Lens Talk with Wowie Pascual

This is the start of Lens Talk series featuring Photographers and their noticeable amazing captures.

For its initial offering, Lens Talk features the works of Wowie Pascual. I first came across with his works through the Facebook group page Pinoy Photography Organization and from there I became a fan of his photography.

Sir Wowie was a Fine Arts graduate of Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He said he likes capturing people’s moments and great landscapes. He was an OFW for 12 years working as an Interior Designer for the Ministry of Defense in Kuwait. And currently he’s back in the country for good, doing Freelance Photography.

He learned photography a lot during his stay in Kuwait as a hobby to counter homesickness. He joined different photography organizations like Pindot Pinoy Photographers and Digital Photographer Philippines. He dreamed to excel in the field like his teacher Manny Librodo and his idol in paintography Maricris Fabi Carlos.

Asked What’s the best thing about photography, his responses were:

“The best thing about photography dito ko mailalabas ang mga nararamdaman ng taong o subject ng nakukunan ng lente ko. Sabi nga ni Dino Lara, it’s not how good you take picture but how good you feel about the pictures you take.

Although this adventure has just begun for me, my photography has taken to levels I would never have dreamed. Not only does the PAINTOGRAPHY process overcome many of the current limits of technology and equipment, it has opened up a new plateau of discovery where vision and persona can magically transform into a new dimension of time, light, and color.

My background is in Fine Arts and Design. As a Game designer, I tend to look at the world in both a digital and artistic way. People consume art as a form of escapism, and its proven that people tend to enjoy escaping into somewhat stylized environment because it allows them to overlay their own emotional context and make it more personal.”

“IM NOT JUST A PHOTOGRAPHER, I AM AN ARTIST TOO”

Below are his works; Be amazed, Be captured and listen to what his lens has to say. Enjoy.

Por Favor

On it’s 3rd year Saranggola Blog Awards will again honor bloggers in the fields of Poetry and Short Story writing. It’s aim is to encourage bloggers to write in Filipino (so ironic that I’m writing this in English. hehe) and promote Filipino poems and creative writing.

This year I am very happy to be part of it, and as a first timer in this kind of contest I am very excited for the results. As what many contenders in any contests say, it’s enough for them just to be part of it and not expecting to win. Yeah it’s really an honor to be part of a competition but I will not be hypocrite to say I don’t want to win, because I really do.

That’s why I am writing this to share with you my entries and ask for your help. SBA will be giving the Blog Sikat award to the entries with the most LIKES. Below are the links to my entries, hope you can have the time to read those and if you liked it, kindly hit the LIKE button at the end of every entries.

http://www.saranggolablogawards.com/2011/10/psp-maikling-kwento.html
http://www.saranggolablogawards.com/2011/10/karapatang-makapaglaro.html
http://www.saranggolablogawards.com/2011/10/mga-makabagong-laruan-blog.html
http://www.saranggolablogawards.com/2011/10/lobo-larawan.html

Thank you in advance for your help. Win or loose it will still be a success.

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“Winning a contest is a sweet surprise but knowing you have people who help you win is the greatest prize.

Malungkot na Araw

Itong buong linggo bumalandra sa ating mga mata ang mga balitang patayan at krimen. Kabi-kabilang balita mula sa mga premier newscast ng mga broadcasting stations ang may patungkol sa mga malalagim at malulungkot na pagkamatay. Andyan ang pagkamatay ng mga sundalong nakikipaglaban para sa kapayapaan sa Mindanao. Hindi ba nakakalungkot isipin na dahil sa kanilang kagustuhan na mabigyan ng kapayapaan ang ating mga kababayan sa pinakatimog na bahagi ng ating bansa ay kakailanganin naman nilang gumamit ng armas at makipagbarilan, na ang kinahantungan ay kanilang kamatayan.

Isa rin sa pumukaw ng ating kamalayan ay ang kabikabilang pagpapakamatay at pagpatay sa mga sariling pamilya. Kung ating susuriin anong lipunan ba meron na tayo ngayon at nagreresulta na sa pagpapakamatay ang mga tao. Maaring sarili nila itong desisyon ngunit hindi maiaalis na hanapan natin ito ng kaugnayan sa kalagayan ng kanilang pamumuhay. Nakakalungkot lamang na kinailangan pa nila tapusin ang kanilang buhay dahil lamang sa hindi nila nakayanang problema.

Isa pa sa mga balita ay ang pagkamatay ng Libyan Leader na si Moammar Gaddafi. Ikinatuwa man o ipinagbunyi ito ng nakakarami pero hindi rin naman natin maiaalis ang kalungkutan sa pamilya at mga tagsuporta nitong naiwan. Ano pa man ang ating sabihin tungkol sa kaniyang nagawang masasama, sa mata ng kanyang kaanak, pamilya at mga tagasuporta ay kalungkutan dahil isa itong kawalan para sa kanila.

