Going Back to School

The last time I had experience using film was the first time I tried my hand in photography. Complete.. utter.. fail. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhry/sets/72157627747981108/)

I had my share of using film before. We had a film camera growing up and I remember always having a roll of film and a Kodak camera on my backpack back in high school. It was just all for fun back then, taking pictures of silly stuff we did. I remember just shooting every where.. in the school library, the classroom while taking exams, just fooling around inside and outside campus. (it's fun to pop out the flash when things get boring during class ;p) Anyway, I don't remember putting much thought into it back then. All I wanted was to capture fun things that everyone can enjoy.

And so now I decided to take another crack at film. Why? Because my old 400D has died on me a few months ago, I'm stuck here in the US for six months without a proper camera, and the new one I want, well.. let's just say it's currently "out of the budget". I will still be saving for that OM-D, but for now I have my OM10 to keep me busy ;p.

Got this one off of ebay, used of course, but in pristine condition. I may need to replace my light seals later on but aside from that, almost like new. It came with a 50mm Zuiko, a 135mm Makinon, and its original receipt! (Dated 7/23/1984, it's just a little bit younger than I am.) Very impressed with the build of these things. First released in the late 70's, everything was metal heavy. Very solid and stable. They just don't make SLRs like this anymore.

I'm currently two-thirds through my first roll and I'm not expecting anything special. I'm looking forward though to actually seeing the results. This may very well be a test roll to just test out the camera.. And my first lessons on working full manual.

It's quite a bit of an adjustment from digital; working with a fixed ISO, advancing the film lever, using the focus and aperture rings on the lense, setting the shutter speed, getting your metering right, and finally hitting that shutter button. It's that one fluid process of taking a shot, waiting for everything to fall into place. It has a certain calmness into it.

The experience here is pure photography. All you're working with is light, glass, and film. There's no image processor to auto-correct your images, no auto-focus mechanism. Instead you have to be quick with your hands and your eye. There are a lot of decisions to be made in that decisive moment before pressing the shutter, and all of them has to be right. :)

prints!, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

#FromBoredomComesCreativity

out of reach, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

Give me something to do and I'll do it. Leave me with nothing to do and I'll do something better.

Trust me on the sunscreen.

January 20, 2013. Today's as good as any to have a listen... Way to start off the day. ;p

Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh nevermind,

you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now

how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future or worry,

but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind

the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts,

don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy

sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…

the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults

if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…

the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives,

some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t,

maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t,

maybe you’ll divorce at 40,

maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…

what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either

your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…

don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it,

it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own...

Dance…

even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle

because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard

live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, 

prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old,

and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young

prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse

but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia,

dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts

and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…

Color Blind - Feb. 2008

dinaanan ng bagyo, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

There has always been something about black and white pictures that gets me. It somehow feels like looking through history books and peeking through time, seeing things as they were before and hoping you can go back... Frozen memories in time, giving you glimpses of the past.

It will always show things that are close to my heart, things that I hold dear... things that I wouldn't want to ever let go... like home... family... They will always be with me... and I will always go home.

Original set on Flickr...

grounded

grounded, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

i've been used to ending the year looking back. i didn't end 2011 the way i used to. but then again, 2011 was not my typical year.

it was a time of exploring, i guess. i find myself in a not so familiar place and it felt like i was learning everything all over again. you know that saying that you need to get lost first before you can find your way again? well, maybe this is all part of that process. getting lost to get your bearings right... i sure hope so.

the year was full of realizations, for that i am thankful for. you never really look at the little things when you don't need to. and you never really miss them unless they're gone. there are a number of things i lost this year, and i can't wait to get them back... again, you can't find things that aren't lost and you can't find anything if you don't know what you're looking for.

given that, i have things to work hard for in 2012. things will be different... and it will be good. it won't be easy, but i'll get it done anyway. ;p

happy new year everyone!

just another day...

