HOUSE ON A HILL

Taking this image of the House on a Hill was one of those perfect and probably more likely lucky moments where the clouds, the light and the ambiance all just came together for that split second.  Even the smoke in the distance added to this rather surreal landscape.  It was taken during a road trip I took a few days ago on my way to General Santos City.  The journey took around 3 hours from Davao city central and the viewpoints along the way were nothing short of spectacular.  Once you start climbing the mountain slopes, you start to see some beautiful vistas and if it hadn’t been for the fact that I needed to meet with a Marine Architect that day, I would have stopped more than this once to capture more landscapes and viewpoints.

This particular spot where the image was taken from was located right on the edge of the winding road perched on a small building built straight into the hillside.  If you thought too long about the stability of the place, you could have found yourself in a spot of bother! However, the view alone was enough to take your mind of such matters.  Another plus was the fact that they served local delicacies and I specifically ordered a native chicken combo with rice which was probably one of the best chickens I have ever tasted! Served with a side of local soup with native coffee and the meal was just perfect.  This is definitely an area I will have to explore further when more time allows.

MOUNTAIN VIEW:

The second image uploaded was taken just to the left of the house on a hill viewpoint and I particularly liked the way the light fell in patches on the ground.  With the mountains in the background, the image really gives you a beautiful 3d like effect and when looked at long enough, makes you feel like you have escaped to somewhere more peaceful.

PHOTOGRAPHY: HOUSE ON A HILL

Taken with the trusty Fuji X E2 and the kit 18-55mm lens.  The quality this little fuji captures is amazing.  I decided to take a 3 shot HDR for this particular shot in order to capture the full range of light and drama from the image.  Shot at iso200 with the lens stopped down to f7.1 at 18mm. I then stitched the images together in post process to give this greater depth in the image.

The second image was just a singular capture taken at iso200 at f7.1 at 340th of a second shutter speed zoomed in at 50mm on the 18-55 lens.  I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I did capturing it!