Cars, More fun in the Philippines, a photo from Tarlac, Central Luzon

Photographer's Note

More fun in the Philippines- the new Tourism slogan of my country, decided to create one for myself. Anyway, as to the photo

BACKGROUND about the Place:
This is a continuation from my previous
Post, a Paradise Reborn.

Tarlac was one of the provinces severely damaged by Mt. Pinatubo's ferocious eruption in the year 1991. That cataclysmic phenomena evoked global cooling and the largest eruption in living memory. Its eruption was felt world wide. Ash fell over most of the South China Sea and ashfall was recorded as far away as Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. So if you could imagine what damage has been done in this province in which the craters mouth is located.

Vast amount of lahar deposits are still evident in this province.
People who reside here are called Aetas, I wonder how they survived during the eruption.

BACKGROUND on the People:
Aeta-are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of Luzon, Philippines. They are considered to be Negritos, who are dark to very dark brown-skinned and tend to have features such as a small stature, small frame, curly to kinky afro-like textured hair with a higher frequency of naturally lighter hair color (blondism) relative to the general population, small nose, and dark brown eyes. They are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, preceding the Austronesian migrations.

SHOT:
I'm still workin on my photographic hands in capturing images while moving. The subject is a bit out of focus. This was taken inside a 4x4 pick up, quite fast and very bumpy rough road-(as you could see those mini boulders and lahar deposits, they surely gave us a 2-hour rough ride)!

For your pleasure, kindly check the complimentary image to see the landscape from this place. You'll feel how rough the roads were.
Lucky me, i've even captured this one without cutting of their heads.

macjake, kato, annjackman, CLODO, timecapturer, jjcordier, sacimar, adramad, danos, adores, nikkitta trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Vato_Law (12718) 2012-04-25 8:44

Hello Matt.

well hard to talk about horse power here but buffalo power maybe. It's a curious mean of transport but looking at the road conditions it might not be as bad as that.
Honnestly I think even a 4x4 will have some troubles on those things they call roads.

Nevertheless it's a fine piece of documentary photo and a funny one too.

About the sharpness I see quite fine here and don't find it shaky.

Cheers.
Paulo

macjake (39227) 2012-04-25 8:49

Hi Matt
so whats the horsepower in this vehicle?
sorry, couldn't resist that one!
i really like the WS photo you included as it adds to the overall landscape, being able to see the rough terrain.
not exactly the most sophisticated piece of machinery, but i'm sure it gets the job done.
excellent daily life scene, well captured, and the movement of the truck is not noticeable.
cool scene
cheers
craig

JFS (32129) 2012-04-25 9:21

Excellent shot of the hard daylife of these people, I saw the landscape in your WS and it's really difficult to live in but they found their way to move... Great photo Matt!

Cheers,
Juan

GREGG (8243) 2012-04-25 9:26

Hi Matt,
interesting job
showing the daily transportation of people in the Philippines,
I like the technical side, a good composition
nice frame
Regards,
Greg

Miguel82 (7790) 2012-04-25 9:28

Hello Matt
A wonderful scene
interesting shot with good sharpness
nice colors
have a nice day

agjika (4011) 2012-04-25 14:45

Hi Mat,
You are right this photo could have been sharper, a bit more but does it really matter? This is like from another planet, star wars scene!

As for shooting moving subject, I would have stopped the car, got out, IS on, Al Servo a bit of panning a through a few shots. Although frankly the speed these guys are moving hardly requires that.

Fantastic photo, thanks for sharing

Aleks

kato (6767) 2012-04-25 21:12

Hi Matt,

You're capturing well this documetary scene by a good composition and excellent tone/clarity, so it's impressive to see grey ashes covered much on ground by the eruption of craters mouth and a boy and children who move by a water buffalo. It is help that there is no darkness in their expression.

Kind regards,
mikio

annjackman (13195) 2012-04-26 1:00

Hello Matt,
The difficult terrain is well captured here and the small group on this buffalo-powered transport is very well caught. A very interesting image and note - excellent.
Regards, Ann

CLODO (24726) 2012-04-26 1:05

hi Matt

Thank you for posting remote countries pictures, where the 21st century does not mean the same thing than in the Western ones. This is a self made car, with tyres! which is helpfull for the family to move, even on the bumpy "roads".
regards
CLODO

timecapturer (30324) 2012-04-26 3:11

Hi Matt
a delightful image. Love the aspect and the expressive quality of this shot. Full of character and wonderful detail. I love it!

