Death Grief – A Personal Issue

Death Grief

A Personal Issue

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

“Wishing A Loved One Back To Life Does Not Work – I Tried It.” When my mother died, I tried everything I could think of to understand, “Why ?” Obviously, Death is a natural end of Life, but, when personal tragedy arrives – logic is of little use. Peace Of Mind is an “emotional state” that has to be recognized and satisfied in order for Life to have any real meaning. I had to deal with my grief by trying to discover “What I Truly Believed About An Afterlife.” Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

When a close loved one dies, family and friends try to help your emotional state of mind. It is nice that they try. It is nice that they offer advice. But, the truth is, we are all individual and unique.

While our bodies have the basic physical and chemical structure from person to person; it is in our minds that we are all truly unique. In our minds, despite what Sigmund Freud and his legions of psychiatrists and psychologists promote – we are unique. Culture, society, civilization may try to hardwire a certain perspective into our heads, but, the individual can “decide” to “buy” or reject the information or the fairy tale.

As humans, we learn “how-to-play-the-game” and we learn when it is important to “pay lip service” to popular ideas of our society, culture and civilizations. At the end of the day, “We are always ‘Free In Our Minds To Choose What We Believe.’”

When my mother died, family and friends were polite and expressed their sympathy. I did truly appreciate the gesture. Having grown up in the midwest, in the Ozarks, family and friends naturally “assumed” I believed as they did in the overall area of religion. They were wrong.

I believe in God.

But, I have never really believed in the “Traditional Christian God,” because after the Old Testament, the Traditional Christian God becomes an “Eternal Couch Potato Looking At The Big Screen TV Of The Universe And Not Getting Involved.”

Anytime I think of God, I put him “on the ground, in country, in the thick of the action, working alongside me, or on my behalf to solve problems. If He or She has to move back and forth between Heaven and the Real World, that is no problem and no big deal. After all, Creator Of The Universe, then, the whole Space and Time issues are irrelevant.

At my mother’s death, the whole issue of grief became apparent. While the Real World issues of Funeral and Burial Arrangements are at the forefront of your mind, your personal emotions are inside your head leaking radioactivity like a busted Three Mile Island nuclear reactor.

While people will offer you the traditional religious cliches of life, no one seems willing to help you with an in-depth soul search. Of course, you will find those “Soul Savers” in the society – “God’s Used Car Salesmen,” who regardless or the time of day or circumstance, these people appear out of nowhere and give you their “Save Your Soul” spiel; but, they don’t answer questions. If you start to ask questions that deviates from their scripted testimony, then, they get upset or back away and leave.

You can ask friends and family about their religious views, but, you have to approach the subject as though you are asking about the weather – in a light-hearted conversational fashion.

Personal Quest

Thus, if you try to work through personal grief using religion, then, it will be a personal quest. There is no way to know, where that quest will take you.

You just have to make the decision to want to find answers.

I have always had an open mind on religion.

Thus, I pulled out all the stops. No idea was too “off the wall’, “far out” or “really out there to consider” because the traditional ideas always seemed to raise more questions than they answer.

Thus, I pulled out my collection of various books, magazines and surfed the Internet looking for information on religion, the supernatural and the Afterlife. My solution to the grief is I had to create an Afterlife commanded by the Gods and Goddesses that I could relate to and identify with.

Naturally, each individual will have to come up with their own solution to the grief surrounding the Death and personal loss of a loved one. I could not endure society’s “Supermarket Religions” of processed and packaged prophets. Nor, would I endure the “psychobabble” of professional experts who justify their “mental guesswork” with society’s agreed upon “sheepskin credentials.”

Alas, Sigmund and the boys may just be well-dressed soothsayers dancing in the light of the moon after all. If you are curious, about my “Serious Soul Search,” then, visit my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog and read my article: “Momma’s Death – Required My Own Afterlife Solution” or use the link to take you there: http://www.samuelwarrenthewriter.blogspot.com/2012/06/mommas-death-required-my-own-afterlife.html

I appreciate feedback from readers, so, please, feel free to leave a comment on that blog or to return to my “Sam I Am Blog” and post your comment.

“The True Magick Of Life” is sometimes that forgotten lamp hidden on a back shelf of your mind, labeled, “Imagination.” Creativity and imagination maybe methods you can use to help you work through personal grief. Tools of The Real World can sometimes “spark” your mind to find a solution. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Thank you,

Sam

Word Warrior Warren Writes On !

