Thursday, January 20, 2011

A Prayer in Times of Crisis

Abe V Rotor

Father Almighty, teach us to know, reach, share and love one another as one family and one community enlightened with these virtues.
  • The value of Temperance - the act of moderation measured by our love surrendering itself wholly to You;
  • Courage, that we may do the brave thing in the face of difficulties and danger;
  • Justice, that love which we would wish others to treat us the way we treat them;
  • Prudence, which is love that makes wise distinction between what hinders and what helps to do a thing;
  • Compassion, the greatest form of sharing that binds us with peace, unity and understanding; and above all
  • Humility, the greatest love of all.

Open our minds and hearts then, Father Almighty, that we may be filled, through our small deeds, in everyday of our lives, and wherever we may be, with these virtues of temperance, courage, justice, prudence, compassion and humility, all for Your Glory. Amen.


*A prayer as one people and nation in these critical times as we face the current series of heinous crimes gripping the country, the spiraling prices of basic commodities, the wrath of man-induced calamities, and our fading trust and confidence on our leaders and institutions, the present capitalistic system, notwithstanding.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Temple in the Sky

Abe V Rotor
By the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand 2010


Like a magic carpet that flies about
that spans the space from north to south -
words that touch the world and the living soul
come from a dying lip or a babe's mouth.

Peace a child sings in a make believe boat
lives forever, haunts lovely those who sought
the fame the lost Atlantis brings in dream,
Ad infinitum preserved should this be taught.

Where a road forks, I stand at a bend -
which shall I take, what waits at the end?
The grass is tall in one, the other bare,
serpent or bright sun is neither friend.

Fireflies and stars and the night are one,
like flowers and bees and morning sun;
little things we say, God hath given us;
be the fireflies when the stars are gone. ~

Part 2: Prelims Review in Photojournalism

Dr Abe V Rotor

This part is home exam. Photo Essay. Layout on long bond center spread - cut-and-paste and/or fully computerized.

Select 5 to 7 related photos to support the topic of your choice. Write the running story and the caption of each photo selected. Be sure your work sets the premise before the theme, and clearly defines your advocacy, with the "human factor" that touches your viewer-reader.


Palaspas kills thousands of palms
Frolic in the rain
Mascot
Beauty and the beast

Begging for school

Field research
Relics of death
Two kids
Angry sky - global warming

Mask, mask, mask


Outdoor study

WWII Memorial

Who is afraid of the kapre? Balete tree on a church ruin

Community at harvest time

Pristine environment
Symbiosis, key to a balanced biosphere

Quaintness of childhood on the farm

A thing of beauty is a boy forever

Kapamilya on picnic

Errand
Kite - will it fly?

Playing with saints

Friendly eagle


Part 1: Photojournalism Prelims Review (True or False)

