Monday, December 24, 2012

PHOTOGRAPHY: THEN AND NOW REPOST!

I remember this picture of a "rotating carousel at night" which won me our organization's Grand Prize for Best Photo. I guess there were only a few physicians into photography then, so I won!
This was taken in the early 1990s with my Pentax SFXn SLR camera... no not Digital SLR yet!




Come to think of it, this was scanned from a simple picture with no Photoshop editing and most of all, people were not yet so much into Photography. 
It was just interesting because of the play of lights as the Merry Go-Round spinned...I wasn't even so sure if I had a tripod, but I must have used it!

Then, photographers were correlated to simple men who would take pictures of you in parks and the like. 
This is a far cry from the present day photographers who are usually affluent and can afford all the newest DSLRs, gadgets and accessories needed and who have the whole range of paraphernalia, including the editing works! 
Most of all, they can gain access to further studies from seminars and conventions, where they can learn from the masters!
Camera Club of Zamboanga during the workshop on
Travel Reportage with Lester Ledesma

Photo credit: Blanca Mae Sebastian

I am amazed with the photos of my friends and there we can appreciate the beauty of maximizing the use of the DSLR!

Actually, photography has already elevated into a different level of science and art!
from my cousin, Janice Sanson Reneer's collection
My grandfather on my Mom's side, Amado Sanson was already in the photography business and during the 20s (since 1927), he already had the Sanson Studio in Cebu and usually gets the Studio Portrait shots, Family pictures and of course, Class Pictures! Don't forget... they also had the great talent of retouching!
My Mom, Certified Public Accountant Lucila Ricamora 
at the Sanson Studio wearing a creation she made herself, 
also as a graduate of the Samson Fashion School, Manila! 
I remember the Black and White shots and the Sepia, too!  Now, these are effects we get during computer post-processing!
my parents, Lucila Sanson Ricamora (CPA) and 
Dr. Napoleon Ricamora (Radiologist)
In fact, my Auntie Gening (Dr. Generosa Solano) even used to lightly paint with color the Black-and-White photos manually just to give a touch of cheek color or tint to the face... and I later discovered even coloring the dresses! 
from Joel Oporto, my cousin....
And here is a picture with family and friends...I wonder what camera they used...must be the one on a tripod!

Dr. Generosa Sanson Solano, Cresenciana Sanson, (wife of Amado), Lucila Sanson Ricamora and Marianita Sanson Dolorfino.  
The models had their traditional pose and of course, the Mona Lisa smile.
My Mom, Lucila Ricamora... 
with annotations written in ink
And here is an interesting picture of my Dad, Dr. Napoleon Ricamora at work. He was one of the pioneer radiologists in Cebu and used to get images of the body through X-rays!
Black-and-white picture taken in 1958
When we were kids, we usually had a very formal Class picture usually on the stairs to make sure everyone is seen.
with Sr. Amandina, Belgian nun in St. Theresa's College Cebu
These days, it is still possible to get a formal class picture and there has to be several wacky shots after!
taken 2012, IV-Pignatelli Ateneo De Zamboanga University


And when we graduated or for yearbooks, it had to be the retouched black-and-white photo!
1940s
after more than 40 years,
the black-and-white graduation photo remains! 
These days, the yearbook picture has leveled up so many notches higher! I have heard graduates really prepare for their graduation photo shoots! Graduation packages now have the pictures in uniform... toga shots and even fantasy shots or glamour shots!!!

I learned to love Photography more in 1987 when for the first time, I bought my own camera in Japan (when I was a Philippine Delegate), the Pentax IQ Zoom 70, which I read from Newsweek was the world's very first FULL AUTO COMPACT 35 mm film zoom-lens camera. I really looked for this in Shinjuku and it had to be this specific model!!!
This still used the film and this was the expensive part - developing the photographs.
with my co-delegates to the ASEAN- Japan Friendship Program... few months after our Japan trip and using the Pentax IQ Zoom 70
This picture was taken from this full auto compact zoom lens 35 mm film camera. See the date stamped on the photo!
I got further addicted to getting more pictures (even with film! ...and more so with digital) because of my friend, Dr. Ed Catibog who took shots of the view from the hotel window, the plane window and all other details of the place and activities! I thought, "I got to follow this style!"  

