http://vinceyandaggie.tumblr.com/

A Tumblog of Vince and Agnes which chronicles their adventures filled with food, fun and the one thing which initially brought the together…the camera.

Do follow my girlfriend (aagnessie) and my joint Tumblr account. We normally fill it up with the things we love doing together, the times we spend and the places we go to…of course the ocassional photos are here to stay :3

Peace out! :3

A sad post for this evening…feel free to skip reading the outpours of my soul.

My story as a photographer is a poignant one. It always recurs to reaching a point in my life that I wanted to give up photography altogether.

You see, I don’t belong to a rich family and my family never really supported me in my love for photography. Yes, they’d ask about my stuff at one point, then after I answer, they’d just shrug it off. It just seems as if they never cared at all. We were never rich financially. You probably know me to have a lot of cameras and lenses and accessories and whatnots. You probably know me as knowledgable in all things Nikon and photography. Let me be the first to tell you that of the cameras I owned, I on my student’s allowance of 100 pesos before, saved it everyday just to buy my whims. I would starve just to save up for a new camera or lens (which was always a manual lens or a film camera; I never had the enough allowance or money to save up for those beautiful lenses envied by many, including me). I know it was a foolish move to do, but photography was my passion and nothing can stand in its way.

My knowledge about photography was purely from reading and research online, from Ken Rockwell to camera forums to Nico Van Dijk to YouTube and ocassional asking around. I never went to formal training (except for one required class in school). I never bought Scott Kelby’s books on Digital Photography (for one it was too expensive for me to even purchase), I don’t even own a single copy of DPP.

I’ll tell you straight out…I envy many photographers around my age or those even younger than me out there (even those who think they are photographers, just because they have a big ass camera with a long lens). I envy them because they have the support of their parents to shell out big bucks for their kids to exercise and practice their passions, while me, merely telling that Mayer’s Quiapo’s Nikon D7000 body only price is merely PHP30,000 to my family, they just turn a deaf ear and a cold shoulder to me. What a heartbreaker to me that is…

I have a friend who has a Canon 5D Mark III and L- lenses. Nice camera, eh? He’s won numerous awards with his camera. One major award he won was organized by a large local petroleum company. It had a 30k grand prize. He was so elated when he told me a time when he talked to his parents that he won that contest saying, “Tignan nyo ung investment nyong camera sa akin! Nanalo na ng awards!”

Sarap siguro talagang masuportahan ka ng magulang mo, at di lang basta suporta, ung tipong sasama sayo sa shoot mo, tatanong kung may kailangan ka pa. Ganun.

I know that photography is an expensive hobby. Pero di naman araw-araw naglalabas ka ng 100k para pambili ng lente o body eh. Investment naman kasi yun.

Hay. Ewan ko ba. Seems like when I think about photography, nasasaktan lang ako. Nanghihinayanag lang ako sa mga pagkakataong nawala kasi pupunta ako sa mga camera sale, kulang lang ng 2k dala ko, makakabili na sana ng something na maganda. Alam mo ung pakiramdam na konti nalang maaabot mo na ung pinapangarap mo, tapos in an instant biglang may sisira ng pangarap mo dahil limitasyon mo mismo sa sarili mo? Saklap di ba? Tapos sa susumod na pagkakataong babalikan mo upang abutin ang mga pangarap mo, mahaba-haba at malayu-layo na naman ang bubunuin mo para maabot ang mga pangarap mo, na posibleng di mo na naman maabot.

Alam ko na wala sa pana yan, nasa Indian yan. Alam na alam ko yun. Alam ko na di mabibili ng salapi ang kasiyahan sa mundo, pero mas maigi namang umiyak sa loob ng Mercedes-Benz di ba, kaysa sa bisikleta, di ba?

Sabi ng tatay ko, makuntento daw ako sa kung anong meron ako. Kuntento naman ako eh. It’s just that sana man lang naeexpress ko to my fullest extent ang capabilities ko as a photographer. Yun ang di eh. Kulang sa gear, sinusubukang manghiram sa iba, pinagdadamutan naman. Literal na pinagdadamutan.

