boho l omo did china

(for the China-ASEAN Advanced Study and Research Program for International Young Cadres, October 15-December 15, 2007, China Guangxi International Youth Exchange Institute, Nanning, Guangxi, China)

Watch out for my Holga pictures!
Coming very soon!

[Photos taken with instamatic digital cameras from Oct 15 - December 15, 2007 around Guangxi and Beijing, China.]

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I saw the sign.

[Taken with Holga 120N. 2007.]

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Italian Job

[Taken with Holga 120N somewhere in July 2007, Tagbilaran City, Bohol]

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Basul Island, Surigao City

We took a 30-minute bangka ride from our resort in Surigao City towards Basul Island. It's a really small island, one can circumnavigate in less than an hour. The island, where only one livable structure stands, is apparently owned by a certain doctor. Fees apply to all island-trippers.









[Taken with a Holga 120N on July 22, 2007.]

Puntod Island

Puntod is an island/sand bar off the southern tip of Panglao Island in Bohol.













[Taken with a Holga 120N on August 5, 2007.]

Kapitolyo

The kapitolyo is the seat of the provincial government of Bohol. Behind the three windows is the office of the Governor of Bohol.



[Taken with a Holga 120N.]

Plaza Rizal, Tagbilaran City

Dinhi, i-firing-squad ang mga wad-an sa Valentine's
Diin kada gabii Valentine's
Dinhi, alalisan ang apelyido ni Hesus
Gitaga-ag dungog si Rizal
Apan giyatakan-ithan ra usab sa mga salumpati (simbolo kunuhay sa kagawasan)
Dinhi gawasnon tuod ka
Apan natungaan ka sa duha sa labing dakung mananakop



[Taken with Holga 120N, 2007.]

Football Head

Lomo Climb at Mt. Padhan

Doljo Point

Doljo Point is in the southern tip of Panglao Island, Bohol.

















[All photos taken with a Holga 120N on July 10, 2007.]

I may now officially shut up and start shooting

The LBC package from DigiPrint finally arrived. From hereon, this blog will be mostly a photoblog of my crazy world as seen through my plastic camera (Holga, for now).



[Taken with a Holga 120N on July 10, 2007.]

My first prints are crucial.

I had to have my first rolls processed pronto.

My first prints are crucial.

If they suck I might throw this plastic toy camera out the window, into our small fish pond, where food-depraved fishes will attempt to devour it. Then buy the cheapest Nikon pro-dSLR around. (as soon as I amass enough pesoses for it) And forget that I ever tried lomo.

That is so not happening of course (‘xcept maybe with buying a dSLR).

I can’t wait to go home.

(M/V Santiago de Bohol, Pier Uno, Cebu City.)

bohollomo goes to digiprint MoA

For a meeting in Surigao this weekend (National Anti-Poverty Commission Youth and Students Council – Sectoral Council Meeting), I had to take a Tagbilaran-Manila plane ride to catch a PAL flight to Butuan City tomorrow where we drive to Surigao City. Sayang man gud ang miles. It was incredulous, I know, making Manila my stopover for my Surigao trip, inconvenient and costly, but, it also gave me the chance to go to a digiprint shop. The MoA branch was the nearest I knew from the airport.

Hunched by my heavy backpack (with my heavy laptop), I lumbered aimlessly in the vast mall, looking for digiprint. A text from my brother said I was at the wrong side of the mall. I vaguely remember how I got from the south end of MoA to its north end, I was famished, I just arrived from a one-hour flight from Tagbilaran, I was a Boholano in Manila. But the sight of the digiprint logo easily wiped off all my weariness. The transaction was relatively smooth, the guy behind the counter knew what he had to know. I only paid P245 for my four film rolls. I opted to have it sent back home, though I will be marooned in Surigao City until Monday. Another reason to long for home, I guess.

(North Susana Heights, Quezon City.)

I have to stop my yakking.

I meant for this blog to be a lomo (photo) blog. And it will be. But until I’m still unable to produce my first ‘real’ lomo pictures, my yakking will carry on, or – have an empty blog. Besides, I will have my pictures very soon. I already had them processed.

Exactly the whole point of this post. Shit. I went to hell and back just to have my 120 film developed.

Went to LBC-ICM (a mere 4-minute drive from my house) Monday afternoon to digiprint my 120s, thus far I’ve used up, 5 of them. Confident that it’ll all go smoothly, and more importantly cheaply. Assumption no. 1: false. The lady behind the counter had no idea how to go about it. Film to CD, I said. And also, my films were 120s. Her computer indicated none of that service. Calls were made. I was even made to talk to the voice at the other end of the line. And in Tagalog, too. Damn. Then it was them again, the LBC girl talking in heavy Bisayan-accented Tagalog. Apparently, the LBC-Tagbilaran’s system was not updated blah-blah-blah. Eventually, after an hour at the LBC, I was asked of my contact number and was told to come back the next day, or whenever they’d contact to tell me they were ready.

