PHOTOGRAPHING GOOD FRIDAY.....

Enlightenment.....





Station of the Cross.....





Crucifixion.....





For this year, I went out during the Holy Week and decided to go to a part of Manila that I haven't spent some time for Lent, Intramuros. The area has the two high profile churches in its area, The Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church. These churches are well known more for being the "fairytale wedding churches venue", the ideal church for a couple's fairytale wedding. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore these two churches, the sense of history that it contains and of course its architecture. What I wanted to find out was how did these churches observe Holy Week. I know that basicaly from one Catholic church to another, the rituals stay the same. What I wanted to see was how these churches opened its doors to the people in the observance of Holy Week.

Peace be with everyone.

ST. MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH IN KAWIT, CAVITE

The Church.....






The Plaque.....





Retablo.....





Bell Tower.....





The Believer.....





The Altar.....







Agony in the Garden.....






A Historical Record.....




After we had our lunch, we proceeded to look for other places to photograph. The town church and the Aguinaldo Shrine were recommended to us. It wasn't difficult at all to search for it as both were near the restaurant.

The St. Mary Magdalene Church is one of the oldest churches ever built. It was first made of wood in 1638. The church is a silent witness to our history as it is where a baby named Emilio Aguinaldo was baptized. In fact, the ledger for baptisms that has the name of the general can be seen displayed in a corner inside the church.

Today, the church has been remodeled to withstand the ravages of time. Though I am for the preservation of a church's original design structure, I guess it can't be helped if modern elements were incorporated during the renovations.

A gracious lady who had been cleaning the altar allowed us to take photos of the church. We stayed and took pictures until it was five in the afternoon. There wasn't any time left for us to go to the Aguinaldo Shrine. The light was fading fast so we decided to go home and just visit the shrine for another day.

So, how did we find our way home? Simple, we followed these big buses that ply the Cavite-Lawton route and we were back on track.

GETTING LOST BUT ENJOYING THE RIDE.....

Cottages Galore.....





The Water Camp.....






A Panoramic View of the Restaurant.....





The Connecting Bridge





Flowers by the Pool.....






The Aviary.....






The Parking Area.....






The Walkway.....






The View That Caught Our Eyes.....






Right after we decided to head back to Manila from Amadeo in Cavite, we unfortunately got lost on our way home. Bless was sure that the road we traveled going back was the right one but it was pretty obvious after sometime that we were on unfamiliar territory as we headed home. At first, I recognized some of the landmarks that we passed by earlier in the morning but it became a haze of streets in the long stretch.

We ended up being in Kawit, Cavite. Feeling hungry and desperate to satisfy our hunger, we searched the area for a decent place to eat, even a fast food joint will do! We were lucky as we didn't cruise for long as it turned out that we were near the main branch of Josephine's Restaurant! It was our luck that it was a Sunday and noticed their lunch and dinner eat all you can promo at two hundred and twenty five bucks per person. I recall Josephine's as one of those restaurants that my family frequents whenever we wanted to eat seafood. Nowadays, they have a more "lutong bahay" appeal like Barrio Fiesta. The dishes tasted great, too bad though but I think the restaurant has a policy of not topping up the dishes once it is about to be consumed. I so loved their kare-kareng gulay but was miffed when the staff didn't bother to replenish the serving dish. Unlucky for the next customers who shall come over to eat if they find out that their food options are limited. As what we say in Tagalog, tira-tira!

I ended up having a chat with the restaurant's owner, Ms. Irma who is a granddaughter of Josephine's the original owner of the restaurant. She claimed that during the time her lola was still young and active, she decided to put up a restaurant. Never in her wildest dreams that her single restaurant shall become a chain of restaurants! As Josephine's health became frail, her kids began handling the business. Now, the owners of the remaining Josephine's restaurants are the third generation. She said that the restaurant is their lola's legacy to them.

This restaurant is rather huge. Connected to the main resto is a resort that is kid friendly with its swimming pool and offers room accommodations for guests to stay overnight and also different sized cabanas for those who wish to stay for a few hours. Their parking area is rather spacious and it even has an aviary at the corner. Guests who dined in at the restaurant can enter the resort for free but those who do not have to pay an admission fee. To those who are based in Cavite, this can be a wedding venue for those who intend to get married. Of course, they do cater to other events as well.

I asked Ms. Irma then about places worth photographing in Kawit, she pointed as to the town church and the Aguinaldo Shrine which was near each other. We thanked her for the tip as we continued getting lost in Kawit, Cavite but enjoying the ride.

AMADEO, AMADEO!! ROCK ME AMADEO!!!!!

Blue Skies, Green Fields.....






Walking On Stony Ground.....






More Mini Waterfalls.....






Enjoying A Cool Shower.....





An Alternative Shower System.....





The Mini Waterfalls.....