Dr Abe V Rotor

___1. For best results there is no substitute to having a manual camera with semi-automatic system for photographic art – kahit digital camera pa.
__ 2 . When taking pictures, the rule is that the source of light must be at the back of the photographer.
___3. The lens opening of a camera is like the pupil of the human eye.
___4. Single lens reflex (SLR) means you are looking at the subject through the lens of the camera.
__ 5. Satellite imaging can detect weather disturbances, pollution; it can predict crop yield levels, and in fact even hideouts of terrorists.
___6. Satellite imaging is used in cartography, that is, the science of mapping the features of the earth.
__ 7. Deeper interpretation of contrast is in the subject of the photo, rather than interplay of light and shadow, colors and lines.
__ 8. The larger the lens opening the better is the depth of field.
__ 9. If the background is bright and your subjects are posed against it, what you can do to counteract glare is to use flash.
__10. Filters emphasize outlines, increases contrast of light and shadow, warm and cool and colors. It is also used in silhouette photography.
__11. The opening of a flower bud step by step is recorded by means of time lapse photography, a technique that compresses time to enable the eye to witness the event in a short time frame.
__12. Buildings appear in concentric circle converging at the top if you use fisheye lens.
__13.When using a wide angle lens for a group photo, those on the sides appear to be very thin while those at the center are fat.
__14. Telezoom lenses extend the view, compressing distance, thus they are used in war zones.
__15.Allow the pupil of the eye to narrow down by sending a series of faint flashes before the real flash is made. This is to prevent red eye in the photograph.
_ 16. With the state-of-the-art digital photography, a poorly taken photo can be edited anyway - so, why worry?
__17. Black and white photos are simpler to process and print than color photographs.
__18. The computer is equipped with a software to correct blurred, burned, incomplete and misaligned photos to appear normal.
__ 19. As a rule do not retouch a historical documentary photos; they are more authentic in their original state.
__ 20. It is easier to photograph emotions rather than features, because they come naturally, while you have to do a lot of script in the latter.
__21. A famous photograph – a naked young girl, her body burned by napalm (Orange Agent) running along a highway with other children, while soldiers simply didn’t mind, was taken during the recent Iraq war.
__22. A lone man standing in front of a column of tanks was taken during the Vietnam war. The photo freezes the action as if the man succeeded in his suicidal act.
__23. Today, photography – from shooting to printing - can be done in a home studio, and therefore offers a good business opportunity. In fact documentaries and short movies can be done.
__24. Composition is the key to telling a story, be it a painting, a poem, a novel – or a photograph.
__25. The elements of art – are also the elements of photography.
__26. Foreshortened effect is shown on traffic signs written on the highway.
__27. 400 ASA/ISO/DIN film is more sensitive than 100 ASA/ISO/DIN film, in the same way as 4 megapixels is more sensitive than say, 2 megapixels.
__28. As the number increases - 30, 60, 100, 250, 500, 1000 – it means the shutter mechanism proportionately slows down or decreases speed.
__29. Here are three ways to improve your photo when lighting is poor: use tripod, use flash, increase ASA or DIN – in any combination, or all of them at the same time.
__30. You can get multiple exposures in a single shot of fireworks even without a tripod.
__31. Adjust shutter to B and mount camera on tripod when shooting night scenes – a busy street, Christmas lights, stars, constellation, etc.
__32. Today’s digital camera is more versatile, relatively cheaper, easier to operate – but not necessarily superior in quality - to film camera.
__33. Some digital cameras can used the lenses of film cameras, particularly SLRs.
__34. The most advanced digital cameras are made by Kodak.
__35.When a close up of flower is blurred, the subject is too close.
__36. Basketball player in air totally blurred – shutter speed is too slow.
__37. Sunny outdoor view is rough, with dot matrix like in “pointillism.” – ASA/ISO value too high.
__38. Photo is too light all over, no accent, clarity poor – insufficient light, lens opening too small, or both.
__39. When having your picture taken, relax your shoulder and your face muscles will also relax.
__40. “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Micro Safari” have one in common – micro photography.
__41. Light microscope reveals the world of microorganisms – countless of them in a single drop of water.
__42. Electron microscopy produces photographs of extremely small objects up to 5,000 times in a myriad of colors like a rainbow.
__43. Radio telescope enables the human eye to see very far objects like stars using the same principle of lens telescope.
__44. One area of photography that enables us to see fast moving objects normally invisible to the eye is through slow motion photography.
__45. The aura emitted by our body is visible through photography.
__46. Photography brings to the eyes of the world good things to appreciate, and evil things to correct.
__47. Photojournalism is a risky profession, like other media men, they risk their lives. In fact the Philippines has the most number of fatalities among media men, second to Iraq. t
__48. War is the arena of photography – war against poverty, graft and corruption, environmental degradation, diseases, ignorance, terrorism, and the like.
__49. Yet photography offers the newest, most modern, technologically advanced, now popularized to be enjoyed by millions of people everyday.
__50. Photography is the extension of our eyes and other senses, in fact our intellect, our feeling and our soul.~

