Sweet Shot Tuesday | Still Life

Last Sunday, I set up one of our cleopatra chairs for a short shoot. I needed to come up with "Classic Still Life," and since my early knowledge for still life often involves a table set up with fruits and vase or wine glasses, I just made use of the plastic fruits we have since I wasn't able to go out and buy fresh fruits.

I took several pictures, and I chose this for my share because this focuses more on the fruits. I didn't add any textures for this, what I did was to run this image using the vintage script, then ran the sov:normal script with grain. The grain added the texture in this photograph.

*** Jenn ***

Strawberries

Last March, my sister decided to go to Baguio City first before meeting mom and brother in La Union for the first death anniversary of daddy. Sister and I didn't have an agenda to follow, but I did tell her that I wanted to check out the strawberry fields in La Trinidad, Benguet because I still haven't seen it, and since we were already there, might as well check it out. The cab ride was a bit expensive, but I could say it was well worth it.

Frequent raindrops made the road a bit slippery, but we managed to get by. The farmlands aren't all devoted to the strawberries, there were lands for lettuce and leeks as well. Farmers let tourists go to the fields and take pictures, but no one was allowed to pick the fruits. Before, they allow it, but tourists abuse their privileges by picking the not so ripe strawberries and stepping on the plants. Strawberries are very difficult to grow because of the cost and the time spent, so the farmers just wanted to make sure that their crops and their efforts won't just go to waste. Unfortunately, there were still some tourists who cannot resist not taking fruits.

Just a recommendation... if you want to buy strawberries when in the area, please go to the farm. The fare is expensive, yes, but the fruits sold here were much cheaper and fresher. My sister and I bought a kilo of strawberries here and when we got to La Union they still look good. Most of the times, we just buy from the public market, and when we reach La Union they looked soggy already. I think the strawberries direct from the farm are more fleshy and firmer. =)

*** Jenn ***

Red Cherries

Red was the theme for this week's Lasang Pinoy Sundays, and here is my entry, red cherries. I took this picture December 2007 when the family went to the weekend market in Salcedo Village, Makati City. It was our first time to drop by the place, and our first time to visit weekend markets, so the minute we got there, brother and I basically just take pictures that would interest us.

Back then, I still am not into travel blogging, so the pictures I took were more of the stuffs for sale than the location itself. I still don't own a digital camera, so I used my cell phone to take this shot. I wanted to buy some of the cherries, but it was a bit expensive, so I just took a picture of it to take home. =)

*** Jenn ***

Calamansi

This week's theme for La.Pi.S is all about sour foods. This morning, I thought I won't be able to join, but as I was searching through my files, I remember this picture I had...

Taken on Aunt Julie's birthday, these calamansi fruits (Philippine Lime) have been the "apple of my eyes" because I was always anxious to pick them up even if it's not ripe yet. The tree only bears fruits during this time of the year, and although there were a few fruits, after two days I picked them all up, too, so I could use it in my dip! =)

*** Jenn ***

Pineapples

Maiylah, the host of this yummy meme posted a picture of a fruit (cherry to be exact), so I decided to post a fruit picture as well. These pineapples I bought in Pamplona, Cagayan, while on a road trip with my Aunt Julie and her high school classmates. I have rediscovered my liking for Pineapples since mom started buying some from one of our neighbors who has a pineapple plantation in Laguna, and every time I am seeing pineapples, I was always hoping I could eat some.

When we saw some stalls by the higway selling pineapples, I started wondering if people were growing pineapples there, and turns out they do. What's so impressive is that this part of Cagayan is mountainous and you could see some pineapples planted on the mountain!

Being on vacation for a week already, I had been craving for some pineapples, and I was happy they let me buy some. The pineapples cost 25 pesos each, but since the stall owner was just starting to display her pineapples, and me being her first customer, she let me pay only 70 pesos for the three pineapples. Not that much discount, yes, but if you can see the woman selling the pineapples, you would prefer paying in full and not try to haggle anymore. I said no need for a discount (because I know pineapples here in Metro Manila were much expensive), but she still gave me 30 pesos change for my 100.

The pineapples are so delicious! It's sweet and very juicy. Too bad I was only able to eat one and cannot take home the other two. I surely would want mom to taste it, too. But anyway, if ever you pass by the roads of Pamplona, don't hesitate to buy some pineapples. It's really good!

Photo shot using Canon Powershot A580 - auto with flash. Just a simple shot, I wasn't really aiming for a dramatic photography on this one, I just wanted to take a shot of the pineapples when we got home from the road trip because I know someday I would be blogging about it, and that day has arrived. =)

*** Jenn ***

W for Watermelon Shake

I love watermelon shake! Among the fruit shakes and smoothies, this is my all-time favorite! So when the crew from Italianni's ask me what drink I wanted and heard the magic words, "watermelon shake," I ordered it right away!

The watermelon shake served in Italianni's was great. It wasn't that sweet, and although it's more watery than icy, I loved sipping through my big, tall, glass! I have no idea how much this one cost because it was a "food on the house" thing, but I don't think I would dare ordering this one again because I know it would be very expensive (hahahaha).

Although this is my favorite shake, I think I only had a taste of this drink two times this summer. The first one was the melon-watermelon shake I ordered in Fruitas and then this. How weird, eh? I recently learned that watermelon has lots of sugar, so I was trying not to eat too much of it. I actually didn't buy even a slice of watermelon this summer! I guess that even if there are certain foods that we consider our favorites, we all should know how to draw the line.

*** Jenn ***