The Main Road Under Construction..... See How Steep It Is?





The Alternative Trail We Went To.....





Bless Hamming It Up Infront Of The Camera.....







A Wider Perspective of Where We Were (Thanks Mark Capistrano for these 2 pics).....





Bless, Buboy and Moi with Mon Ching and Mrs. Huang of FPPF.....





Sometimes, photo opportunities come unexpectedly. Club president Gigi sent text messages to all members telling us about a shoot to be held in Cavite, particularly in Amadeo. It was deemed as an OTS shoot so she was frantic to disseminate the information to insure that the club shall be represented in the shoot off. So even if it was my B-day, off I went with Bless and Buboy to Cavite.

We had a 7am call time so that meant we were on the road as early as 5:30 am. The odd thing was we didn't have any idea where we were going. There was a map posted at the club site but its difficult to look for a place, in this case, a resort, which didn't have a sign board that states the direction going to the place from the national highway. After numerous questions for directions, wrong turns and endless laughter, we finally found the right place.

The resort, called "Ang Batis ng Amadeo" is owned by the incumbent Amadeo mayor whose name I have forgotten. The main club hall, the resort itself and some of the roads were still under construction. But what caught my eye was the presence of armed bodyguards scattered around the area. As much as these men try to be invisible, my eyes just gravitate towards them. Who wouldn't when these men carry armalites and AK-47 rifles? Perhaps it was the lull in activity that drew me to the guards.

The host provided for breakfast of arrozcaldo, puto and soda to wash everything down. And while we ate, the mayor gave his talk of what he expected us to do. He first explained the presence of his armed bodyguards (a security measure since a mayor from a nearby town was gunned down with his political rivals as primary suspects), the history and motivation behind building up the place and what he wanted our photos to show. He wanted us photographers to explore the resort three kilometers up and three kilometers down from our main location and take pictures of any untapped water resources! This made my eyes huge! This guy wanted us to act as surveyors for his resort! We were located at the side of a mountain and he asked us to walk three kilometers up and down when all I saw was a dense forest surrounding our location. I guess his surveyor refused to do the job because of financial incompatibilities perhaps?

Bless, Buboy and I tried to walk beyond our location. But it really was impossible to do so. We tried walking up a trail that we saw but it lead us to nowhere. We just had to make do with where we were at and took pics of what we saw readily.

We didn't stay for long, unlike the others who stayed until they were fed with lunch which was promised to the participants. The location just didn't work for us. If somebody does win the prize, good for them. The three of us decided we had enough and went on our way home.

IN TIMES OF CUARESMA.....

Before.....





After.....





Before.....





After.....





Before.....





After.....






If there was a time in the life of Jesus that can be so dramatic and epic in its depiction, it is His life story leading to the events of His death. Even Hollywood has delved in the life of Christ with Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" being the last one.

I look forward to the Lenten Season every year. The usual sounds of the hustle and bustle of the streets of Manila turn into a quiet rumble of church goers who flock to the churches and prepare themselves for the observance of the holiday. And it also happens to be a season worth taking photographs of. But one also has to search for it though.

Places like Angeles and Cutud in Pampanga are sure places where photographers can really expect to have great pictures of Lent. But it does take a special mental frame for one to do so. Squeamish people are advised to back away as the blood and gore may be too much for them to handle. And if you also happen to be someone who abhors extremely hot weather while shooting, then better stay at home too. Lent is associated with summer and summers in the Philippines nowadays are getting hotter and hotter, perhaps a result of global warming. Too bad though that these places, Cutud in particular have turned into a tourist fiesta, what with the sheer number of people, both local and foreign trooping to the site to watch a few men get crucified to the cross.

An alternative to shooting live penitential scenes are to shoot statues and tableau that depict the Sorrowful Mysteries of Christ. I remember watching in awe the Good Friday procession that featured life sized statues that told the story when I was young. What impressed me was the attention to detail and the realism that the sculptors of these statues showed. How does one sculpt teardrops and blood drops? A statue of a suffering Christ that showed distended veins in His hands and neck used to scare me a lot. And who can forget those menacing looks of the Roman soldiers? But my all time favorite is a statue that shows a human expression, whether it be about anger, sorrow or any other emotion. A statue may be made out of wood or marble and are therefore cold, but the expression it exhibits in my eye, makes it human.

The group Hermandad de la Sagrada Pasion de Jesus asked the club to take pictures of their Lenten statues and some of the photos shall be used for a coffee table book that the group is pursuing to publish in the future. The group is composed of families who own and take care of these life sized statues and are usually being taken out of their respective houses to be paraded around their community during the Good Friday procession. We accepted their proposal and took the job seriously. The cramped space proved to be a big challenge though so a lot of post processing work had to be done for each. Some turned out to be hits, some were misses. Pfffffttttt!