Stalking the most beautiful places in the Philippines



Monday, May 30, 2011

#121 A Windswept Landscape

It's awfully windy up here and we're holding on to dear life. 

When combing the sights in Batanes, you inevitably find the grand Mahatao lighthouse, perched on the edge of an ocean bluff, overlooking the hills of Vayang and of its rugged coast.  The lighthouse is on my left. Between it and a ramshackle hut is a narrow corridor that channels the wind's fury through these reed fields. Flexible stalks flap violently with each oncoming gust, offering parallel and valuable lessons how to survive in life.  Those who learn to bend won't ever break. Grandpa Darwin believed it's the fittest and most adaptable that eventually survive. Not the fastest nor the prettiest, not the richest nor the smartest, but those who pull themselves up every time. Now we know why we're all still here! Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: Wind is invisible, until you find a way to catch it in the act. It was a very bright day so I attached a polarizer plus f/22 to get down to 0.3 seconds. That doesn't sound slow enough for what you see in this postcard, but the sheer intensity of  motion before me proved it was enough. In the background, private farmsteads are delineated by hedges from similar reeds. In the land of violent gusts, what else did you expect?) 

Where in the world is Batanes?
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  1. Batanes is such a sight! Now only if it was easy to get there.

  2. very nice.

    Interestingly, your exif shows f/1.8.

  3. Peter, part of the reason for its pristine state is due to its relatively inaccessibility!

    Steve, the exif shows f/1.8 because that f/stop is hard-coded onto the computer chip that is glued to the lens adaptor, which in turn is how I attach Leica lenses to my 5DM2 body! (The f/stop for that shot was f/22.) Why do I need a computer chip on my lens adapter? So that my camera body thinks I have a Canon lens attached, and allow the viewfinder's focusing points to work! You do what you have to do...

  4. ah, Bobby..thanks for the explaination...wasn't aware you were using Leica glass on the Canon body via adapter...

  5. This is one of the most beautiful landscapes I've (n)ever seen.


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