I Shrunk the Kid illusion (No Post Process)

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Cotton/Cloud-like River Flow

Waterfalls and rivers are my favorite nature spots. For one, the places refresh my spirit and of course, it gives me a great photography opportunity there is--long exposure shots with its raging motion. Motion, as we know it, is one photography marvel in which we can play upon, of course, with our tricks and techniques. The cotton-like images it gives us usually left photo viewers amazed with wonderment. Long exposure in the forest can be greatly enhanced with the the semi-darkness it gives plus the use of any ND filters can give us more stops so the longer the beautiful and cloudy it gets. So, illusion or not, waterfalls and rivers are your bestfriends in terms of nature photography and in Negros Occidental, Philippines (capital Bacolod) countless waterfalls abound it in its forests. To name a few, there are twin waterfalls of Kipot, the 7 waterfalls of Mambukal and the Patag "Pulang Tubig" waterfalls with its immense length and power. Just an hour flight from Manila, you'll gonna enjoy the adventure plus the serenity of the places :)

Reversed Landscape (an unusual camera trick without Photoshop and filters)

(*Note: No Photoshop effects and no filters used in this photo. Straight from the camera)

Photography in itself is full of tricks. There are too many to play with such as shadows, lines, colors, movements, perspectives, gravity work, physics in general and more. For one, you could play with reflections. With a sharp eye and creativity, one can arrive into awe-inspiring images that look tricky and illusionary for the viewers. Droplets, mirrors, buildings with glass windows and large bodies of water can give you reflections that somehow could give impact on your photos. Here is my Reversed Landscape photography that I took just 5 minutes walk from home. It's a fish farm with lots of subjects to dwelve upon but it took time for me to figure out how can I create one illusionary image in one setting in a muddy area. My movements are somehow limited or else I'll get stuck.
What you see in reality is a photo without the use of any lens filters and not even a click using Photoshop. Tricky? It's kind of playing time with my Crystal Eye (camera) but the result wowed me and hope you find it puzzling yet fun. I'll leave you to imagine and experiment how I did it. Indeed, magic tricks via camera button clicks. Happy New Year from me and Illusion Lens! More soon.

Tasty Durian Building (Singapore's Esplanade in Abstract)

Durian smells like hell but tastes like heaven. The durian fruit is being condemned when it comes to its smell but is aptly called "the King of Fruits." A seasonal fruit in Singapore, one can find in the island country an oddly-shaped building called the Esplanade that is referred to as "The Durian" by locals. Its architectural form projects the fruit's thorny physical tributes.
Upon arriving at the site, I was overwhelmed by its popularity and it was a challenged for me to compose an image that is not familiar or not the usual. Armed with a zoom lens, I was able to achieved this image by sheer observation of the sky. Thank God I was given great clouds on that short trip or else it was a failure. Hope you like this shot. Singapore has many landmarks but the Esplanade does stand out. An architectural marvel indeed.

Words I LOVE U (The I Heart U shadow Illusion) *Ushaiger Photoadventure 2009

Little surprises usually come from boxes (READ: GIFTS) But tell you, some surprises come from nature and great timing. I have a surprise of my life when we were out on a photography adventure outside Riyadh. It was in Ushaiger, 2 hours from the downtown capital of Saudi Arabia. It was near-winter when we went there. Ushaiger has an old mud village and it is unoccupied. The eerie silence brings you to the past where people from all walks of life once existed. It was an historical compound made of mud houses and so I traversed into its walls and hidden rooms. One thing that made me surprised was when I climb a wall and when I looked down I saw a wall shadow illusion created by the sun. It was heart-shaped. So what I did was positioned myself into "I" and "U"...soon it resulted to I HEART U or I LOVE U illusion. It was indeed a surprise in my photographic life. It was magical. An awesome sign. I'm sure, pretty sure, i can't do this anymore since it's just occasional when we go for photography adventure plus the place is kind of strange to me, being situated in the middle of deserts. This is a priceless shot and an unforgettable experience so to speak.

"Close Encounter with the 3rd Kind" UFO Illusion and accdng to a friend..it's a Flaming Torch Illusion

Note:This photo is straight from camera. (No Photoshop Process/edit)

At last! This is how my mind went when I came upon an image that I dreamt to shoot.
The Water Tower in the center of old Riyadh is a sight to behold because of its unusual form..it resembles a UFO.
I've been living almost 3 years in this middle eastern city but I haven't got the chance to really capture the UFO-illusion that I ought to get on camera. But with utter patience and perseverance plus nature's gift to me (the natural clouds), I somehow arrived on my ideal image of a UFO invasion. But wait, one Riyadh-based friend even suggested a flaming torch illusion that is akin to Olympic games torches. (Thanks Jaevi! for that alternative suggestion). Great Illusion eyes you've got there! :) (Free to download as desktop wallpaper) Click to enlarge..

This Way to Heaven... (Pointing Hand in the Sky Illusion)

(NOTE: Photo taken straight from camera. No Post Process.)

Cloud formations can surprise you anytime.
Without you knowing it, you are being showed with a baby figure or teddy bear (How cute ) or a smiley face (that's more cute..cuter, to be exact).
Personally, cloud formations surprise me most of the time. Back in 2009 during the 2nd day of Ramadan month, I opted to open my flat window to check out the crescent moon. In the Islam world, the appearance of a crescent moon starts the Ramadan month.
With a beautiful sky and a mosque located near in front of my flat's building, I was in for a BIG surprise: a packet of clouds seemed to point to heaven while the crescent moon glows just above it. So I took my camera and aimed for a composition but had a hard time to fit all three elements (the mosque, cloud hand and crescent moon) in one image. One solution for me was to tilt my camera and the result was awesome! As it turned out the tilt made my photo more dramatic as the cloud hand seem to point towards heaven, giving meaning for a Ramadan theme. After a few seconds, the cloud hand divided and then disappeared but I was happy to achieve that one-in-a million-image. :) Just check out below my previous post St. George and the Dragon of what I really mean when you are cornered with fancy clouds. Indeed, nature gives us puzzle images for us to capture and share to the world. Click on! :)

Lola Basyang of the Valley Illusion (The Old Woman Storyteller)

Illusions are Mother Nature's puzzle games for us.
If you just look around you, there seems to be coded symbols and signs hidden around you, waiting to be unfolded as if it is waiting for the Indiana Jones within you. Just one click of a button and everything will be divulged to you like a picture puzzle.
We love illusions per se since these challenge our brains, giving us time to ponder and be wowed by what it could bring to our minds.
One hot sunny day, I went out to the Hidden Valley of Saudi Arabia with photographer friends. It was me, Mel Cuison and Sherwin Nora with his wife Shierly and two daughters, Sherinah Alyza and Mellissa in tow, who took a different path while other comrades trudged the other way.
It was there that I learned I have a fellow nature Illusion hunter in the group. I was surprised when It came to my attention that Sherinah Alyza, armed with a video camera, was also hunting for illusions. :) So, we tracked down the rock puzzles. As for me, I got a handful of illusions that day. Say, more than five and one of them is my Old Woman of the Valley which I believe is a hidden visual treasure that slowly fade through time.
Some say, taking photo illusions are kind of weird. Well, I think not. :) After all, everyone in us loves to make the over-used 'small-people-standing-on-our-giant-hands' photographic illusion. Would you Agree? Playful minds can produce playful results, indeed. Go shoot your illusions and Facebook tag me. :)