It was your ordinary day. You woke up feeling well rested and decided to take a leisurely walk by the river banks, just a stone throw away by the shrine of Talos. Minutes later, after having a hearty breakfast of venison chop and mixing up some healing potions for the day, you were out of the city gates and admiring the beautiful, sunny grasslands that lay ahead. You find the dirt path leading out to the river and follow it until you smell the misty cold air. Weirdly, the sun decided to stay away from this spot and a group of gloomy clouds have taken its place in the sky.

As you were deciding whether to cross the river or shoot an arrow at the two stags grazing up stream, a mammoth suddenly crosses the rugged path just a few feet ahead of you. It was slowly making its way through the waters, finding a safe route to take to get to the other side. You feel the ground rumbling under your feet and you hurriedly sneak your way to the mossy boulder just by the side of the dirt path, taking care not to be seen by the enormous beast. The animal was quite gentle for its size.. even quiet enough not to disturb the stags just an earshot away. You take out your bow and aimed, imagining how much the city trader will pay for those pretty ivory tusks. Before you could fire a sneak attack, a heavy breathing sound caught your attention and it was only then that you realize that the rumbling ground was not caused by the mammoth's gentle steps.

Step by heavy step, a big club materialized from the top of the hill just beside you. When you see the enormous hand holding it, you quickly decided that the tusks weren't worth it and you slowly back away into the shadow of the nearby trees. Just seconds later, the mammoth herder appears and you could finally see the entirety of its size. With the mammoth just up to the giant's waistline, they almost look like a herder and his sheep crossing a stream. The giant's heavy wool boots shook the earth every time it made a step. And with just two quick paces, it crossed the river and led its mammoth away into the mountain trail.

Disappointed, you looked up river hoping to at least get some stag pelts from the morning stroll, but the two were way gone by now, probably scared away by the noisy giant herder. Packing up your bow and dwarven arrow (that could've put the mammoth down in one shot), you head back up the path wishing that some mead will somehow make up for the morning's letdown.

You were already imagining the taste of black-briar mead in your throat when you hear a sound that was quite familiar. It was faint but definite. You've heard that sound before, and it was something you were hoping to never hear again... at least not for another whole week. You look up at the sky and saw nothing. A gush of relief came on you when you saw a clear sky above, but then there it was again. You realize where it was coming from and you ran towards the top of the hill to get a better look.

The stables just outside the city walls were on fire and the horses were running around, crazy. The city guards are already shooting arrows at the fierce wings hoping to take it down and fight it on the ground. You ran straight towards the fighting at full speed, not minding the stamina drain. Almost short of breath you arrive within firing range and took out your bow. The dragon was still in the air, busy breathing fire on a windmill farm. You take careful aim and with one quick release you hit it square in its nostrils. It puffed a little cloud of smoke before flying away, clearly shocked by the hit. But the battle was just beginning. As it circles in the air, making its way back to its attacker, it finds you among the crowd of bowmen and instantly isolates you from the rest. It has you in it's sights, you knew. It can feel you're not like the others.

You take another arrow from your quiver and take aim once again, this time determined to hit a wing. You know you cannot defeat it on air. Closer and closer it came staring right at you. You can feel the flap of its strong wings almost blowing you away. You were aiming for the right wing when it suddenly slows down and inhales a big deep breath. You knew what was coming next, but before you could get behind cover, away from the line of fire, it was there right in front of you enveloping you in brightness and heat.

It was hot and painful, but nothing that you couldn't take (thanks to your natural resistance to fire). Still your health was taking a beating from the blast but you pay it no mind. Engulfed in flames you can see nothing but brightness. But from the gravity of the heat you can tell the direction of its source. Desperate to get a shot off you aim in the general direction and let go. You hear a deafening screech and then the brightness stopped and all was black. Your eyes were still adjusting to the normal sunlight. You quickly equipped a healing spell on your left hand and an elven sword on your right. Activating the healing spell, you drain half your magika to restore yourself to full health. As your sight returns to normal you saw the dragon on its back slayed, a dwarven arrow in its left eye. It certainly was not enough to kill it, but it was enough to put it down. And as soon as it dropped, you knew everyone around made sure it was never getting up again.

