Taal Town 2

We decided to take a photo tour of Taal town because we thought it might be interesting to see the other side of Taal, the non-volcano side of Taal.  We warned the tour guide that we’ll be pretty “pasaway”, lingering for annoying lengths of time per stop, to click away to our hearts’ content.  The first church we went to, the Basilica de San Martin de Tours,  was quite impressive, it was so much fun to photograph, with it’s interesting architecture.

We also were able to capture some interesting moments in and around the church.

We also hopped from one heritage house to another.  Every single one had a rather creepy feel to it, and some of our friends who were quite “sensitive” to spirits and stuff, had chills in certain rooms in certain houses, some more than others.  There was also the pervading moldy smell, especially in some basements where really ancient stuff are stored.  The houses were very interesting from a photographer’s point of view, but personally, I wouldn’t really want to re-visit them.  Like some dirty old men, the houses were just a little too old, and a little too creepy.

We also went to went to a 2nd church, the Shrine of our Lady of Casaysay, but I barely got any pictures because of the poor lighting inside.  It was extra dark because it also started raining the moment we got there.  The late afternoon sun plus dark clouds, equals blurred photos, no matter how high the ISO.  I got a couple though.

A picture of the church ceiling and its magnificent murals:

A photographer’s prayer:

On a whole, I enjoyed the whole day trip, but it left me completely drained.  It involved a lot of walking under the sun, baking under it’s heat, only to enter old houses with stifling humidity.  It’s like going from the frying pan, into the oven, and back.  We all felt so dehydrated after each stop and we were sweating like pigs in a comforter.  All for the love of photography.  We’d go through a lot of hardships just to get a good shot or two.  In the end, it was all about the pictures.  And being with crazy friends didn’t hurt either…