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WORDS  of  THE VISUALS

Long overdue–but I’m posting some photos from our Palawan trip last March. Just wanted to share some shots from the roll.


Quick story: for some reason, my first roll turned out to not have any photos in it– I figured that it might’ve failed to cling to the sprocket properly or something (even though everything was turning well the whole time but whatever). Anyway, so I lost 36 photos BUT OK imma just let that one go (cue tears).

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We stayed at Astoria Palawan, where surprisingly their beach front & shoreline stretched so far, we didn’t really get the chance to swim around (we took photos around tho, obv). To be honest, the whole trip was more of an adventure type of vacation than the swimming type.


We toured around the city, but photos from there were supposedly all on my 1st roll (which Imma learn to let go but still pains me to this day huhuhu whyyyy ;____;), so it’s gone now. But I saw this SUPER CUTE gypsy themed cafe!!! ;___; Ugh, I wish I still have the photos but it was so perfect, I swear. We also went to Baker’s Hill, where i took a lot of Peacock photos (not the pop culture slang, I mean the actual animal).


UGH ANYWAY no use in crying over spilled milk.


After that, we did a little island hopping around Honda Bay and visited the underground river (WHICH IS CRAZY MAJESTIC. I don’t have photos from the inside of the cave because I don’t want to use flash and I was just really amazed and taking in everything–Nature is amazing yalls.)

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It’s a shame that we didn’t have enough time to tour around Puerto Princesa more– our tour guide told us a lot more interesting spots to visit. I also kinda feel bad that we didn’t get to swim that much (the heat was I N T E N S E, even for a swim!).



But I’d definitely go back to Palawan; maybe visit El Nido or Coron. One thing’s for sure: I’m double-checking that film loaded on my camera.

  • Jul 23, 2016

YES. YES, people I’ve finally got these babies processed and ready for the world to see (and scrutinized lol). I wanna share my first experience with Diana here and basically, with film. Although I would always look at Lomography as more experimental than the legit analog ones. Anyway, I’m sharing this because a) I just really want to share how I started with all this. How I experimented, and how I learned from many, many mistakes. And b) I don’t know, maybe somewhere out there, there’s a person who’s also starting out with this whole thing, and maybe this post will hopefully help encourage them to not be afraid with experimenting, making mistakes, and ultimately sharing their works to the world. Because they’re not alone with this level one thing–everyone started from the bottom, one way or another. It’s on how we grow that we need to focus on.


So anyway, here goes nothing.


I’m not gonna lie, I already made the stupidest mistake in the first step, which is puting on yo film. Never forget that films (especially those with higher ISO’s) are like….sponges. And light is the water. Films are able to capture images by the light it absorbs. SO make sure when you load that baby, you better be in a dark room, or at least a relatively dark room.



I think these were the ones that were captured while I was loading it because I’m a stupid ass bitch lol. It took me a minute before I even remembered the rule of thumb. I was excited, guys. TOO excited. 😒

Here are the first two photos I’ve ever taken with it! :



It’s my sister, actually! We went to Town that day and her outfit was on point too so it was a perfect timing of things. Here are some other "first shots" I was able to take! :




Other thoughts I can put in here is that, try not to keep a film in for too long unless you’re aiming for that expired film look. I read that if you want to keep your stack of films real fresh for a long time, keep it in the fridge. Another tricky thing that you’ll find yourself practicing with is the focus. Diana Mini has 4 ranges/options you can choose from: 0.6m, 1-2m, 2-4m, and 4m-infinity. Most people just opt for the 4m-infinity because its just the most convenient setting. Although, if you’re a perfectionist, I bet you’d be playing around with the focal lengths here and there. I’ve struggled with this too as you can see:



But you’ll get used to it once you get the hang of it! Tips for these is I think, to keep the body metric system thing in your head (like how 1-2m can be approximately one arm length away).


Double exposure = fun, interesting photos you’d never actually think you’d take. Probably one of the main things people look forward to/are drawn to about lomography and analog.



Funny thing about is that sometimes you commit it unintentionally. How? Oh, well, not making sure you winded your film completely (so make sure you do! There are guides regarding the winding that sometimes it get stuck/hard to wind, but there are ways to handle this to successfully wind your film) :



Over all, all these mistakes became a big role in this experience as a teacher to me on how this analog world works. Personally, I know this is kind of cliche, but just don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I know films are actually hard to come by these days and are actually pretty pricey (especially here in the Philippines, I think), but I think the beauty of this is learning to trust your gut (but with the right guide of the right logic of course) and just take the risk. Most especially if you’re just starting out. It’s all about experimenting–“I wonder what that does”, “I wonder what will happen if…”, “Did I actually get my shot?”


Personally, I loved how it kept me on my toes and how it was just a continuously curious, fun ride.



PS. I don’t know how yet, but make sure you keep track of how many shots you’ve taken. I think there were shots from my film that weren’t able to make it thru and get processed. I don’t know how that works yet, but I swear I have some missing shots here and there….hmmmm… Do any of you guys know anything about this or maybe have an advice for me regarding all this lomo stuff? Feel free to comment! 🙂


  • Sep 22, 2015

Some of my favorite shots from our Korea trip last May.


At this time of the year here in the Philippines (especially at our place), it’s supposed to be a bit cooler. But as announced in the news, it’s El Nino season which means hot, humid weather all the time–WHICH IS THE WORST. The humidity will drive you crazy, almost like it’s choking you or something. Anyway, the weather made me miss the wonderful springtime in Korea. We don’t really get that kind of cool weather here, so it was truly magical for me. Moreover, the little things that really made the trip; I miss all the cute flowers and store designs, and the fashion culture, and all the artsy-fartsy concepts of, well, everything. And let’s not even get to the organized lifestyle there (something that I reckon this country would never get until who knows when).

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