FPC PoW!s -- Week 10, 2008

The 5th leg of the Vigan expeditions came and went by swiftly. FPC contingents had a hard time finding the Sand Dunes of La Paz. We traveled through Laoag City, pass the rurals. We asked directions along the way and the locals gave conflicting directions. One resident said "Turn right after this straight road" and another, "When you get to the peak of this hill, turn left!" Yet another misheard our word and told us "That's in Ilocos Sur!" We realized she was talking about "Candon," a municipality of Ilocos Sur! Haha

We hit a dead end, backtracked and asked for more directions. We finally find the place--a dirt track with empty gravelly earth and sand on both our left and right, stick fences with barbed wires, and thorny bushes along the wayside. After about 5 minutes of inroad, we see huge hills of sand with dirt tracks, apparently made by dune buggies. Three of us got off and surveyed the place. Garry captures a scene of the place.

Before that episode we shot Nina Caldona and Given Teves, models who came with us on this expedition, at Mindoro beach. By the time we got there it was getting dark and the stars are starting to be seen. After shooting them at the beach hut, I wondered if we can get a decent photo of a model and the sky with long exposure. Sidney's photo is a testimony to the success of our effort.

While we were at Pagudpud, Rolan was in Baguio shooting the Panagbenga Festival, where he shot his PoW! this week. He texted he can not follow us anymore in Vigan and intimated that it was cold up there. He had no idea we were are the north tip of Luzon also battered by rain! We drove back from that brink of Philippines, and the sky cleared again.

Other FPC members contribute outstanding photos this week. Edwin makes it again with an unusual fowl photo, and Nilo shoots the Bangkok Skyline bathed in interesting points of light. We chose five PoW!s this week from among great images tagged for March selection; there's just simply many superb photos to showcase and we have space for them all :D

This is NOT IN ANY WAY A PHOTO CONTEST. We just want to honor Photographic creativity :D

Here now are our PoW!s for this week in the order of date taken:

February 21

"Bangkok Skyline"
by Nilo Miranda
Shooting Information:
Camera: Olympus E-500
Exposure: 3.2 sec (16/5)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 17 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/10 EV
Flash: 88
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Pattern

February 22

"Waiting for a Falling Star"
by Sidney Chua
Shooting Information:
Camera: Canon EOS 350D Digital
Exposure: 10 sec (10)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash fired, red-eye reduction
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Partial

February 23

"Sand Dunes"
by Garry Cruz
Shooting Information:
Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 0.0025 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Spot

February 24

"People Power at Panagbenga Festival"
by Rolan Garcia
Shooting Information:
Camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/13
Focal Length: 46 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
Metering Mode: Pattern

March 09

"Look... No Hands!"
by Edwin Calica Cacayorin Jr.
Shooting Information:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
Metering Mode: Average

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