The call was made a little past eight that night. I came back to LBC-ICM early the next morning. The girl manning the branch became a dude. I had to explain it all over to him. Calls were again made. And when finally, he figured it out, shit, I had to pay 250 for each film. I had 5, so that’s 1,250. WTF? I thought it was just gonna be 275, or something nearer that amount, was it not what they said in the forums? I texted Jennie, she confirmed the lower price. But the LBC-dude (she was a girl yesterday, I swear) said they didn’t have that pricing/billing, probably in the digiprint branches but not in LBC. It was 250 for developing+printing+film-cd fee. I was unwilling to shell out that amount because (1) I was not confident with my photos and didn’t want all of them printed (2) I had the money but didn’t want it spent on this (3) I was pissed. But not enough to leave the LBC without transacting anything. I felt I had to after taking so much of their time. I handed him 1 film and P250.

I really have to go to Manila.

Rules are meant to be broken

THE TEN GOLDEN RULES OF LOMOGRAPHY
1. Take your camera everywhere you go.
2. Use it anytime, day and night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.
4. Try the shot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as closely as possible.
6. Don't think (William Firebrace).
7. Be fast.
8. You don't have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
9. Afterwards, either.
10. Don't worry about any rules.

135 fiasco

Okay so I became too excited with this lomo crap. Too excited. Heard 135 film could be loaded into my Holga. Since nobody processes 120 film in my town, thought it would be neat to try 135 so I could have it processed readily, then, I could finally see my first Holga photos. Fine. Squarefrog has a video in youtube. Great. Tutorial is quite easy to follow. Loaded the 135. Practically covered my Holga with black tape. Surfed for ways to control the film. Tricky. But necessary. All set. I can now shoot. Shoot I did. Practically anything in a little less than 30 minutes. Yes. I could now have it developed. But one more thing. Must unload the film in complete darkness, if not, a darkroom. Very, very tricky. But it had to be done. Now to developing the film. The nearest was at a one-hour lab. Big mistake. I got crap after an hour. Or was it indeed my mistake? Was it not supposed to be cross processed? Should I have noted not to color correct? Very disappointed. What the fuck? My brother quipped. Yawa! Me. I sure hope it's just me, not my Holga. Damn.

The genesis of my lomo-zeal

It all started, I think, when I first came upon an article on ‘lomomanila’ in a newspaper (was it PDI? I’m no longer sure) about two years past. It must’ve been a good one because it got me googling for lomomanila, lomography, lomo, lomo, lomo.

I was expecting for websites on cameras and photography but no, it was a whole new culture I discovered – and it was good. No nonsense artsy photography counter-culture, blaring but not glaring – gaahd, they’re all over the place – but not quite, which is exactly how they want it to be. And there I was, a mere lurker to this, this lomo phenomenon. Of course, I wanted to jump onto the lomo-wagon but where could I purchase a lomo? Being the lurker that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to ask and so I tried searching by myself – to no avail, of course. Yes I could purchase online but the sellers where all from overseas, I didn’t have a credit card, I simply had a handy reason not to get myself a lomo each time I really wanted to get myself a lomo.

And of course, the lomo fever kept on rising (without me).

I was even becoming intimidated by it. Imagine my first encounter with actual lomo prints off the wall in mag:net (some time in March this year) – was short of epiphanous, I couldn’t believe it, it was overwhelming – but the feeling, I kept to myself, because of course, the friends I was with didn’t know a thing about lomography. (Who would when Encarta defines lomo as: a Hispanic sausage: a cured tenderloin sausage?)

Revitalized by that experience, I again started actively searching for ways to get me a lomo. Incidentally, Ryan, my brother (the more serious photographer) also stumbled on the lomo trend. Now I had someone to talk lomo with. And to my disgrace, he was the one who discovered everythinglomo.blogspot.com.

My shame, but my gain, too, for now I could own my very own lomo.

And the first click went to...

My brother...

The excitement of being greeted by my Holga package when I went home tonight, oozed way over my head, (yep, it happens!) that I had to bring the Holga to our badminton game that night, just to have an audience for my latest cool acquisition!

Okay, my brother, Ryan, was the only one who got it - other's were like: is that for real? it's just a toy camera, right? Even our French beerkada, Tuff, a budding filmmaker, (to my surprise) didn't know what a Holga was or a Lomo for that matter.

Bueno, Ryan asked for the Holga, to feel how light it was and stuff, but no, not just stopping at that - *click*! - there goes the first shot of my first ever lomo camera...

The only consolation would be that I'm quite sure it was not a good shot, the settings were all wrong, the place was not exactly well-lit, it wasn't supposed to be his... dang!

Oh brother...

Holga! Got my first ever lomo today.

A Holga 120N, purchased at everythinglomo.blogspot.com, run by the very amiable Jenny (the blurbs are all true, promise!) Deposited the payment Wednesday, got the package Friday. Prompt. Casual. Cool. Very lomo.

Of course, you can’t have a lomo, and not announce it to the world. Hence, this blog. Which will assume that I’m the first (and, so far, the only) Bohol-based Boholano lomographer. (So for anyone who wants to refute this, I’ll be glad to relinquish my title, just so I could have a Bol-anon comrade in this lomo culture). There might be a technicality with this assumption, too, because I can’t really call my self that (yet) since I am yet to show my first lomo prints. (Coming soon!)

I have the whole weekend to consume all four of my Superia 100’s (I should’ve bought more, I know), have them printed at Digiprint via LBC and cross my fingers, and wish that the gods of lomo would bless me with beginner’s luck – that my first lomo prints would be good enough to show off and usher me into the world of lomo.

This feeling. It’s like learning photography all over again.