Grainy And Gritty

Maybe it's some petty fear of missing out, but despite the appeal of black and white, I still take pictures in color. Black and white, however, appeals to me enough for me to bother converting and tweaking in post.

I had the chance to have lunch with family, and had the chance to bring along my Penny mounted with this amazing yet relatively cheap bodycap lens. It's fairly ideal for going light, and for taking monochromes. I always had a soft spot for monochromes, I got to indulge in it on this set.

 

To those possibly curious, this is how the bodycap looks like. It's practically a toy lens to many, given an image quality that's not on par with"proper" lenses. However, I can't deny it's fun to use.

A photo posted by Rowe Lee (@lostwanderingdrifter) on Feb 13, 2016 at 4:07pm PST

Until then, don't let getting lost scare you from going out to wander! :)

December Nights In Ayala

It was a quiet night. I thought I’d go out and enjoy the lights. It doesn’t have to be a dark and gloomy night. There are lights everywhere cheerful and sparkling making it alright.

Lights All Around. Visitors look on admiring the season themed lights, like the local shop customers and the tourists taking a stroll.

Brightly Lighted Trees. The night looks lovely and lively with lights aplenty adorning the trunks of the trees in the local landscape. If it were up to me I’d have them there all year.

A Tree Amid The Urban Jungle. This tree that stands in the greenbelt area looks taller than it actually is. In the backdrop, the urban jungle with buildings towering to great heights. The illumination here is courtesy of the lightbulb adorned palm trees in the vicinity.

Towers Of Lights. I got to a spot a bit far from the lights, and sat among the folks admiring this sight. On some days, the spot I sat on would’ve been a stage. But for tonight it’s my vantage point that gave me this view.

Lighted Disks. After that time at the mall, I went to the local park. My friend and I hung out at the coffee shop (CBTL) and I got to see these lovely disc-themed lights.

The Lights Beyond. It was a dark moonless night but I still managed to light up the image. I like how blue the skies get at night. It's a darker shade of blue. Details are brought out and illuminated by the lights from the surrounding area.

Colorless But Not Lifeless. Even in the absence of different hues, it still makes for a lively night. A giveaway that it was the middle of the night was the fact that there was hardly anyone on sight.

What have you been up to to enjoy your evenings in December?

December Nights In Ayala

It was a quiet night. I thought I’d go out and enjoy the lights. It doesn’t have to be a dark and gloomy night. There are lights everywhere cheerful and sparkling making it alright.

Lights All Around. Visitors look on admiring the season themed lights, like the local shop customers and the tourists taking a stroll.

Brightly Lighted Trees. The night looks lovely and lively with lights aplenty adorning the trunks of the trees in the local landscape. If it were up to me I’d have them there all year.

A Tree Amid The Urban Jungle. This tree that stands in the greenbelt area looks taller than it actually is. In the backdrop, the urban jungle with buildings towering to great heights. The illumination here is courtesy of the lightbulb adorned palm trees in the vicinity.

Towers Of Lights. I got to a spot a bit far from the lights, and sat among the folks admiring this sight. On some days, the spot I sat on would’ve been a stage. But for tonight it’s my vantage point that gave me this view.

Lighted Disks. After that time at the mall, I went to the local park. My friend and I hung out at the coffee shop (CBTL) and I got to see these lovely disc-themed lights.

The Lights Beyond. It was a dark moonless night but I still managed to light up the image. I like how blue the skies get at night. It's a darker shade of blue. Details are brought out and illuminated by the lights from the surrounding area.

Colorless But Not Lifeless. Even in the absence of different hues, it still makes for a lively night. A giveaway that it was the middle of the night was the fact that there was hardly anyone on sight.

What have you been up to to enjoy your evenings in December?

Here, There, Anywhere...

Hello again, fellow wanderers! How have you been? As usual, a week isn't complete without me going to some random place. Life isn't meant to be lived in one place, after all. I think it's a decent compromise to at least go places on a weekend if you can't roam the planet... yet. Here's a glimpse of the places I've been to recently... Can you guess where some of them were taken?

Coffee Selection. See anything you like?
Stacks of different coffee flavors and variants at a local Starbucks.

Waiting For Customers. The waiter looks on as he waits for potential customers walking through the door.

Music Among The Noise. A musician performs at the mall with everyone else passing by,
with a few stopping to listen.

Open Faced. Taken with a Rokinon 7.5mm 3.5 lens.
The lens is far from perfect but the distortion is part of its charm.

Shangri-La. Applied HDR landscape style.
Not bad for something taken somewhere relatively dark.

Love All, Serve All. Chilling at a local coffee spot waiting for rush hour to pass, with the view of the Hard Rock Cafe slogan on top of Glorietta 3. Iced Sumiyaki is love! Taken at UCC in front of Glorietta 3.

Empty Chair. Behind the empty chair is the Shangri-la Hotel and an office building.
Trying out this faux HDR effect.

