A recent trip back home a few weeks ago had me chasing low tide sunrise and sunset around Sarangani province.

The conditions was perfect that weekend: it's going to be lowtide at both the sunset and sunrise according to the tide forecast. As Sarangani bay had both POVs for sunrise and sunset (at opposite ends of the bay), I decided to revisit my favorite mangroves area there. But there was one catch - its a Valentine's weekend and my better half might not be keen on running around with me, getting to remote locations at ungodly hours.

I broached the subject of shooting the mangroves in Alabel, some 15km east of General Santos. I reasoned about how its perfect timing: lowtide at sunset, how I felt sunset will be great today, etc, but the deal clincher was how dinner would be perfect at the best crab restaurant in town after the shoot.

Nature couldn't decide that afternoon whether to rain or not. Twice I almost canceled the trip as the sky alternate between gloomy and sunny but decided to push through rather than regret the chance to shoot the scene I wanted.


a lone mangrove at sunset

The conditions were perfect while we were on our way to the location. Light was great and the beach deserted. Minutes before sunset rain clouds formed again, blocking the sun but adding to the drama of the scene. The clouds were moving as wind was blowing eastward. I figured (and hoped) the sky will clear in time for sunset.

Remember I mentioned that nature could not decided whether to rain or not that afternoon? Well it finally decided right on sunset. The wind stopped, the rain clouds got darker, the buckets of rain fell down. So much for sunset colors.

The saving grace for that trip was the crab restaurant that did not disappoint. Deal's a deal, sunset colors or not.

After dinner I casually mentioned again that its going to be low tide again tomorrow at sunrise and there's there perfect spot in Maasim (some 25 km away) with beautiful mangrove trees. Thought timing was perfect and she said dinner was great. A deal was struck again.

Friends from Koronadal (my hometown 50 km away from General Santos) decided to join me that morning. We found ourselves looking for our POVs at 4am in a deserted beach in Maasim. My friend's truck got stuck in the sand while looking for a place to park but we had more pressing matters. Sun's going to be up soon.



This time sunrise did not disappoint.We all had smiles on our faces (except one friend who forgot to bring the batteries he charged the night before) after the shoot. "Okay, time to get our truck unstuck, and no more shooting for the weekend", the boss said, seeing we had a great shoot. She spent the whole time sleeping in a rickety cottage by the shore, oblivious to the beautiful scene.


beautiful Maasim mangroves

Woke up early on Valentine's day. No, I was not planning to shoot the sunrise (no more photography for the weekend, remember?). Greeted my wife a "Happy Valentine's day" and went out (planning) to jog and drop by the flower stands on the way back.



As soon as I stepped out I saw a dawn sky bathed with amazing colors. I quickly grabbed my gears and headed to the nearby hills of Matulas, the roses can wait :D. I only got the tail end of the light display, but I'm not complaining. It was a great sunrise.Oh, the roses! :D I later got her a bunch of heart shaped balloons.

A trip to my favorite spot in Pangasinan once again yielded one of the most amazing sunset’s I’ve seen.

I never fail to head out to Cabacungan cove whenever I’m in the quaint fishing village of Tambobong in western Pangasinan. The cove, on a small island in Cainan point, offers a fantastic view of the western skies. I got some of my most memorable sunset shots from here, and each time I visit, the place offers something different.

The tide table indicated it will be high tide come sunset but we proceeded there anyway. The place had changed a bit – thorny bushes had reclaimed the trail we once used and the land seemed a bit parched than I remembered.



At low tide, a seaweed covered floor dotted with small pools is revealed – perfect for foreground, but I guess it’ll be for the next visit. I wandered around while waiting for the sunset, trying to look for a suitable POV. I was wishing for some “greens” or some wild flowers I can use for foreground elements but found none what would best go with the view I’m after. Sometimes you just can’t get what you want. It’s one of the challenging (and fun) things about outdoor photography. You can to a place hoping to photograph a scene you had in mind and then nature gives you a different one.



What I thought would be a mediocre sunset (it started with muted colors) suddenly redeemed itself with an explosion of colors: a bloodied sky with deep crimson, bright yellows and oranges. By the time this happened, the sun is already below the horizon, and the land is already getting dark. Time for plan B: silhouettes.



Not to be outmatched with the outrageous display of colors in the western skies, the clouds in the anti-sunset direction (east) glowed eerily in pastel colors.



The afterglow lingered for almost half an hour after the sun went down. It was the “longest” sunset I’ve seen so far.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Outdoor photographers say a picture is sometimes equivalent to damaged equipment, occasional bruises, or worse – broken limbs.

A viewer may marvel at a beautiful waterfall photo, the photographer may remember hours of trekking through muddy trails and leech infested streams. You may see serene coastal sunrise or sunset, I see bruises from sharp coral rocks, sunburn, and a camera nearly lost to the sea.

It’s always a challenge but somehow we keep on coming back. I think the challenge is not in the technical aspects of taking of the photo - sure we know how to use our filters and lenses and we are pretty much aware of how to maximize DOF in our landscapes by using the hyperfocal distance - the hard part is getting there and dealing with the elements (lucky you studio photographer!).

Last weekend’s trip to Pangasinan was great example. Everybody seemed to be going somewhere that Friday night, my friend Erick and I had trouble finding a (good) bus bound for either Alaminos or Dagupan. After checking out several bus stations, we finally found one - non aircon bus and last trip for the night. We had a great seat (eye roll), right at the end of the bus together with a rowdy crowd, piles of boxes and whatnots, and a rooster to boot. Yes, a rooster. Stuff like these scares the sandman away.

Five (no sleep) hours later, we arrived and met up with a group of friends in Dagupan and proceeded southwards to Dasol. This time transportation was upgraded, but there’s no time to get comfy, it’ll be sunrise in a few minutes. We stopped by an open beach lined with a broken sea wall and waited for the sun.



I would say lack of sleep sometimes makes you courageous (read: dumb) for I had foregone most of my usual precautions. I “courageously” went to a section where I thought where the waves are “tamer”. I was happily clicking away when a huge wave suddenly dumped a bucket of seawater on me. That’s when I realized the following: I have two phones in my pocket which are not “zip locked”, I forgot to put on the rain cover for my bag (which I should have left on the shore in the first place), and I had decided not to use my camera’s “rain coat” as well because I thought it was cumbersome. The feeling of elation at seeing great sunrise colors was replaced with pure panic – my camera is not exactly weather sealed (I’m sure my brother, who gave that camera as a gift after I had a “sea accident” with the previous one he gave, would say “what the hell?!?” when he reads this). As if to add insult to injury, I slipped on the way down.



So while the rest of my friends are fully immersed in capturing the beauty of sunrise that morning, I was there at the side, frantically cleaning my gears like a dog licking his wounds. I really thought everything’s damaged, but my some stroke of luck they weren’t (God bless you Sigma and Nikon engineers! – I wish I can say the same to the blokes of Canon hehehe). My phones survived, and so did the rest of my gears. I’ve gotten through the weekend and went home with some keepers.

Now you understand that while I’m happy to share my photos in my blog and photostreams in Facebook and Flickr, I say this to thieves who use them without permission: what the hell?!?!