Where the Sky Is Seldom Blue

Wherever you are in Kulaman Plateau, you will never lack for scenic views to take photos of. The only thing that can be frustrating is that you rarely get bright sunlight, causing your photos to look dull and gloomy. Or at least for amateur photographers like me. Perhaps if you’re skilled enough and you have state-of-the-art equipment, your photos will come out the way you want them to be regardless of the weather.

Most of the time, the weather in the plateau is cloudy. Expect rain to fall at least four or five times a week. In many parts of the plateau, especially the most elevated ones, wind doesn’t seem to stop blowing. A jacket is an essential part of one’s wardrobe here. I actually wear one every day and for most of the day, though most of the other locals only wear theirs when it’s raining or particularly windy. For the wash to be completely dry, usually you have to hang it on a clothesline for at least two days.

I’m posting today two photos that I think would have been more stunning had there been bright sunlight when I took them. I took one in a fallow rice field recently and the other on the way to Ilyan Hill about a year and a half ago. I didn’t fully realize the effect of a clear blue sky to a photo until I took a shot of our marang tree in the yard one sunny day. One fruit was something like Siamese twins; the stems and the globed fruits were joined as though they were sharing a heart or a brain. That was what I wanted to capture. But what fascinated me more was the sky in the background. It was so blue that it intensified the colors of the other objects in the photo. I had a photo of the same tree days before, and it was taken in an almost similar angle, so I looked for it and compared it to the newer photo. I combined the photos and posted the output here, in addition to the two photos mentioned previously, so that you can see the difference for yourself.

I guess you can never have everything, or you should grab every chance that you can have everything. From now on, whenever I see the sky blue and clear, I’ll drop everything, get my camera, and shoot the scenic views around me. I hope to give you much more beautiful photos in future posts.

A bird perches on a makeshift stand, where a person stays to guard the rice field against sparrows. The rice field is normally surrounded by a string. When sparrows come near to feed on the grains, the guard pulls the string, causing the crude streamers attached to it to shake and scare the birds away.

My brother (in blue pants) and his classmate when the three of us trekked up Ilyan Hill, more than a year ago

The marang tree in our yard. Notice the difference a bright sunlight makes.