Trek To Pinatubo

I guess my friend Gen summed it up pretty nicely in a couple of text messages:

1. What possessed you to join (the trek to) Pinatubo?
2. Just never figured you to be the outdoorsy nature-tripper type.

To cut this story short, I first heard of last weekend's trip through Simon who wanted to see the crater lake while he's on vacation here in the Philippine. At P2,275 per person, I thought "Why not?"
It would be a trip I can chalk up to experience and was also prime opportunity to shoot landscapes with my new camera.

Snacks for the trip. Yes, it comes with different flavors now.

Honestly I wasn't excited about this trip. A huge part of me felt it was just something I had to do.
Maybe because Pinatubo just wasn't a dream destination. Maybe because I'm not the "outdoorsy nature-tripper type."

Streams of sulfur!

Nevertheless, I was amazed by what I saw heading up to the crater more than the crater itself.
Surrounded by these magnificent monuments and threading on what was once a river valley now full of sediments, it felt just like those journeys that I read about in fantasy novels. Like a journey through remnants long forgotten by history. In reality, a well-remembered recent history.

Of course, this stretch of the trek was what Travel Factor failed to include in its itinerary. It took about a couple of hours of endless walking through uneven, wet, sandy, rocky and downright messy terrain. The metropolitan boy in me was crying havoc the entire time as our assigned tour guide was leagues ahead of us. I didn't even get to take photos as I had to keep up. Thankfully, there were other trekkers and the trail was easy enough to follow.

This was a riot!

Then we get to a certain spot where the trek up to the crater actually begins. That wasn't so bad. The trail up the mountain is also easily navigable. Simon and I did well without a tour guide.

The reward after all that effort is the spectacular view of the crater. The site of a once massive explosion is now a serene green lake. Honestly I found it underwhelming. Then we head down to the lake and I had to face my acrophobia only to find out the lake is not really friendly towards amateur swimmers like me. It goes down deep really quickly. Bummer.

Still made for some nice photos though.
We spent about a couple of hours at the crater before deciding to head back down and go home.

The way back had just me, our guide and Luna with her sprained ankle. The other trekkers had gone ahead upon hearing about a landslide that leveled one of the 4x4's that drove us there. Since I wasn't in so much of a hurry, I was able to snap photos of the "valley of the gods". Thankfully, there was enough afternoon sunlight to shoot the scenery, which to me looked like something out of a Peter Jackson movie.

I suppose this journey to the Pinatubo crater lake just proved the adage that the journey is more important than the destination. I'm not keen on going back but I hope to see more sights like these in the country.

 

Here is video I took of our trip. Please excuse the audio.

Me, the Trigger Happy Shutter Bug

As part of my overall rehabilitation, I finally took a more serious interest in photography again.
The thing is I've always loved taking pictures. I remember in high school, I was always the undeclared yet designated documentalist of parties and other events.
In college, I took great photos for our plates in photography class. Except my photos with my partner Krystal as my subject came out blurred while her photos of me came out great. That was our final plate and I got a 70+ and she got 90+. But all of those ideas and concepts -  including the ones she shot me with, were all mine! I was just under student-leader-related stress when we were shooting them.

Krystal took this photo. Concept: MINE!

Anyway, I wanted to get a DSLR but I realized I didn't want the bulk just yet plus I had other things I really wanted to spend that budget on. Besides, while I know my way around a camera, I'm still not a pro. So I settled for a semi-pro, training camera instead. A bridge or zoom camera, if you will.

My ideal model just had to meet the following criteria:
1. Must have a viewfinder
2. Must run on non-proprietary AA batteries
3. Must write to SD cards
The only models that fit were the Kodak Z981 (my first choice but I couldn't find anywhere in the country), the Fuji Fine Pix S1800 (which received some unfavorable reviews) and the GE X5 - my new baby!

The GE X5 might be touted as the poor man's DSLR and it would be very flattering. I got mine for only P9,878 and it already came with a couple of 2gb SD cards (KingCom didn't have one 4gb card) and a couple of recheargeable batteries with charger (They give out four pieces in other branches. Was I shortchanged here?)
I actually thought I was gonna have to spend further for these additional items so when I found out the package already comes with them, I knew that unit was mine. Oh, and it's also glorious in black! (I didn't really care for the white version).

Despite not having a detachable lens and hot shoe, its manual controls are very impressive. I can actually compose my shots with adjustments to the aperture, shutter speed, ISO and even exposure compensation! The DSLR-lite form factor is a major plus too!
Of course, the X5 prides itself for its 15x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. I have yet to fully appreciate its immense zoom capabilities but it already makes for an interesting feature.

Very cute icons illustrating the X5's features

I've been having a lot fun with the X5 these past weeks. Mostly training my eyes to compose and getting the hang of photography again. I hardly ever shoot in automatic mode unless I actually mean for it to act like a basic point-and-shoot.

What's also great about my experience is that there is a local group of enthusiasts on Facebook.
 So we can chat about the camera and offer each other tips. I've given out a couple myself already.

Also, since my unit didn't come with its own carrying case, I've been looking around for one that isn't too expensive as most camera bags are wont to be because that would just defeat the purpose of getting the X5 at a steal. Thankfully, I dropped by Hidalgo today and discovered this from Fans Digital.

Its padded and fits the X5 just snugly. There are compartments for batteries and cards plus I can sling it over my shoulder or strap it to my belt. As luck would have it, it was also on sale: P420 from P840! Score two for me!

My mistake. I thought the 512mb was the 2gb one.

Someday I will be worthy of a DSLR. Right now, I just gotta go back to basics and evolve from there. May I just say that my skills and the camera both aren't too shabby either. Just check out these test photos I took these past few weeks!