You made your way to the beast feeling its power. As you get closer, you can feel its life force making its way to you. The raw power almost knocks you off your feet but you endured and not long after, it was yours. A dragon soul.

To finish the task, you collect the remains; dragon scale and bones. It turned out to be a good morning after all. The city trader will pay a great deal of septims for this haul. ;p

skyrim thief, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

1955 - 2011

it’s a sad day whenever someone who helped shape the world “moves on”. suddenly makes tomorrow a little less exciting. makes you wonder what else could he have thrown our way if he had more time... now we’ll never know. what we’ll have is what he left us; the heavy task of continuing to dream for the future. how will we shape tomorrow? what's our next move? ..it's up to us now. i'm just curious who will be stepping up to the plate.

who needs the ipod nano mickey watch?

watch mickey tick, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

was really more interested in apple's ipod updates than the iphone announcement. been contemplating on buying an mp3 player for a while, just for getting through the morning commute. honestly hoping the shuffle was gonna get fm radio. (good luck with that!) ..so now what? i can't have two mickey watches? ;p

seems everyone's having a facelift these days

blogger dynamic views, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

blogger just released a new layout template! a welcome change with everyone changing stuff up recently.. the magazine view seems to be my favorite so far (though i can't get my headline picture to work just yet).


blogger's dynamic views offer 7 different ways readers can view you blog. each offers a different way of exploring your page and will present readers with different features; infinite scrolling, keyboard shortcuts, lightbox viewing, sharing buttons for google+, twitter, and facebook. the views can highlight pictures or text and will open up your blog history making it easy to be explored by others.


there are still a few bugs here and there and customization is still limited, but they said they will add (and fix) more stuff in the coming weeks.


so try out some of those views right now (why not). just click on them on the upper left side of the page. ;p

pasakalye

tayabas church, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

Mentioned in my first post here about an art first post appreciation class back in college. Well I found those pictures and posted them on flickr. Also found this thing that I wrote for the class about the trip. Totally didn't finish it. ;p

...

Alas kwatro ng madaling araw... nagising akong nanginginig sa ginaw ng umaga. Tahimik ang buong bahay. Walang maririnig kundi ang ingay ng aking mga paa. Tumalon ako pababa ng aking higaan, nag-iingat na hindi magising ng aking pagbagsak ang aking Lola na nasa ibabang kama. Nag-init ako ng tubig, naligo, at kumain ng dalawang pirasong pandesal na tira pa kahapon ng umaga... Nasanay na akong hindi kumain ng agahan bago umalis ng bahay, ngunit iba ang araw na ito... Malayo-layo din ang Quezon. Kailangang hindi gutumin sa mahabang biyahe. Maya-maya pa'y nakagayak na ako at palabas na sa pintuan, isinara at tuloy-tuloy na lumabas ng bakuran...

...

Madilim pa ng aking tinahak ang daan patungong sakayan... Ang mga bituin lamang ang nagsisilbing ilaw sa malamlam na daan. Tahimik at payapa... Marahil ay mahimbing pa'ng nagsisitulog ang mga taong maya-maya lamang ay pupuno na sa daan.

...

Sumakay ako ng dyip paluwas ng Maynila. Ipinaabot ang bayad sa katabing mamikit-mikit pa ang mga mata, bakas pa sa mukha ang antok, halatang nais pa sanang ituloy ang nabiting tulog. Ilang sandali pa ay nagsimula ng umusad ang dyip at dahan-dahang naramdaman ang ihip ng hangin sa labas... Nagsimula na ang umaga...

