Month: October 2012

Me in goth mode by Rhonson Ng

Playing Walking Dead

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THE HAUNTING AT THE GAP FARM RESORT © Jojie Alcantara (Oct 2012) A fun horror-themed shoot at Davao’s GAP Farm Resort, famous for its statues of Philippine mythical creatures, so we added our own. Thanks to models and friends who joined our October theme.  Every Halloween season of the year (though I would rather prefer the Asian “All Souls’ Day” observation every Nov. 1), I always go out for a haunting shoot.  Kudos to our game models and makeup artist. This time however, I asked my fellow photographers to join the fun like I did. Interestingly, an observer commented he saw a “face” in one of my photos, and went on to enlighten me about his remark: “Enlarged and viewed it full screen. A figure of a man with hair parted in the middle (very slightly to the left) became clear. If this is the same GAP farm I have seen before, I can venture an explanation. The place is very near the diversion road. The thoroughfare was not used much during the martial law …

Be the lotus flower

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“From within the lotus flower grows, up through the mud and the muck bypassing all that threatens to taint its emerging beauty and glory. Then it springs forth without spot or stain opening to the world around it to become a new light unto all that lay their eye upon it. This is the lotus flower and it comes from within you, it is the flower of the Buddha, your inner Buddha.” –Venerable Retsuzen Shikata 2011 “The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. … The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. … Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and …

Coming home

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“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” ~ Maya Angelou Though I love this image in its vivid sunrise colors, I wanted to see its impact in black and white this time.  I like the outcome because the absence of color made the scene even more dramatic.

Darn It, I won

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Announcement On BetterPhoto.com – 10/2/2012 Photographer Jojie F. Alcantara of Davao, Davao del Sur, has won Second Place for August in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site’s founder, Jim Miotke, announced Tuesday. More than 10600 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories. Alcantara’s stunning image, “Darn It”, garnered top honors after being submitted in the Monthly Theme category. All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com’s contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/1208.asp The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers. Besides its free, popular photo contest, BetterPhoto.com also offers a variety of services: digital camera reviews, online photo courses, free newsletters, a discussion forum, Web sites for photographers, question-and-answer section, how-to articles, photo galleries, and more.