Thursday, October 16, 2008

When the wind blows, either we take it or we go against it

The Bangui Wind Mill is perhaps one of the most photographed places in the province of Ilocos Norte so it was quite a challenge for every photographer to get an angle that is far from being ordinary (or at least an angle that we don't normally see in postcards).

On different days, I went to the Wind Farm twice. One in the morning via the Bangui Bay observation deck and another during the late afternoon via the beach to see these gigantic wind monster upclose.

In the relevancy of the issue of climate change, visiting the Bangui Wind Mill is literally a ‘breath of fresh air’. The 15 turbines installed on-shore were arranged in a single row and in equal spaces apart. The direction of the wind comes mostly from the northeast optimizing the full benefit of the wind which comes from the bay to towards the land. Low carbon technology like the windmill helps in reducing the emission of harmful greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Likewise, it hastens and facilitates government’s program on augmenting power source in the rural areas.

Bangui Wind Mill from the west side

The Bangui Wind Mill from the west side (facing the bay) via the first marker route going to the downward slope to the beach.

This shot was taken in the late afternoon. I was hoping to get a good sunset. But sunset was nowhere good that day. Literally, the wind was blowing hard on me that I could hardly get a good bearing to take a decent shot. My hair was getting wild, the sea water was ecstatic splashing hard on the sand. The only consolotion is that, it was just us in the beach so there were no people to obstruct my frame.

Bangui Wind Mill from the east side

The Bangui Wind Mill at the background from the east side of the beach going coming from the observation deck.

The next day, I went there again using a different route. This time I explored the east side of the beach going down from the observation deck. It was a hot day and the sunstreaks were perforating on my skin. Upclose, the turbines are extremely huge that it won't even fit into my frame. I felt like I was looking up at a giant robot waiting to slice me in half. Then I found these long lines of thorns just near the shore and thought of the above shot.

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Postscript:

[Visayas Avenue, sa isang sulok]
ang sakit pala magpanggap. yung magkunwaring masaya ka. patawa-tawa. kunwari wala lang. nakikibiro pero ang totoo gusto nang manapak ng mukha. tumatawa sa jokes. kahit tila kumikibot-kibot ang panga sa pigil. pigil na di maiyak. pigil na wag mainggit. dapat wala nang tapunan ng pansin. kung bakit pinapansin pa. lumalayo na nga. bakit kase hindi na lang hayaan sa sulok. sana di mo na lang ako pinuri. mas type ko ang mga asaran. kahit papaano may dahilan ako. dahilan para umiyak. naknakan.

7 comments:

pieterbie said...

Impressive, this is a pretty nice row indeed. Good to see that the far east is investing in clean energy as well.

escape said...

wow! galing at dalawang beses ka pa nakapunta dyan. wala akong idea dyan sa lugar na yan kaya magtatanong ako. may malapit na community ba dyan or mga bahay? tsaka parang nakakapagod yatang maglakad sa stretch na yan.

wala pa akong schedule para dyan. hopefully next year.

Sidney said...

I particularly like the first picture with the soft yellow/pink color of the sunset...
Indeed a spectacular sight...

Anonymous said...

I like the first photo Rayts. You captured the mood and the hue to set the tone of the photo.

;)

Photo Cache said...

very nicely done. that is the challenge when trying to present and capture a famous, oft-photograph structure/s or site. but i thought you did a fabulous job.

Anonymous said...

True it's been photographed so many times.But I still like the soft lighting you got here. Ganda pa rin even.

my gulch said...

Peter:
you're right. for us here, especially in agriculture climate change is a hot plate. there are initiatives mostly on biofuels but most of them remain on the roadmap. i just hope we'll have more of this low carbon technologies and somehow contribute greatly to teh mitigation and adaptation efforts of the government.

hi Dom:
madali lang pumunta dito medyo exhausting pero sulit naman. oo maraming kalapit na community but at the wind farm, may isang malaking bahay lang dun na ewan ko kung residential. the windfarm is open to all they even have small nipa hut for rent. you can take the Manila-Laoag buses and then take the Laoag-Cagayan route. At the Burgon town proper, mga 5 mins na lang to Bangui. I hope you could visit this place. you're right. it's exhausting just walking through that long stretch.

Sidney:
thanks for appreciating. i love it as well. i guess it's the lighting that made this shot a bit different from the others.

Kyels: thanks!

Photo cache:
oh, thanks. it was exhausting doing this. but it's fulfilling to do something that you want.

Ferdz:
onga eh. meron akong nakitang sari-saring shots ng lugar na ito, merong in monochrome, sepia. lahat na ata ng possible angles na-exhaust na so it was really a challenge on my part. thanks Ferdz!

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