Then, I have become a "CHRONICLER" as my Junior, Kaye R. De B. said. I am more into documentation rather than the artist-photographer nor the director type! I am also more into the classic photos and prefer less editing, but maybe, I really don't have the luxury of time.. and talent for this! 


We  take pictures because we are together and want to document that special day.
2011: Sanson Clan in Cebu 

And more so, if we document events like this today and the same 12 years later


And this, too... 25 years after!
taken in Japan!


taken in HongKong (Master Cook) ...in Manila!

Autofocus and SLR cameras have gone a long way. It is now digital with all the increase in megapixels as well as in-camera editing, weather proofing and ease of editing and sharing. Now, everyone can take a picture with their cellphones! 


In 2007, I would never forget my Sony Ericsson K800i cellphone which I used partly for our Dubai trip, when my camera batteries drained.

taken at the Ibn Battutah Mall in Dubai using the Sony Ericsson K800i



And of course, the newer cellphones have better cameras which suffices if we forgot our digital camera!
At the Colosseo in Rome as taken from my HTC One X cellphone

taken by me with HTC Cellphone...I am impressed!
taken by my friend with the HTC One X cellphone... and he doesn't know how to use the phone...but still turned out fine!
using the Nikon Coolpix P300 compact camera 
Technology has exponentially changed and made photography more easy, more accessible, more cheap and as my friend, Dr. Cynthia H. said, "First thing one does in a DISASTER is no longer to run for your life... Now, take a picture first before running for your life! Then post in Facebook as soon as possible!"

As I said, PHOTOGRAPHY has leveled up to a higher level of SCIENCE and ART... and COMMUNICATION!!! 


This is our way of sharing how we have been, what we have been doing and what we are interested in.


I wonder where Photography will go in the next decades and how it will amaze us more !!!
* The DSLR will remain for the critical eye!
* The compact cameras will stay for those who just want to document life.
* There is the mirrorless camera which has also caught the attention of the serious photographers... thinking about it, too but have to still learn more about it, if users are happy!
* Other than cellphones, even the iPad and the tablets have turned to become cameras! 
I just saw on TV about the upcoming PHAMERAs (primarily a camera with a phone!)... 

Let us wait and see!!!

Monday, December 17, 2012

THE "LOVE BUG" WEDDING

Sometime in our lives, we had our own experience with the Volkswagen or VW or the classic "Beetle"! We had a white 1302 and then, an orange 1302S Beetle. 

We even remember of a cute movie, The Love Bug with Herbie, the racing Beetle! If you don't remember this, well, it is just an age-related knowledge!

The LOVE BUG... a very "cute" wedding concept of dear friends, Grace and Larry...

See the sign "NUEVO CASAO" It is the Chavacano way of saying "Just married".
So cute... so cute...

I actually took these shots from the sidelines! I really couldn't just go away while they had their shoot! 


And off the newlyweds go...

And, after the shoot, they really did use the Beetle on the road! It is, indeed, roadworthy!





Nuevo Casao!
See you at the reception!!!

P.S. The shoot was c/o CWorks Wedding Photography. I enjoyed watching their shoot after the wedding mass. I hope I didn't preempt them.

Monday, December 10, 2012

CHRISTMAS TREES IN CMZ 2012

Christmas is really in the air!

For this Christmas, Ciudad Medical Zamboanga proposed the Christmas Tree contest to all the departments in the hospital.

Suprisingly (or maybe not really since everyone is really dynamic!...), there were 22 groups around the hospital who made Christmas trees of varying materials and with varying concepts! Most of the meanings still boiled down to Love during Christmas as depicted by the Nativity... especially, love for family ... friends ... and community... and the Love of Christ!

Since pictures speak louder than words, here are collages of the Christmas Trees within CMZ for you to appreciate!

