Beaches through the lens

                                       WELCOME TO SUMMER VACATION

For the past two weekends, I've been going out of town. Two weeks ago, I went to Anilao, Batangas with some friends. We stayed in this wonderful resort, which, apart from not having a white sand beachfront, was perfect. It was very peaceful and the breeze was refreshing. Inhaling the sea breeze with my eyes closed reminded me that I was far from the hustle and bustle of city life, from the stress of work and social relationships. I was with the people who I wanted to be with.

We went snorkeling, and saw many many long things. lol. I also got a lot of scratches from the corals around. I forgot to say that Anilao is famous worldwide for its diving spots. There were some foreigners in the resort - some were relaxing, some were on boats, ready to dive.

Anyway, here are a few photos from my two day one night trip. :) Thanks friends for inviting me, and thanks Gela for the big ass kubo. :) I was using my 35mm film camera and a fuji slide film, c/o my girlfriend. :)

Check out this set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franciscogmm/sets/72157624140811218/

Last week, I went to Bataan with my family and some family friends. We also stayed in a resort. The only difference was this was on top of a mountain. We had to go down the mountain to go to the beach. At first glance, the beach was flawless. It was really a cove to dream about. The water seemed serene and peaceful that you would wish to just float aimlessly on it and let your natural buoyancy take over. Up close, the sand was white although there were a lot of small stingy jelly fishes, which discouraged me from swimming longer. I got stung a few times but it was ok. The water was warm, with a cool underwater current where our feet floated.

Here are a few photos of my trip to Bataan. I was using my Mamiya RB 67 Pro SD and a colored 120 fuji film.

There might be a chance that I will be going to some where in Batangas in the following weeks so watch out. :)

Check out more of my photos in my flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franciscogmm/

Two models are sometimes better than one!

Last Saturday, my girlfriend traveled to my home town in Bulacan. We watched a movie, ate food and basically hung out. Although by 5 PM, I was taking her photo near the basketball court and the front lawn of my grand parents' house. My sister also put down her books to join us for an impromptu shoot.

For this shoot, all I used were my canon slr, my mamiya rb67 pro sd, 1 BnW 35mm film, 8/36 Kodak Ultima35mm film, and a Fuji Pro 400h 120 film, and of course, Mr. Sunlight.

Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

One lesson I learned from using my RB67 with shutter speeds of 1/20 and below - Get a tripod. I should've gotten some great shots but for some reason, maybe my hands were shaking, or the mirror inside the cam was too strong, they ended up as somewhat blurry.

Anyway, first two pics were from my mamiya, and the last one was from my canon. BnW photos to follow. My friend is still processing it.

Also, update on the rechargeable batteries all the way from china. I got them already. I hope their life is better than what I'm expecting. More strobist photos next time!

Check out more of my photos in my flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franciscogmm/
Check out the whole set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franciscogmm/sets/72157623895803291/

P.S.
Check out my friend's bnw photos here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/buuucs/
He uses range finders, tlrs, etc. and processes his own BnW film.