the resort's shuttle service. As a result, I was running around like crazy when the march started. One of the groom's co-workers, who also acted second photographer, was also late. :(

I love how busy this photo looks.

Myk, the best man, delivered a Star Wars-themed speech.
The lights were turned off when he took out his light saber. :)