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Papasikat na ang araw ng ako'y dumating sa pinagkasunduang lugar. Marami-rami na ring tao ang doo'y aking naabutan. Tulad ko, sila rin ay mga estudyante ng unibersidad. Unti-unting nagliwanag ang paligid. Isa-isang hinagkan ng init ng araw ang mga dahon ng bukang liwayway.

...

Ilang sandali pa ay dumating na ang dalawang bus na aming sasakyan. Sumakay na ang lahat at kami'y tumulak na sa aming patutunguhan...

...

Tahimik ang buong biyahe. Marahil ay dahil wala pa akong masyado kilala sa aking mga kasama. Walang masyadong mapagkwentuhan kundi ang aming natatanging dahilan ng pagsadya sa lugar na ito.

...

Ilan sandali pa ay nakarating na kami sa aming unang patutunguhan. Inilabas ko na ang aking dalang kamera at sumunod sa mga nauunang mga estudyante... Isang lumang simbahan ang bumati sa aking paningin pagbaba ng bus.

...

Tahimik akong naglakad papasok ng bakuran. hindi alintana ang mga taong kasabay sa paglalakad, tinitingnan ang buong paligid... matiyagang naghahanap ng bagay na kukunan.

...

android, stating the obvious

an android in the work place, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

The Android platform is quickly becoming the “Windows OS” for mobile in the sense that it is topping the list of targets for mobile malware (much like Windows is for the desktop/server world). Why are malware writers so keen to targeting this OS compared to other platforms? What can users and developers do to improve the situation?

It’s a popularity contest.

Much like in Windows, this principle has been regarded as the main driving force that malware writers are supposed to be following when selecting their target platform. The more users an OS has, the higher probability they have of a successful infection. Though there have been live attempts at multi-OS malware, history has proven (as of the moment) that the idea is too complex to be in practical use. The large population of Android users is just what the attackers are looking for; more infected devices means more profit.

Many can argue that iOS has more users, but popularity is not the only variable in the formula.

The loose Market.

The official Android Market is loosely monitored compared to its iOS counterpart. The Apple AppStore has been known to give developers a rigorous acceptance process before allowing their apps to be posted online. The Android Marketplace, shall we say, is more forgiving. Third party sites are also found everywhere in the internet giving the malware writers more places to offer their malicious apps.

Factor in to this the fact that Google has made the Android SDK open to the public. This gives any one patient enough to learn, the ability to scrutinize the platform’s inner workings and in the process identify vulnerabilities just waiting to be exploited.

The Android Market is relying heavily on end users to do their own filtering. Users are expected to read their application permissions before installing apps from the market, but to non-techie folks this is just one extra button to press “ok”. Google can do a better job of filtering these apps themselves or if this is just too much for them, at least switch those texts with simple icons informing users of the common permissions being used by the app (because pictures are just prettier to look at than letters ;p).

Rooting is acceptable.

Rooting your device has its good and bad points. A rooted device is capable of far more functions but this also compromises the OS’s security check points that protects it from malicious attacks. Apps are given higher priviledges and are allowed to do more critical tasks making it more vulnerable.

Rooting your device is now very much accepted compared to the earlier days of jailbreaking an iPhone. In fact, in most cases, it has become a necessity. The wide variety of android devices and its fast paced development has made rooting a viable option rather than purchasing a new divice just to get the latest Android release. Custom firmware that allows old devices to run updated Android versions can be seen everywhere.

...

Given the rise of mobile malware (the Android platform getting the bigger bite of the pie chart), users are advised to exercise precaution. Almost all entry vectors of these infections are user installed or are allowed by users. Mobile malware (at least for the time being) are relying heavily on social engineering to trick users into getting infected. At this point, prevention is still within the end user's powers and being critical about what gets into your device is key to ensuring that you will have less chance of getting infected.

You can get more information on Android-based threats here: http://blog.trendmicro.com/a-snapshot-of-android-threats-infographic/