Beneath The Giants. Aiming the fisheye lens up makes some interesting distortions.

Alright, I saved my favorite in this batch for last... I liked this particular photo for its vibrant colors, its angle (this image actually looks surreal both in portrait or landscape orientation)... And then there's that... (cough! glasses... cough!)

Chillin' After Work. Folks are relaxing at the local UCC coffee shop. The crowd here is quite diverse. I actually have an epic crush on that lady with glasses in white. No, I haven't seen her before. She was really standing out among the crowd. Perhaps it's the eye catching glasses or the elegant hair or that simple yet divine top. Well I never really got to talk to her lest I creep her out (Yes, there are some things that some people can't outgrow.)... Some of us are more socially awkward than others.

What? I think she's lovely and cute... Whoever that is. (*blush*)

Until then, let's get lost and wander. :-)

Here, There, Anywhere...

Hello again, fellow wanderers! How have you been? As usual, a week isn't complete without me going to some random place. Life isn't meant to be lived in one place, after all. I think it's a decent compromise to at least go places on a weekend if you can't roam the planet... yet. Here's a glimpse of the places I've been to recently... Can you guess where some of them were taken?

Coffee Selection. See anything you like?
Stacks of different coffee flavors and variants at a local Starbucks.

Waiting For Customers. The waiter looks on as he waits for potential customers walking through the door.

Music Among The Noise. A musician performs at the mall with everyone else passing by,
with a few stopping to listen.

Open Faced. Taken with a Rokinon 7.5mm 3.5 lens.
The lens is far from perfect but the distortion is part of its charm.

Shangri-La. Applied HDR landscape style.
Not bad for something taken somewhere relatively dark.

Love All, Serve All. Chilling at a local coffee spot waiting for rush hour to pass, with the view of the Hard Rock Cafe slogan on top of Glorietta 3. Iced Sumiyaki is love! Taken at UCC in front of Glorietta 3.

Empty Chair. Behind the empty chair is the Shangri-la Hotel and an office building.
Trying out this faux HDR effect.

Beneath The Giants. Aiming the fisheye lens up makes some interesting distortions.

Alright, I saved my favorite in this batch for last... I liked this particular photo for its vibrant colors, its angle (this image actually looks surreal both in portrait or landscape orientation)... And then there's that... (cough! glasses... cough!)

Chillin' After Work. Folks are relaxing at the local UCC coffee shop. The crowd here is quite diverse. I actually have an epic crush on that lady with glasses in white. No, I haven't seen her before. She was really standing out among the crowd. Perhaps it's the eye catching glasses or the elegant hair or that simple yet divine top. Well I never really got to talk to her lest I creep her out (Yes, there are some things that some people can't outgrow.)... Some of us are more socially awkward than others.

What? I think she's lovely and cute... Whoever that is. (*blush*)

Until then, let's get lost and wander. :-)

Monday Memories: Makati

Before I became the self-proclaimed discreet all-around shutterbug that I am now, I was once a wielder of relatively heavy equipment. At the time I managed to travel light by limiting myself to 1 or 2 lenses.


One time I got invited by a friend (Hello Hiram!) to shoot some nightshots from on top of a condominium in Makati. I was a noob back then, and due to that I managed to shoot myself in the foot somehow: I sold my kit lens at a prior time, and only the disadvantages of having a short tele lens with fixed focal length only sank in to me when I was at the site shooting.

Despite that hurdle though, I managed to get a few decent shots, albeit with additional effort. At the time I posted the pictures at the now-defunct Multiply. Well, here they are again, after not seeing the light of day for the past few years...

I was at the time still trying to get a grasp of things, so you'd notice less than ideal compositions and the same shots with different hues. That's me experimenting. Then again maybe you can say I was screwing around.

According to Adam Savage from Mythbusters:

Wise words from Adam Savage.

 ... I didn't take notes.

Monday Memories: Makati

Before I became the self-proclaimed discreet all-around shutterbug that I am now, I was once a wielder of relatively heavy equipment. At the time I managed to travel light by limiting myself to 1 or 2 lenses.


One time I got invited by a friend (Hello Hiram!) to shoot some nightshots from on top of a condominium in Makati. I was a noob back then, and due to that I managed to shoot myself in the foot somehow: I sold my kit lens at a prior time, and only the disadvantages of having a short tele lens with fixed focal length only sank in to me when I was at the site shooting.

Despite that hurdle though, I managed to get a few decent shots, albeit with additional effort. At the time I posted the pictures at the now-defunct Multiply. Well, here they are again, after not seeing the light of day for the past few years...

I was at the time still trying to get a grasp of things, so you'd notice less than ideal compositions and the same shots with different hues. That's me experimenting. Then again maybe you can say I was screwing around.

According to Adam Savage from Mythbusters:

Wise words from Adam Savage.

 ... I didn't take notes.