It was in the summer of '94 when I won 2nd Place on a Photography contest on a Nationwide Leadership Training Camp by the Philippine National Red Cross for volunteers all over the country. I didn't get to see the 2 photos I took but I'd bet it was good, or else I wouldn't have won (unless there are only 2 participants and 1 of them was me). None of the participants on the activity was a professional photographer, this is our first time to ever use an SLR camera. After a very very brief session about how the camera works and a few descriptions about shutter speeds, apertures, proper camera handling, etc. We were each given 20mins to find our subjects and shoot. It took me around 5mins to find a subject that I like, not because I am good at composing photos but because I was not comfortable walking around with someone following me, the owner of the SLR camera we're using.
The whole experience gave me a glimpse about photography, got me excited and wanted discover more. But the cost of SLR cameras, lenses, films, developing and other photography-stuffs held me back. Several years, a wife and a daughter later.. I was reunited with my urge for photography, thanks to the good image quality of my mobile phone camera, the Sony Ericsson P990i. I received good comments on the photos I took on my trip to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte using my mobile phone and they are suggesting I get a DSLR. But I can't afford to buy a DSLR right now so I looked for a cheaper alternative, a point-and-shoot camera that has manual modes that would allow me to play with different exposures and settings. Then I found the Canon Powershot A590IS. It's no DSLR, but for a beginner like my, it would do. The A590IS has a manual mode that I hope would help me understand more about the technicalities of photography (shutter speeds, ISO, aperture, etc.) before I shell out a huge amount of cash on an entry-level DSLR.
A week after buying my camera, I had the chance to go to Bolinao, Pangasinan for an official business trip. The trip gave me a chance to try out my camera. The images I posted on this article are the first and the last of the shots I took during the trip using my A590IS. More photos of Bolinao will be on my next post (or you can just visit my Flickr page).
