Litratong Pinoy: Tulay

There’s a bridge to tomorrow, there’s a bridge from the past
There’s a bridge made of sorrow that I pray will not last
There’s a bridge made of colors in the sky high above
And I think that there must be bridges made out of love

Magandang araw mga ka-LP! Ang lahok ko ngayong linggong ito ay walang iba kungdi ang Jones Bridge na makikita sa Maynila. Kuha ito noong unang EB ng LP noong araw ng Kalayaan noong isang taon.

Ang Puente de España, na nagdudugtong sa Binondo at Ermita, ay unang itinayo noong 1701 kapalit ng Puente Grande na nasira nung lumindol noong 1863. Noong 1916 ay Itinayo ulit ng mga Amerikano ang tulay at isinunod ang pangalan nito kay Atkinson Jones na isang miyembro ng US Congress at chairman ng Insular Affairs Committee na nag-sponsor ng Philippine Autonomy Act ng 1916, o ang mas kilala natin bilang Jones Law. Narito ang larawan ng Jones Bridge noon.

(Photo from wikimapia.org)

Ang ganda diba? Sayang lang at hindi na-preserve ng gobyerno natin ang dati nitong itsura.

Happy LP!

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Happy Thursday everyone! My entry for this week is a photo Jones Bridge which is located in Manila. I took this shot during Litratong Pinoy’s 1st EB last year.

Puente de España, which connects Binondo and Ermita, was built in 1701 replacing Puente Grande, which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1863. The Americans rebuilt it in 1916 and renamed it after Atkinson Jones, a member of the U.S. Congress and chairman of the Insular Affairs Committee who sponsored the Philippine Autonomy Act in 1916 (Jones Law).

Edited: April 30th, 2009

Redscale

Hello my dear bloggy friends! Did you miss me? Haha! Yeah, it’s been awhile… I got busy because my mom got home from the US and a few relatives also came home for a vacation. I’ve been to Batangas and Mindoro for at least a week and I’ll post about it sometime soon.

In the meantime, I just want to share this with you guys, especially to those who still believe that film is not dead. Are you familiar with redscaling? As some of you may know, I’m interested in Lomography and I bought my lomo cams when I went to the province and tried redscaling for the first time. Read on to know more about redscale…

What is Redscale?

Redscale is the name given to a technique of shooting photographic film where the film is exposed from the wrong side, i.e the emulsion is exposed through the base of the film. Normally, this is done by winding the film in upside-down into an empty film canister. The name “redscale” comes because there is a strong color shift to red due to the red-sensitive layer of the film being exposed first, rather than last (the red layer is normally the bottom in C-41), at least when C-41 film is used. All layers are sensitive to blue light, so normally the blue layer is on top, followed by a filter. In this technique, blue light exposes the layers containing red and green dyes, but the layer containing blue dye is left unexposed due to the filter. E-6 (color slide) film has also been used for this technique.

Depending on the type of film used, the resulting colors seem to range from maroon, to red, to orange, to yellow.

The technique seems to have been discovered accidentally. Some people shooting large format color film would load the individual negatives backwards. This phenomenon is likely as old as color film itself. However, it has only recently gained popularity as an effect intentionally sought.

The technique is considered by some to be part of the lo-fi photography movement, along with use of toy cameras, pinhole cameras, instant cameras, and sprocket hole photography.
(Source: Wikipedia)

And here’s a tutorial by Kelly on how to make redscale films.

So, I bought some Solid Gold films in Quiapo to use in redscale. (They’re pretty cheap, only P50 if you buy in bulk) I also bought a changing bag worth P800 (I know, this hobby is getting to be expensive but I’m really loving it!). I bought 5 films and redscaled it all and used 2 rolls in Batangas. And here’s some sample of my redscale shots:

Camera: Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim
Film: Solid Gold 200 Redscale

Edited: November 8th, 2008

1st Litratong Pinoy EB: Kodakan Para Sa Kalayaan

Litratong Pinoy had it’s first EB last Monday, June 9, 2008, and it was called Kodakan para sa Kalayaan. This is in time for the Philippines’ 110th Indpependence Day and also perfect for LP’s theme for this week which is Kalayaan. There were three of us from LP, Pete, Lino and me, and we were joined by a couple of Pete’s friends, Julius and Mike. We met at the UP Oblation, introduced ourselves, shared stories, and then photo op for about 30 minutes. Then we had lunch at the UP Coop (thanks to Pete and Julius for the lunch) and decided to go to Binondo with Julius.

We took a jeep to Quiapo (we encountered a very masungit na mamang jeep) and took photos of Quiapo Church. We also dropped by FANS Digital Imaging to inquire about the planned LP coffee table book. After that we walked going to Ongpin, then Binondo, then Manila Post Office, and then the Bonifacio Shrine near Manila City Hall. It was a long and tiring day but it was fun and very informative! Thanks to Mike also who acted as our tour guide and explained the history of the places we passed by.

This is my first time to try out Lomography and I used my very first toy camera, Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim. I underestimated actually it’s capacity of being ultra wide. If you look at the photos below, the first photo is what I saw when I looked in the cam’s viewfinder and the second photo is what I came out when I had the film processed and scanned. Can you see the big difference

Here is the complete set of photos that I took, I posted it in my multiply account. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticisms are welcome.

Camera: Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim
Film: Fujicolor YKL 100

Edited: June 12th, 2008

My New Toy

Got my new toy on the mail yesterday afternoon and I’m so excited to use it! Yes, my very first lomo cam, a Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim. Although it is a non-LSI endorsed camera, it is still considered as one because of its vignette effect. Is is also sometimes referred to as the poor man’s lomo/lca. Special thanks to Aaron Roselo for a quick and smooth transaction. My next planned purchase: Holga, baby! Happy birthday to me and Lomo… here I come!

Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim
This plastic camera with 22mm lens produces the signature vignette effect.
This has no batteries and uses any 35mm film.
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 1/125th sec

Edited: February 21st, 2008