Skywatching at Home

I have always been writing in my posts that the December Holiday season starts the coldest time of the year in this part of the world. Then it starts getting hot again in mid-February or March, the start of our dry season. So officially the colder months also fell on the rainy season. We only have the wet and dry seasons in this part of the tropics. And our cold will be even hotter than the summer of our counterparts in some temperate countries. This means...hold your breath.... 23-25°C is already colder for us here in the tropical Philippines lowland. 

But my home in the province at ~500 masl is a little higher than our lowlands. We sometimes have foggy mornings and even colder dawns, time when we wear our sweaters and socks. During the Christmas Holidays it was already cold with our standards. But i still want to have some sunrise shots. I always see them on our east window, so when it looks so bright at dawn i immediately go out of the house despite the chill to get some vantage point. I walk along our road a few minutes and take shots whenever there is some clearing from the so crowded trees and plants. 

Here are some shots, SOOC, for roughly 10 min before the sun emerged at the horizon! They now ended up on my office desktop background. 

Skywatch Friday

Mornings at the province

Our house in the province is facing east, a little bit farther up but overlooking a bay. And at the other side of the bay is a low range with two peaks, which is the header of my other blog Andrea in this Lifetime.

We are greeted with lovely sunrises, as long as you are already awake before the sun. I can just stay calm in our house or walk a few distance from the house to get good vantage points for photos. But this time i am so lazy that i just content myself in the house and just a few paces.

 from my room window downstairs

 at the terrace

 at the garden in front of the terrace

 beyond the garden under the citrus plants

near the citrus plants, that is a duhat tree which blocked my view

Now what do you say of where our house is in relation to the sunrise? In the city i only have the sunsets. I am thinking if i will need more views.

Skywatch Friday

Do Some Skywatching

5th Floor Window views

my nightly view except the moon

Skywatch Friday

Silhouettes Eh!

Floral Friday Fotos

Skywatch Friday

My Little Piece of Sky!

Looking at my 5th Floor Window is a habit whenever I am home at this holy hour! My skies produce a lot of varied colors in my sky canvas. And the painter works so fast, that it has already changed even without my knowing it, even before i fully appreciate the view. These colors happened in just a few seconds, it sometimes doesn't even allow me to change the lens. 

Whew!

Nature Notes

My Sky

Skywatch Friday

Moon behind Bars!

Skywatch Friday

My Morning Views!

The following shots are captured on 01 November 2012, at my place in the province. When you are seeing these views most of the time since birth, you wont wake up early just to photograph them, most especially when it is already approaching Christmas and the nights are starting to get colder. The nights are longer too enticing us to stay longer in bed. But I am now living mostly in the big city 4 hr from here, so these are now a rarity.

The previous morning I woke up at 6:30a.m. seeing the morning red horizon peeping through the trees. So i psyched my mind before bed to wake up at dawn and that is 5:00a.m. Sunrise is at 5:25, so I am just right to prepare, have a 3min walk to an area where the horizon is not fully blocked by tall trees. After 1.5hr in the area, the walk back home still gives a lot of subjects to shoot, the dews on leaves, the young leaves and shoots, unfolding flowers, some insects and spiders, and a lot more! Actually, I was out for 2 hours, now very hungry and longing for hot coffee!

Our area overlooks the bay, where the small city is at the other side.

 The above are custard apple trees now vegetative preparing for flowering in April

 The International Pier is on that other side of the bay

 the water shimmers in gold at this moment

Cogon grasses sway with the cold morning breeze!

Even the morning moon at the West is witnessing the grandeur of sunrise!

But i need to go back to the house, my insides are complaining for something hot and filling. Time to have hot coffee and 'suman', a delicacy made from glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and wrapped like small tubes with banana leaves. This is a common preparation for All Saints' Day in our province. Just like missing our sunrise, I missed it too!