Ancillary Departments.
Cardio-Pulmo Section made of hose and tubings from their materials and decorated with big butterflies. 
Radiology Department using natural materials of bamboo, palm and coconut materials to depict things truly Filipino but also embellished with mixed palm fruits and modern decor to liven up the tree.
Laboratory using red top tubes to complete a whole pine tree effect

Administrative and Finance Departments.
Pharmacy calls this the Wealth Tree
Maintenance using cogon grass but with reindeers!

Linen uses the cloth tree
EDP using some keyboards, CDs and other computer related material
Laundry also using cloth to make a table top tree

Medical Records using the Excellence at 9 theme with our pictures including the Execom and Medical records staff pictures.

Billing/PhilHealth using paper (lots of paper in this place) and parasol-like in form
Accounting using paper (also lots of paper in their Department) through the art of origami



Some Close-ups: Medical Records, Accounting and Billing/PhilHealth

Nursing Areas.
ICU using cloth individually tied to fully cover the Christmas tree made of wires and hanged with Christmas messages and wishes from the staff.
Ward A:Surgical Ward using bottles wrapped with shiny green paper == the bottles are placed on top of each other with round glass for the base of each tire. 
OR-DR-NICU Complex: used plenty of readily available material plus using Coca-Cola Christmas Nativity plates, which is a collection of one of the nurses.



And OR also used black light and separated an area during judgment time for their tableau with angels and a reindeer.
A touching message during the presentation was that the "nurses and the staff are ANGELS IN DISGUISE!"

Ward A: Surgical Ward using bottles wrapped with shiny green paper
Nursing Service Office with three trees depicting the three main areas of Nursing, Ancilliary and Admin/Finance... and they had a Belen beside the Tree to remind the reason for the season. They used materials for packaging to wrap around the Christmas tree skeleton. 
Ward E: Medical Ward amazingly uses so many books (so many!) well piled on each other, which was the art in itself!


Ward F: Pedia Ward, with threads and wires intricately woven with classical loops and crystals looking very Parisian    
Ward G: General Ward  with Venetian masks very much related to their Masquerade ball... so exotic
ER with a four-cornered tree made of carton embedded with Talisay leaves sprayed with green pain. Hanging are pictures of the ER staff and complete with gifts at the base.

Some Close-ups on Ward A, Ward G, Ward F
The Winners.
Third Place: Central Supply Room
The Frosty Christmas Tree: every material in their tree has significance and meaning just like every material in the Central Supply.












Second Place: Ward C: OB/Gyn Ward
Christmas in Penumbra: notice the newspaper painted with silver without light and the colorful penumbra with the lights on! 





The details showed by cuttings show the Nativity in yellow light,  Three Kings in fuschia light, Simbang Gabi in green light and at the base, a black-and-white collage of Ciudad Medical activities in pictures.

First Place: Ward H: Medical Ward

Rainbow Christmas Tree
Made up of individual medicine vials individually wrapped with cellophane and inserted to a wire mesh formed to a tree. I heard the judges mention the craftsmanship and the workmanship and the effort exuded just by looking at the tree. The color combination of the spectrum is very attractive and happy!







So aren't you amazed?

We are definitely amazed with the transformation of the trees to Works of Art!
A simple Christmas tree can trigger brilliant and creative minds and in the hands of the talented CMZ staff turned to very beautiful objects of art and most of all,  creative symbols of Christmas.

What we weren't able to see was the cooperation among those who made the Christmas Trees ... all the collaboration... their extra efforts ... some physical "pains" ...  putting out of treasures ... checking out how the others were doing!

However, I am sure this strengthened the bond among the unit members and showed us the inner dynamic spirit of the teams!!!

Thank you to our Judges: No other than social columnist Mila Arrieta, international artist Rameer Tawasil, winning designer Erich Miñoza and Presty Fabian, the artistic friend from Zuellig. 

Again, thanks to all who participated one way or the other!

Go, CMZ! Excellence at 9!!!