June '14: Beauty of the night

Figure 1: The scene at Panorama Paradise.

Once in a while, I tend to walk outside when its 2 o' clock in the morning, the ambient that surrounds me is so cold and the only music I hear is the sound of nature. It was pitch black that the only source of light is coming from the skies. 

Its is a beauty to behold, the stars are shinning so brightly and in numbers which are so many that I can't remember the last star that I saw. I am in awe looking at the beautiful glowing sky. It is magical and also something that I have wished to capture.

It's the middle of the year, and there's so much that I have missed, beautiful sunsets and also limited time to do the things that I wanted to do. In everything we do, there's things we need to sacrifice in order to commit to a certain goal we need to achieve.

Figure 2: The owner of Panorama Paradise.

A big thanks to the owner of Panorama Paradise for allowing us a night's stay and enjoying the beauty of nature. If you're interested to contact the owner for bookings here's the link, Panorama Paradise.

Reminiscing 2013: Tiger Lily

Black and white photos stand in an arena of their own, where without colors it tries to portray an image by the intensity of black and white tones, texture of the image and almost purely by composition. It is easy to capture a black and white image with today's camera's but to create a stunning one is the challenge.

Figure 1: Lily in B&W.

I captured this lily using a fix focal prime lens. It allows me to isolate the lily from the other subjects as so to show its texture as well as shape. The light pink color of the lily is beautiful, but I decide to convert this image into black and white just to see how it does.

Reminiscing 2013: Environment blues

With temperatures rising every year and the weather getting more and more unpredictable, it seems that mother nature is retaliating against us. Mankind who is tasked to take care of the world has grown greedy and has neglected protecting nature. It is saddening to me.

Figure 1: Bottled up sunset.

Food for thought, with organic food becoming a rarity and expensive product to buy, food is getting more and more artificial. With fast food being the favorites of today's generation, it seems like natural and healthy food is getting scarce to date. It seems like a global food problem will arise soon.

Darkness come

When hopelessness comes into mind, I drive away from the busy-ness of life and seek the most calm and closest place. Sunsets always end with darkness, but the aftermath of the sun is so beautiful. Sometimes depicts some imagery.

Figure 1: El Diablo is watching.

Escape

This weekend, I decide to go for a nature walk away from the busyness of life. It's been almost a week since I've stopped working and I felt strange when this certain responsibilities of my ex-comp seems to make me feel somewhat empty. December is coming soon so I need to prepare myself for the transition.

Figure 1: A small water flow.

I switched off my phone and bringing only essentials and a fully charged digital SLR along, I marched towards the rain forest. It's been so long since I've inhaled fresh air, the sound of insects, rustling of the leaves seems so different than what I normally hear day to day.

I hiked through the woods, it is damp and the air is humid, stretching my legs and sweating it out seems a luxury for my body. It has been ages since I have felt so physically challenged and I simply love the feeling of it. Warm sweat runs wets my whole body.

Figure 2: Moss covered rock stream.

Time seems to freeze itself in the forest, since I am alone, it seems as if the leaves of the trees has eyes, constantly looking at me. The air is so refreshing and I can't help but inhale and exhale it as if it has been my first time ever breathing. 

I have been so busy with work that I forgot everything about the beauty of mother nature surrounding me. Its a blessing from the heavens which money can never buy. I wish to escape from this world, I do, but life doesn't permits that and I won't give up till my last breath..

My day of rest

Mother Earth

Mother Earth, thank you for giving me a place to live in this earth of Yours. Thank you for the fresh air which You have provided from your peaceful and loving nature. Thank you for the fresh water which you have brought out through water springs and rivers. Thank you for the atmosphere in which to protect us from the harsh sun.

Figure 1: Nature.

The beautiful sunrise at dawn, birds early in the morning seeking refuge in Your alms and without having anything, You took care of them and without me realizing, You took care of me. The rain when it gets scorching hot, I keep complaining when it rains, and again failed to see the bigger picture of Your plans.

Mother Nature, thank You for providing mankind the power to gather necessities to live in your beautiful Earth. Please forgive us for getting greedy and taking more than required. Forgive us for not taking care of the environment due to our selfishness. Forgive us for only thinking of ourselves.

Dear Creator, thank You for creating us according to Your image. Thank You for giving us wisdom and authority above all the creatures of Earth. Thank you for Your continuous care and blessing to us. Forgive us when we misuse our wisdom and try to change the Earth not according to Your will.

Forgive us for wanting more and never satisfied rather than appreciate what we have. Forgive us for all the wrong things which are happening in this world due to sin. Your anger is seen in earthquakes and disasters which occurs often lately. Your words of judgement are in the thunders.

Mother Earth, 

I have a lot to thank You. I wish my mind is born to praise You. My mind constantly revolves on small matters around me that I failed to see the bigger picture which You are showing to me everyday.

Nature of beauty

Figure 1: Greenery.

Beauty is a unique quality which brings pleasure to the senses. This is a dictionary definition of beauty, for me, beauty is a deep quality which brings out the best from an event, a scenery and even people. This deep quality is skin deep and certainly can be achieved with a great deal of appreciation.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Without real experience or know how regarding the subject, it is hard for me to refer it as a beauty or beautiful. However with deep knowledge as well as experience, be it hardship or filled with joy, that unique quality brings me to realize the beauty in the subject matter.

"Beauty is not about having a pretty face, it is about having a pretty mind, pretty heart and pretty soul"

These modern days, beauty is all about having smoothness in life, be it smooth silky skin, shiny smooth paint,  be it artificial or original, beauty is regarded as only the outer layer of the subject. Less is regarded to those deep inside values or qualities in the subject's life, depiction and creation.

It is said that, "a beautiful smile hides the most hideous scars."

Superficial beauty is wonderful if it makes the front cover of a magazine, however one without that certain deep emotional quality will just stay that way without the readers even regarding it more than just a beautiful magazine cover. Understanding what's deep inside can reveal the true colors of beauty.

Be it sorrow, sadness, gloominess, loneliness, happiness, gladness and millions more expressions of emotions can make beauty in a certain event or a certain person can make that huge impact on life. Life is more than just outer beauty and more towards the whole.

Modern definition of beauty is regarded as a number one liar of a perfect world blinding mankind. I'm sorry if my definition of beauty is so mixed up, but due to my limited life experience, I found that, "there is more to beauty than what pleases the eyes".

Dangerous dilemma...

It seems like nature is so angry to us humans, feels like, the end is so near, and everything seems awfully dark. At least the future that is, people in staggering numbers perished just like that, earthquakes with its tsunami aftermath just sweeps away what people took a century just to build up, in a matter of seconds, get wiped away.

It feels so, awfully scary and unhappy to be so insecure living in a world, where death is uncertain and can be painful at times. Sometimes, the painfulness of death is better to endure than that of losing someone you love. This life is filled with the wrath of nature, which serves under God's command and no one human can control it.

I was just wondering, in this times of trouble, while I'm waiting to be saved, will I be enduring these painfulness that has happened to people around me. Am I just closing one eye, ignoring all the pain around me, and focusing on making myself comfortable despite what is happening around me. This is indeed a dilemma to behold.