Rex |

While waiting for our bill at Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria earlier this evening, I decided to take photos outside the restaurant since the place has a good vantage point of Iloilo City’s busiest intersection. With a mini-tripod at hand, I was playing around with my camera’s settings trying to take 15-second exposures of the night traffic. My point-and-shoot had no manual controls so I had to experiment  with different scene modes while tweaking what I can in the ISO and shutter speed settings.

While I snapped some shots of a group of policemen across the intersection, a man approached me from behind and asked if I was taking pictures of the policemen. Well, obviously, but I told him I was taking pictures of anything. Indeed, from a photographer’s point of view, it is very normal to be taking pictures of anything at any time. But this man asked me the same question again. Then another man came, then another. They kept asking me questions.

“What are you taking pictures of? The Policemen?” “Are you from the media?” “Where are you going to use your pictures?” “Are you a student?” “What are you going to do with your pictures?” “What are you taking pictures of?” [questions translated from Hiligaynon]

I tried to answer their questions.. “No, I’m not from the media… I have a flickr and a photoblog in the internet… I’m a student from UP [didn't bother to explain I work at the same time].. I take pictures of anything..” However, they just seemed to repeat their questions and they were now surrounding me. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 1% [?]

Another case of photos being ripped off the internet. I’m posting it here because the photo involved is mine. The culprit? Most likely someone from the Iloilo Provincial Capitol.

I and some online friends ventured into the Iloilo Capitol one day to take pictures of the sleek building and the panoramic views from its balconies. I’ve done it before so the views were already familiar to me. However, one familiar sight bothered me. It was the sight of the Iloilo Governor’s poster on the lobby wall.

Governor Neil Tupas' poster in the Capitol

There was that state of déjà vu. I felt like I have seen the image in the background before. I felt that it was mine. But I wasn’t sure since it’s been about two years since I took a photo like that. Somebody else could have just taken a similar angle, who knows? Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 25% [?]

I was on my way to Cebu for a school field trip last week. As usual, I was taking photos of the little details of  the beautiful Iloilo Airport. I was taking pictures of the LCD screens while waiting in line at the check-in counters when, again, I noticed something eerily familiar.

The display of an LCD TV at the Iloilo Airport with the 'suspect' photo at the lower right corner

To my utter disbelief , one of the rotating photos on the LCD display looked just like one of my airport photos I posted on the internet! I briefly mentioned it to a classmate, Noel, who was with me but  I soon brushed aside the thought that someone again used my photo off the internet without permission. The airport should be able to take photos of their own building! Perhaps the angle was just similar?

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4% [?]