Have a good day - Brian.

jjcordier (62328) 2012-04-26 5:10

Matt
Jolie prise de cette quatre pattes motrices certainement aussi efficace dans ces routes que les coûteux 4x4 (un peu moins rapide peut-être mais moins bruyante, c'est sûr!). Pour se balader dans le magnifique paysage que tu nous montres en WS, c'est certainement l'idéal. Belle et intéressante photo.
Amicalement
JJ

sacimar (25957) 2012-05-02 8:03

Hello Matt,

I like this image, the moment you captured is interesting , the focus on the animal is a good idea and the surrounding area catch my attention too, well seen,

Best regards,

Sergio

willperrett (2955) 2012-05-15 12:53

Hello Matt
If this was taken from a moving vehicle, you've done a pretty good job. Mind you 1/2500 sec should be enough to freeze a bullock cart! I wonder what ISO setting you used... Despite this being a grab shot it's well composed (as you say, you didn't cut their heads off!), and I like the colourful group against the neutral tones of the surroundings. I wonder how far they were going.
Good work.
Regards
Will

adramad (27552) 2012-05-16 7:31

Hi Matt.
Despite the difficulties to capture the photo, as shown in the comment, the image is invaluable graphic, with this group of people in this carriage as rural, fantastic portrait of group of people, the animal gives a special touch the image.
Well done.
Best regards.
Luis.

delpeoples (44904) 2012-05-17 3:47

Hola dear Matt

What a great slogan! Tourism Phillipines should have you on their pay-roll. This is a very different photo from you. I'm used to seeing stunning seascapes and up close portraits. But this is just as good and very endearing. I love the light-heartedness of the shot, it's a lot of fun and has made me smile.

Thanks for sharing, have a beautiful day
Lisa

danos (73974) 2012-05-24 5:26

Hello Matt,
nice the snapshot with the carriage to transfers the three children as the older one.As i see there is not exist a road so the tranportation in the area is so difficult.A good reportage shot from your country.

Regards,Danos

npecanhuk (53901) 2012-05-24 6:42

Hello Matt!
Very interesting and attractive daily life scene!
Certainly a hard routine for those boys!
Overall photo quality is excellent!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

ChrisJ (86862) 2012-05-25 3:11

Hello Matt.

You are definitely on the right track with 1/2500 second! I often took shots at 1/1000 second from moving buses. I am not sure what a Nikon D90 can do yet. Good daily life scene with excellent sharpness & negligible motion blur. Good colour & framing on the oxcart & occupants. Tfs!

alpi1500 (1376) 2012-05-25 5:43

Hi
İmpressive view and good composition.İt’s a very interesting subject.Succesful management of light.
Have a nice day.

MJR (3147) 2012-06-02 5:54

Matt

This is a winner for me !

Not much material but such a big story..

I love the colours and the whole atmosphere you have captured here, its wonderful.

Its also pretty reminiscent for me a long days trip by ox cart in Nepal, when I was too sick too walk !

rgds
Martin

adores (28210) 2012-06-03 19:28

Hi Matt!
Seems I've been missing some of your posts! I really like this one! I'm sure life is not that easy for them, but you captured a great daily scene! The little one trying to lead the buffalo is just great. Well captured! And you did a good job!

nikkitta (5862) 2012-06-11 12:44

Hola Matt

Now how far from Argentina you are!
Great idea to capture this very interesting daily live in Philippines, obviously a chat hand made that works in this kind of rough road
I believe better than a 4x4 pick up from where you manage to obtain a very good capture
Informative note and WS
Greetings and TFS

Maria
I have seen also some kind of chats with oxes in Paraguay

Waylim (22355) 2012-06-11 15:51

Hi Matt,

While it is not the as sharp as it can be, but I think it is in good focus and as sharp as and in good quality than most we seen here on TE.

Excellent daily life in the rural Philippines, and yes, this car is more fun with one buffalo power intead of horse power :)

Way

leo61 (0) 2012-07-08 10:35