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Clitorea purpurea

Photos by Marlo Rotor
Kumpitis (Clitorea purpurea), UST Botanical Garden

"Carolus Linnaeus, you are game,
you know what's different or same,
what resembles color and form
in man's wildest dream and storm." AVR

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Part 3: Prelims Review for Development Communication - Current Major Events

Dr Abe V Rotor

Guide topics for Development Communication

Choose one topic as a group (of three) work. Develop it like a thesis in form and presentation. (PowerPoint, print and group presentation in class.) Inclusive period, whole of February 2011


Population planning

Poverty

Juvenile delinquency

Global Warming

Maguindanao Massacre 2009

1. Death of Laguna Bay. The lake, which is more than 90,000 hectares, is in a state of irreversible decline which ultimately leads to ecological death.

2. School overload of school children. Childhood is no longer enjoyed because the school takes out its joy, adventure, and quaintness of growing up normally.

3. Genetically modified food. We are eating "Frankenfood" without our knowledge, more so our will and permission.

4. Gay and lesbian entertainment. There is a trend in not only in accepting, but promoting, third sex entertainment.

5. Talipapa. There is a talipapa somewhere in a corner - people's mall or grassroots informal market, reminiscent of village market in the past.

6. Tricycle and jeepney. People's engineering genius. What's next? These inventions have created sub-cultures of their own.

7. Life under the bridge. Poorest among the poor find home under the bridge, mostly in cities and big towns.

8. Bagsakan. They are found in Balintawak (Clover leaf market), Divisoria, Commonwealth are but few examples of people's wholesale markets.

9. Five-six. Underground lending. Illegal, exorbitant, yet it flourishes.

10. Jueteng. Truly it exists. Jueteng lords are are untouchable, they stand as padrino, they rise as political leaders.

11. Global Warming according to Aling Maria. How's the issue viewed and understood on the grassroots?

12. Three million Filipinos don't have enough food to eat. This is an underestimate.
But are there cases of death due to lack of food - like in Ethiopia and India?

13. Neurosis, psychosis on the rise. And suicide. Handling these cases by family and society needs research and redirection.
Depression

14. Exodus to cities
. In spite of degradation of life in urban centers - or is this the effect?

15. Functional literacy. The 3Rs of literacy - wRiting, Reading aRithmetic - no longer the measure of literacy today in our computer age.

16. Agriculture versus Ecology. Strange bedfellows. Is there a unifying formula?

17. Darwinism doesn't apply anymore. Evolution is now in the hands of man playing God.

18. Ecumenism to the layman. Pledges, rituals, diplomacy, protocol at the top - but what does it really mean to the ordinary faithful, irrespective of creed?

19. Biotechnology.
Cloning - what's cooking? Stem cells, in vitro, surrogate birth, post menopausal childbirth, and the like.

20. Cosmetics has gone a long way. We are changing the person.

21. Maguindanao Massacre. Justice delayed, justice denied. And the eyes of the world are focused on us. A case for the International Court of Justice?

22. Postmodernism. A misnomer? Are we simply drifting in the current of rapid change?

Reviving classical art with contemporary theme.
Paintings by the late Joey Velasco displayed during
the UST 400th anniversary retreat SMX, MOA

23. Child prodigies. Spurt or sprout? A certain "Alilea" was advertised to have a higher IQ than Galileo just by drinking a formulated milk product. Where is this child prodigy now?

24. Where is art heading for? What's beyond abstractionism? Is art history cyclical - we are going back to classicism. Or is it the opposite? Avant garde? Surrealism? Music to noise, ballet to break-and-split, poetry to simple makata.

25. Globalization is dissolving barriers - barriers of culture, genetics, politics, religion, economics, and the like. It is homogenization, it is loss of identity and diversity. Is it advantageous?

List is open ended. Suggestions are encouraged.