Ngunit naisulat ko itong post na ito hindi dahil sa mga malulungkot na balitang yan, ngunit dahil sa malungkot na pangyayari ngayon hapon. NADELETE ko ang buong inbox ko dahil sa katangahan.hehehe. Dahil sa pagmamadali sa paggamit ng celphone at sa bilis ng daliri sa pagpindot, ang SENTBOX na dapat i-dedelete dahil puno na ang memory ay INBOX pala. Habang nadedelete ang mga messages bigla kong naalala na may recycle bin ang aking phone kaya bahagya akong nabuhayan ng pag-asa. Ngunit anong saklap nang puntahan ko na ang recycle bin para i-restore ang mga nabura na 10% or 50 messages lang pala ang nakakayang isalba ng recycle bin. Dahil dun tuluyan nang nalugmok ang aking diwa sa lungkot. Wala na ang mga mensaheng matagal na iningatan at wala na rin paraan para sila’y muling masilayan.

Hindi ba napakalungkot isipin na ang mga bagay na ating iningatan ay ganun-ganun na lamang mawawala. Na yung mga bagay na pinaglaanan natin ng pagiingat at pagpapahalaga ay tuluyan nang maglalaho. Sa kahit anong bagay maliit man or malaki, ang pagkawala at paglisan at isang bagay na talaga namang nakakalungkot, lalo na kung ang mga bagay na yun ay minsang nagpasaya at nagpangiti sa atin. Maliit na bagay nga siguro ang isang text message ngunit ang mga alaala na nakapaloob sa simpleng mensahe na iyon ay walang kapalit. Mga mensaheng iningatan at inalagaan sa paglipas ng panahon na siyang dahilan ng mga ngiti noon.

Kaya sa susunod dapat hindi na tatanga-tanga. Basahin muna kung saang section ng phone napunta at huwag agad-agad gagamitin nang delete all, dahil ang katumbas nito’y mistulang hagulgol. hehehe. #LEARNED

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“Mas masarap alalahanin ang mga alaala lalo na kung meron kang binabasa”

Text Message

A usual night working in office
A Tuesday that seems an ordinary drill
Striking the keyboard and staring at the screen
Real simple office night without special something
Then suddenly a moment came, that I didn’t expect
Heard a tone from my phone and so I checked it
No name registered, just a number on the screen
Curious to know the message, so I open
I read 2 words on the screen and it’s very evident
I know now who the sender, but I tried to play a trick
I asked for the name just to spice it up
And a reply came asking for a guess or wild shot
When I texted the name I used to call her
Then it started our conversation and my night has brighten
It was an unexpected smile on an ordinary night
Never knew an ordinary Tuesday will have a special delight
I really missed talking to her with our laughing banter
And that one text message brought back our memories together
We ended our conversation after many exchanges
We bid goodbye, with our happy faces
We can never really, forget each other
Because of the common day, we are sharing each year

Still in Denial? No to State Burial.

Photo by Edwin Bacasmas

At the recent FOCAP meeting, Pres. Noynoy Aquino stated his decision not to give the former dictator president Ferdinand Marcos, state funeral on the Libingan ng mga Bayani or any military honors. This came after long debates and consultations whether or not to give the late president state honors. On the part of the Aquino government, they said the president considered “Justice as the reason” for denying military honors and state funeral for Marcos.

On the other side, the family of the revered Ilocono president claimed that President Aquino has no word of honor. They said the consultations and debates are just “theatrical acts” since there have been final decision from the very start. Sen. Bongbong Marcos (the only son of the late dictator) even said “It is very hard to deal in good faith with somebody who does not have one word on the subject”. He also said that this issue causes division among the people which is not good for the country.

As for my take, this issue is long overdue. In my humble opinion this could have been settled long ago, should only the Marcos family let go of their wish to have their patriarch given a state honor. If they want to give Ferdie the peace that they longed, why didn’t they buried him in his hometown in Ilocos. What will be the difference (for them) if he will be buried on an ordinary cemetery? Is it that, they still want to be famous up to the grave? If they want to have unification isn’t the more logical thing to do is to let the dictator be laid to rest so that the issue will no longer haunt our society.

I cannot say and I would not say that Marcos didn’t do anything good for our country, but in weighing his mark in our history, the abuses and injustice that he caused during the martial rule was enough reason not to give him the honor that is supposed due to him. If Bongbong is crying divisiveness, what will the martial law victims feel, if FM will be given the state honor they want? Will it unify the country at all? And up until now they still not recognize those abuses during his presidency. How can people forgive and forget when apology and acceptance of the mistakes are not shown?

In any sides, this issue will keep on dividing the country. Because the family will always call for the state burial but the anti-Marcos society will always dissent. So if they really love their father and Imelda loves her husband, they should give him the burial that is long due to him. If they really think he deserves the honor, then give it to him by laying him to rest. On the part of the government on the other hand or on the President at the very least, he should have already said NO, since it will be understandable because Noynoy’s father the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino was one of the victims of the martial law. But instead they hanged the nation into these consultation efforts which at the end boiled down to the decision that should be expected from the very start.

Filipinos are forgiving but forgetting those events that curtailed our democracy is far beyond I can imagine. The victims may all die, but their generations will live on and forever will contradict any move to give the former dictator any Heroic or State Burial.

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“An honor given by the state can be sweet, but it’s people’s honor given to you that matters”