Hot Air Balloons

A first in Indonesia.  A hot air balloon show in Sentul City...less than an hour away from Jakarta.  I got there late.  The balloons were already in the air and it was already soaring hot.  The ride was expensive at Rp.5 million or approximately $500.  There was a $10 ride which will take you up 20 meters only.  Since I got there quite late, I didn't get a chance to ride.


It really didn't matter because all I really wanted was to see the balloons.  I haven't seen one yet.  So I just took these pictures and had something to eat before I went back to Jakarta.  I wasn't able to get a good shot as the balloons already left when I arrived.  The only shot I was able to get was when they returned from their trip.  They were prepping them up for the afternoon flights I think.  But I wasn't in the mood to wait until the afternoon as the sun was really hot.  Well at least I can now say that I have seen a hot air balloon.

Back to sleep.....zzzzzzzzzzz

Ancol Sunset

What a hectic week!

I had planned on going home to the Philippines in the last week of March up to early April for the Holy Week.  I also wanted to celebrate the graduation of three of my four kids as well.  My wife was insisting I go there end April because that would be when the actual graduation ceremonies would be.  Due to work conflicts, I insisted going end March.

Well, excited as I was to see my family after so long, I started shopping for presents.  I spent the weekend going around town and out of town to do my shopping.  I asked my girls what they wanted and they asked for some Korean dresses.  I had no idea whatever what Korean dresses are supposed to look like.  So I went in a shop and took a picture of what I thought would be a Korean dress and sent the picture to my girls.  Well, they liked the dress but didn't tell me whether it was a Korean dress.  Anyway, I just bought it.

I was starting to stress myself out thinking about what to get for presents and at the same time, if we were going to have a good time.  So I decided to drop by Ancol to do some shooting to relieve myself of the stress.  Well I got lucky because I took some very nice shots there.  I had to wait for the sunset but it was all worth the wait for what I got.  Well sunsets are always great no matter where you are.  I was so eager to upload the shots I took.  Before I uploaded them, I got curious if anybody else had taken the same shots.  So I checked.  I was right.  Someone else had taken the same shots I did, from the same angle and also during sunset.  I uploaded my shots anyway.

Then, Monday came and I just learned that I couldn't leave end March also due to work.  I was so pissed off with myself for not knowing it.  So I just had to cancel.  It was a good thing we haven't paid for our hotel bookings in the Philippines.  We had planned on going out of town the whole time I was supposed to be there.  That really got me down the whole week.  But what can you do.  So I am stuck here again for the Holy Week and I will be missing my girls' graduations.  What a life.

My first photo shoot with a model

What a week that was last week.  I just stressed myself out over work the whole week until the weekend.  I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't eating well....hell I wasn't even shitting well!  I could not concentrate on anything the whole damn week.  I was like floating aimlessly through the days.  The worst day was Saturday night when I literally couldn't shit myself and I didn't sleep until 4 a.m. Sunday.  And then, to top it all off, I had to get up at 6 a.m. Sunday because I had a photo shoot to go to.  It was my first time to shoot a model.

Even at the photo shoot, I still was not focused.  Our model, Putri, turned out to be a tall, tan and slim woman.  I had this notion that she would be a small petite young girl.  But it was a pleasant surprise and she was really very nice.  She was accompanied by her friend, Astrid.  We shot at Sunda Kelapa Port.  Although I wasn't really keen on shooting there, my friend Freddin was insistent on shooting there out of curiousity.  So we all got there at 7 a.m. and started shooting immediately.

I was really nervous at first and I didn't know what to tell Putri to do.  My hands were practically shaking while holding the camera and I was fumbling with the controls.  I wasn't even checking my exposures and focusing.  Lucky for us, Putri had experience modelling in front of the camera and she just posed away.  After a few shots, I got comfortable but I still wasn't focused well due to my stress.  Amateurs that we were at shooting models, Astrid gave us a hand by telling us how to angle and frame our shots.  For the first time in my life I understood why shooting and photo modelling was a job and why people get paid to do it.  It was hard work.  It was hot and Putri was perspiring after just 15 minutes of shooting.  She had to retouch her make-up so her face wouldn't give that shiny look.  She had to hold her poses until we finished out shots...and amateurs that we were, we were not telling her that we were done shooting until we put down our cameras.  After shooting a couple of hundred shots at Sunda Kelapa Port, we all agreed it was getting too hot there for all of us.  So around 8:30 am we moved to the Old City which was close by.

First thing we did upon reaching the Old City was find a shaded spot to shoot in.  There were quite a number of amateur photographers in the area as usual and we were the only ones with a model to shoot.  Putri changed into a green outfit to have a different look.  Fortunately there were lots of spots with nice cool shades we could shoot.  After retouching her make up for the nth time, Putri posed away.  What I like about her is that she enjoys posing for the camera.  Her smile shows it although she looks better when she's not showing her big grin.  After a couple hundred of shots at the Old City, we all agreed to get something to eat.  It was just almost 10:00am.

Brunch would be Chinese food. Everyone was famished and we had quite a heavy meal for brunch.  All in all it was a good learning experience for me.  I need a good flash to compensate for the shadows in the face....if my budget will allow it.

Hopefully, next time I shoot a model I will do better.

The Old City

Restless again.  Where can I go to shoot some photographs with my new DSLR camera?  Then someone asked me if I'd seen the Old City in Jakarta.  There you go!

So off I went to look for the Old City last weekend.  Fortunately it was a long weekend as Friday was a public holiday here.  Well I went around looking for the place and to my pleasant surprise, I used to pass by the place regularly when we were still using Bank Niaga as our banker.  It was near the old Railroad Station at the end of the Glodok area.  There were several museums in the area, most notable of which is the Fatahilah Museum.  There were also a Ceramic Museum and a Puppet Museum.  In front of the Fatahilah Museum is a park where people can hang around or ride a rented bike with.  The building in the photo is not the Fatahilah Museum.  It is just one of the old buildings in the area.  But as you can see, there are bikes for rent in front of the building.

They called it the Old City (Kota Tua) precisely because it was the origin of Jakarta as a city or Batavia as Jakarta was then called.  Some of the buildings were built during the Dutch regime while others were modern ones which were simply dilapidated.

What surprised me was how crowded the area was on a holiday.  I asked some of the hawkers there and they confirmed that it is usually the case on weekends.  My problem is that the crowd and the hawkers ruined the view of the old buildings I wanted to take pictures of.  So I had no choice but to shoot the buildings with all the crowd in front of them.  I was glad to know that the place was a favorite for photographers both professionals and amateurs.  There were a number of professional looking photographers walking all over the place, shooting here and there, some with models others just shooting anything in sight.

Then, there were these old buildings such as the one I shot, which were rented out per hour.  You can rent a room in the building to shoot a model for Rp. 75,000.  Quite pricey.  There was even a vintage car to rent also for photo shoot purposes.  Evidently, the place became popular among photographers about two years ago.  So they rehabilitated parts of the area and it became a tourist attraction.

I had a good time looking around the place.  I just wish the place was deserted so I could take better pictures.