Mom is a photographer. At 58, signs of aging have caught up on her, but on photography, no signs of retiring at all. Though Dad worked as a public school Physics and Maths teacher, mom's livelihood on photography helped send us to school. She started photography in the summer of 1988. That was when I started to see pictures of me being Grade 3. I had no pictures when I was Grade 1 and Grade 2 because pictures were a luxury we could not afford. Dad taught her how to take pictures when an aunt in the States sent us Minolta SLR. It was a great camera! The pictures that would come out look exactly how you took it! (Pangit man gud kaayo tong mga carema sa una nga plastic).
When mother thought she was ready to take on projects, she accepted a "birthday party deal". The cake was sliced, the birthday girl blew the candles on her cake, the lechon was skinned, the rice was already served, the party has ended, mom went home, tired from all the clicking she did --- only to find out that there was NO FILM loaded in the camera. She learned her lessons on basic photography in the hard way.
She must have taken that moment too seriously because from then on, she never ran out costumers. Children in our area practically grew up in front of her lens. From their baptism to communion to debuts to their weddings...until the dawn of the digital photography alighted on our doorstep. Mom struggled to understand the basics of DSLR. There are 2 DSLRs to her name with approximately 5 incredibly exciting lenses to choose from and she treats them like a point and shoot. The tragedy of old age. But with the DSLR-treated-as-point-and-shoot, she still gets to cover graduation ceremonies, school IDs, proms, yearbook photos, and the like -- nothing beats an old name, dude. Mom still rocks because, yes, she still friggin' earns more than I do in the arena of paid photography.
Now, me. I practically grew up reading camera manuals. I have been reading about aperture, speed and ISO at age 9. I could digest bits and pieces. I would have liked so much to apply them but Mom would not let me touch her camera, literally. She said I was too clumsy to ever hold our "bread and butter" safely.
We had no television until I was in high school, thus I found entertainment and refuge in books. All sorts of books that Dad would bring from the school library (I had to read them fast so I'd finish the darn book before he'd return them). The reading material which were readily available were camera manuals. They never had to be returned. They were all stacked in the cabinet where the cameras were sacredly stored. The manuals were the only things I could touch that are related to photography; I could not even touch her battery charger! Jeez.
I asked my mom to let me practice shooting. The film was expensive and so was the photo processing. So I was on dead end.
The time came when I could already buy my own camera; it wasn't just an ordinary time, it was the digital age. My very first camera was an OLYMPUS C Series. I LOVED IT (but it was stolen!!! thus I bought another camera which was exactly the same as the one which got away hehehehe; di man lang ng level up!). The model was a simple point and shoot camera with a super-MACRO lens.
I took photos of EVERYTHING except of those what we call, HUMAN BEINGS. I hated the idea of taking a picture of you! LOL! I adhered to the strictest rules of photographic composition. I would not take a photo of which I won't get (according to my own poor understanding) perfectly. And since it was difficult for me to take perfect portraits, I avoided taking pictures of human beings like plague. I didn't like to spend so much memory on ordinary faces when there is the most beautiful, yet highly short-spanned, sunset; or the skies in its perfect orange and pink unison, or the flowers, oh God the flowers! They're just so beautiful...so why would I spend a megapixel from my 64 MB memory card on you??!! LOL!!!
That was then, when I started taking pictures and dreamed of becoming a paid photographer like mother. The pictures you see above were the first ones I have taken with my little humble Olympus which brags of its 64 MB memory card. It was during this time when taking pictures that defy the Rule of Third is an offense to me and to the others who believed in THE PHOTO CORRECTNESS. I could laugh at myself silly when I think of it. :) I would carefully note of the lines, the curves, the amount of light coming in, directional light, artificial light and light, light, light. I was so hard on myself that I get depressed; I can't even deliver my own standard.
Though I am still stuck with amateur photography and not knowing exactly where to bring me to which level, I have happily broken and bend some rules. Though I have not reached the kind of photographic perfection I dream for myself, I am happily clicking pictures here and there when the mood feels like it.
These were my first few attempts. I still do my attempts today. Everything is just an attempt, actually, because, everyday, I still have to learn, unlearn and relearn. But in my attempts now, though I know the rules, I don't mind breaking them every once in a while. :D
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