Whole City by Eugene “Yooj” A. Valbuena

Before going to our readers’ contributions, I would like to share some practical information regarding the care of the memory cards in our digital cameras. Depending on how we use them, memory cards can have a shorter or longer lifespan. I am listing just a couple of points from the guidelines given by Barrie Smith in an article posted on www.digitalphotographyschool.com.

1. Always reformat the camera each time after downloading the images on your computer. Smith advises that reformatting lessens the wear on the card. He explains that whenever we access or delete camera images via a computer, the memory card undergoes read-write cycles that affect its longevity.

2. Keep your batteries well-charged. If the batteries conk out in the process of downloading pictures, the card and data may be damaged.

I also wish to remind our readers that like other digital memory devices, memory cards can also be infected with today’s many computer viruses that spread via removable drives. Check your computer before connecting that memory card.

And now to our featured readers.

Ashley Caithleen Esmende, a second year nursing student writes that she came to love photography even as a young girl after becoming envious of a cousin who was into photojournalism. She shares: “When I was a child, I would take a picture of almost all bits and pieces that I saw, and my dad would get mad at me because he told me that I was just wasting the film. But that didn’t stop me from taking pictures.”

Senior high school student Charriz Dominique Babao says she recently discovered Picture Perfect in her school. She really loves photography, she writes, and hopes to have her work printed in this column.

Eli Alfred L. Adrias who works as a Cadd Supervisor at SOTA Phils., Inc. shares that he started on photography while in high school with a Polaroid and a 110 film camera. He continued shooting in college and later acquired his first SLR. However, he could only afford to attend a photo workshop when he started working. And he could only bring along his film camera to the workshop that had everybody else using digital cameras. “After the workshop, my passion into photography went deeper,” says Eli, who shares that he is into photojournalism and travel photography today.

Reader John Gabion took a picture of a candle during “Ondoy” and came up with an unusual image. He shares: “I call this image as ‘Candle With A Heart.’ My father likes this image as he believes that the light and heart symbolize Christ. I decided to share with you this image to give hope to those people who are affected by this typhoon to remind us that God is with us during this crisis.”

From Baguio City, Eugene “Yooj” A. Valbuena, sent in night pictures to show that “despite being one of the LGU’s hit by Typhoon Pepeng, Baguio is again bustling with tourism and business is again picking up.”

And capping today’s featured readers are previous contributors Solomon Lim and Mhor Pelagio of San Jose City, Nueva Ecija who try their hand at “ghost/halloween photography.” Solomon has the silhouette of the Grim Reaper in “Time’s Up” while Mhor sent in “Chopped,” “Devil Mask,” and “Skull.”
Mhor reveals that to achieve the effect in “Devil Mask,” he used a white cartolina as background. He then placed red color gel over his cellphone’s flash, put the phone cam to video to keep the flash on, and placed the device under the mask to produce the red eyes.

Finally, I am adding my own version of a creepy night for howling just like in the horror movies of my childhood.