To the dearly departed

As far as I can remember I have always visited the dead on all soul's day except this year. I am working now and I don't have the luxury of time to go home to the province to visit my dead relatives. So i'm stuck here at home with nothing to do. I could have made plans to go out with people I know but for very justifiable reasons they need to be at some other place without me.

It goes without saying that with all the idle time I have in my hands I have been thinking about life in general. Sometimes I wish people could live forever but in my opinion life itself would lose its value. The finiteness of life is what makes it worth living (if that makes any sense at all haha). Not to say I'm happy that we will all die and that those that went before me were lucky because they went first. Sometimes things that don't last forever are easier to appreciate than things which are always there. We don't take them for granted because we know someday they will perish. Though we sometimes do, still, every moment spent with them is special.

As for the people very close to me who have passed away, I will always remember them because I have lived with them.

And let perpetual life shine upon them...

Bicycle shots #4 and #5

I can't stress how much I love bicycles. Its simplicity draws me to it. It only requires human energy to propel itself into motion. More importantly it does not produce any kind of pollution in the process. It is one of the most basic and efficient ways to go from one place to another. 

I have never ridden a bicycle since my childhood days yet the memories remind me of how an exhilarating experience it was to be in one. I remember my first fall which ripped my knees and made me swear I would never ride one again. I remember how I eventually learned to keep my balance and finally cruise smoothly through the empty roads and streets. I remember how when I was already going so fast I would close my eyes and just feel the wind rushing to my face and every inch of my body.
...

These images are 4th and 5th of my ongoing obsession of taking pictures of bicycles parked in random streets in Metro Manila. Hopefully these images will find their way on to an album once I am able to take and collect a number of them. So far I have already 5 but I am running out of ideas on how to make each photograph unique. 

Someday I will buy a bicycle and I will cruise through our neighborhood every night like I used to back then.

Floating prayers

 Sometimes when I stare at this photograph for a long time I see a shape of a heart. Maybe it's just me but that is how  I really visualized it when I was taking the picture...

 

 This was taken during our trip to our lady of Manaoag. This shot was underexposed by full stop. I was able to save it using levels adjustment in PS. But it's sad because I desperately want a traditional print of this and I am not sure if they can adjust the exposure in the darkroom. I would have to find out for myself. Also the focus was not accurate. I was focusing on the two nearest candles but as you can see in the actual image the two candles are slightly blurred with the sharpest part of the image falling just behind them. Nevertheless, I am still quite satisfied. Maybe I'll get another chance of taking the same photo under the same conditions and I swear to myself I would get it right the next time.