Sabi nila aim high. I do, but reality just slaps me in the face a thousand times. Marahil ako ay biktima ng malupit na daigdig. Alam kong may mga nasa mas masaklap na kalagayan kaysa sa akin, mga walang makain at matulugan. Wag na natin silang isama dito. Usapang photography ito eh… Di ba ang mga biktima, nakakatikim din ng hustisya sa mga nangmaltrato sa kanila? Kailan ko kaya makakamit ang hustisya ko?

Thanks a lot! :D appreciate it! :D

Photography has captured my heart and my interest for the past few years already, and as I have started photography much like how this generation did - through digital, I was one of those “delete-the-photo-when-it-doesn’t-look-good-on-the-LCD” types of photographers. I was trigger-happy, shooting and shooting to my heart’s content. Who cared? I had an 8GB memory card, I can shoot two thousand photos and my camera can still handle more.

AND THEN I MET FILM.

Film and I had a love-hate relationship even when I was a boy. Growing up during the last decade of the 20th century, most of the people around me, especially my parents shot in film. Weddings, birthdays, outings…name anything, they shot everything in film. We even had a book at home on how to do film photography. It was my Dad’s. The book was from 1985 and it’s still at home. I still use it as reference.

During our photography class during my fourth year in college, we had a subject in photography. My professor after briefing us with the rudiments, he asked us to produce a photography project every week — WITH FILM.

At first I was hesitant, being versed in digital…being able to delete crappy photos whenever they didn’t suit my liking…being able to shoot thousands of frames without hesitation. Now I had to carefully plan all my shots. Film didn’t have any room for mistakes… no re-takes…no more trigger-happy shoots. Yes, you can take a photo again, but you’d be wasting a precious frame of film.

I WAS IN BIG TROUBLE.

Gradually, as the semester progressed, I learned to shoot with film. I learned to love it dearly. I learned to carefully plan my shots. I learned to be reserved when shooting.

After the semester, I bought my blockmate’s Nikon F50, a film camera made in 1994. I bought it because it’s film and Nikon too…and I can use my existing lenses on it and more.

Why did I buy an 18 year old camera? 

Because it taught me to be reserved. To be focused. To be much more expressive and intimate in every shot that I take. Because it gives me an excitement every single time I have my rolls processed, waiting like a child in a candy store, waiting to be surprised and delighted how my photos turned out.

My name is Vincent Tanching, and I proudly bought a 18 year old camera.

Man is regarded as God’s most intelligent creature. Out of all that he created, He tasked man to take care of His other creation. Man is gifted not only in skills necessary for survival, but also skills which enable him to express himself.

Through the eons of time that passed, man has learned to better himself with the skills given to him. Innovations were seen and creativity flourished; man has expressed himself in various ways — dance, song, painting, poetry, sculpture, music, prose, and much more. But he has one expression that changed the world — the skill to capture and immortalize a moment of time, giving him an opportunity to replay or revisit that certain moment of history.

Photographers too, have long evolved from simply taking everyday photos to turning it into an art — even venturing it into a business. Photographers have begun to capture the world’s attention through their photographs, not only attention, if I may add, but praise and accolades as well, most especially those who are more well-off than others; who have better access to equipment, who have bigger and larger connections, and who can easily add more to what they already have. The world gives them more opportunities too — to shoot, to buy more stuff…to shoot again…to buy more stuff again…the cycle continues.

How about the ones from the other side of the spectrum? The ones who are on the flipside? Photographers who aren’t that well-equipped materially, but are equally good (or even better) than their counterparts? Sadly, the world turns a deaf ear towards them. All photographers are humans, in need of life and love. Sometimes giving them little praise wouldn’t hurt; that is, praise or even a pat on the back saying “Good Job”, “You shoot well” or even giving them small-time “business opprtunities” once in a while wouldn’t hurt. Everyone loves to experience “a little slice of heaven” once in a while, even photographers, and that is not exclusive to those ones who are well-off but also to those who are at the other side of the spectrum.

I heard someone once say to a photographer to “strive harder, if you really want something strive for it till you get it.” That in itself is noble act, and yet what if the world around you thinks otherwise? What if it does not give you any opportunity to reach your goal because you fall into the trap of being given a deaf ear? You may strive but efforts are in vain.

Let this open letter be an eye-opener for all of us; don’t give a deaf ear towards other “less-fortunate” ones. Hear them out, see their capabilities, give them opportunities and you just might find your “diamond in the rough”.