Saturday, November 11, 2006

A funny but sad thing happened yesterday on my way to the...


A very funny thing happened to me yesterday on my way out of a press event..... Funny bcoz It gave me flashbacks into my life as a key animator doing cartoon slapsticks for the network cartoon shows in the U.S. and elsewhere. I know a lot of you have seen scenes where a character flies over a cliff running and momentarily floating in midair with feet still in running cycles until he realizes that there is nowhere else to go but down.
The same thing happened to me yesterday. ...It was the Miss Earth media presscon and although i didn't really planned on covering it, I found myself entering the poolside where dozens of Photographers, hobbyists, the new breed of citizen journalists and of course... voyeurs. In a little whilem before the presentation even started I walked out of the cordone... in the direction of an old friend I have seldom seen. ....The next hing I knew was that in the bottom corner of my eye , I thought I saw a flash of blue! And the next instant I realizedI was right.... I walked straight into the other pool . Too late!!! OOOPS!!

Cut to me walking underwater with all of my gear. 2 digital cameras, with a wide and a telephoto lens,my Domke bag filled with all kinds of gadgets...I made a big splash and when I got pulled out of the water.....My mind was already in a dreamy state...everything was a blur...I was rallied into the poolside shower room with some of my close friends attending to what I might need to perform First Aid on my dripping equipment. The lifeguard and pool attendants gave me bundles of dry towels and a huge roll of toilet paper to dry up my gear. I spent the next two hours giving CPR to my cameras, lenses, hard drives, flash, etc... when I finally came out of the shower, the realization that all of my hard-earned equipment was wiped-out sank in.... With the help of good friend and fellow photographer Danny Tan, I hurried home. Sad, very sad.......I was not about to give up. The moment I was home, I laid down every single piece of equipment I have on the bed and started the tedious process of resuscitating my cameras. All the while , I was meditating and praying to God to touch my cameras and heal it. Though it was impossible for my two Canon DSLR's to come out of the ordeal alive......... IT DID survive in the end .The next morning the circuits and functions if my cameras started working one by one . The lenses did not however came out unscathed ....The doctors at the service center will do their stuff on it.Whew!!! LONG LIVE PHOTOJOURNALISM...It ain't dead yet...not for me!
One more thing.... The "Otter Box" PDA shell I bought as an investment for my IPAQ pocketPC
paid off!! It proved its worth at USD 99.00....it's waterproof, shock-resistant and crushproof. Nobody should leave home without it.

6 comments:

Sidney said...

Were those Misses that beautiful that you didn't saw the swimming pool? ;-)
Glad to hear you and your equipment are safe! What an adventure!

Ben said...

Luis, OTTER BOX RULES!!! Makabili na nga para sa iPod ko, hahaha. di bale yung camera, marami naman mahihiram dyan e... ;-)

Anonymous said...

hi luis!

first time here. buti ayos pa camera mo! tsk! swerte!

excellent photographs as well!

Luis Liwanag said...

Hey Scott,
Thanks for lookibng...btw I have seen your vlog..You have interesting and probing images there.... btw are you related to Arthur???

Anonymous said...

hi luis!

nope, i'm not related to arthur! (or maybe he's a distant relative? haha!)

anyhow, thanks a lot for looking at my blog, and for you kind words!

would you mind if i add you to my blogroll?

warm regards,
Scott

Luis Liwanag said...

I dont mind at all Scott.It will be an honor