Word Warrior

Warren Writes

On !

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

My “Sam I Am Blog” on Word Press became my first and primary blog site. In the past month, there have been some type of unknown cyber glitches that have made it extremely difficult to post an article on the site.

My solution is to post on the sister site at Blogger, “Samuel Warren The Writer.” The Blogger site at blogspot seems to load more quickly and the embedded editor in Blogger seems more resilient and quicker to accept editing changes, Blogger understands you need photos for stories; Word Press, in my experience, always wants to challenge me over every photo I try to use whetHer I run it as a thumbnail or extra large.

I write my articles in Open Office. Once they are written, edited, spell checked and formatted, I copy and paste to Word Press and Blogger.

I love Word Press’ “Tag” over Blogger’s “Label” function; however, in the battle of blog editors – I give Word Press the desk in the basement because it enjoys being the rebel teenager that questions every thought out decision about writing and layout.

My Word Press site does not like already formatted text, Blogger nods and calls to the electronic copy boy to take the copy to the guys and gals in layout.

Logging on to Word Press has become a nightmare. I set up my account in the United States. Then, my wife, Christy, and I moved to the Republic of the Philippines.

Trying to log on to Word Press from Leyte, is like throwing an empty wine bottle with a note in it in the Pacific Ocean and wondering if it will ever wash ashore on a beach in California.

Logging on to Blogger from Leyte is “No Big Deal.” It takes a couple of minutes, but my bamboo pole satellite signal shooter in the yard seems to know the satellite to shoot the signal to.

My Satellite Signal Shooter — The steel and bamboo pole in the yard contains the Bayan Tel gadget that seems to know which satellite to shoot the signal to to allow me to log on to the Internet and make an easy connection with Google’s Blogger. Unfortunately, trying to log on to Word Press from Leyte is like trying to log on to Atlantis. Nikon D 100 Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

I am a FREE subscriber at both sites, so I am sure the customer service computer “geeks” aren’t going to loose any sleep over my concerns and issues to make things simple and keep posting easy.

I like Blogger because when it comes to layout it is easy and quick to change the template – their “widgets work.”

Word Press is “too geeky” because the blog platform is on Word Press.com, which has no plugins. To use plugins, you have to go to Word Press.org to download and install the plugins. I have never been able to get a Word Press.org plugin to work on my Word Press.com blog site.

I have gone to the Word Press layout section and tried their widgets – some times they work on my blog; some times they do not. I have even copied code for widgets and followed the instructions from Word Press.com, Word Press.org and the site with the gadget and I usually end up with garbled code copy on the main page that does nothing other than look ugly and out of place.

I believe I am a smart human. I did not go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but, you should not have to be an “MIT graduate” to post copy and photos to your Word Press blog.

The day-to-day hassles of trying to post to Word Press has convinced me to make my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog my primary publication, while her sister blog the “Sam I Am Blog” remains on comatose life support in Word Press cyberspace.

All Things Considered, in the immediate future, I will keeping checking my “Sam I Am Blog” for comments because I love to hear from cyber surfers and my readers. My literary hospital visits will be to check for comments because until Word Press transplants a working blog system or initiates the birth of a reliable, easy, fun, system it makes no sense to endure the frustrating pain and suffering of geekitis just to post an article and photos to a daily blog.

Thus, for the immediate future, “Samuel Warren The Writer” will become my “Hot Off The Presses ! Page One !” blog.

My “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog is at http://www.samuelwarrenthewriter.blogspot.com/

Ramon

 

“Welcome Aboard, my literary Starship Of Life. You will not always agree with my articles and photos, but I should always give

you something to think about. If you are up for the challenge, then, please take a seat.

“Ramon, maximum warp. Cyberspace, here we come!”

Sam

Desktop Publishing Glitch Stops Publication !

Desktop Publishing Glitch

Stops Publication !

“Truth, Justice, Newspaper Headlines, and Blog Deadline – “Great Caesar’s Ghost !” computers, Internet , electronic layouts, desktop publishing — it was all supposed to make putting out a newspaper easy. Now, there is a glitch in the system and the presses don’t roll. Kent ! Find my Underwood, some bond paper, a pica pole and a whiz wheel, we have a newspaper to get out !” Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Watch any movie about newspapers and some white-haired, cigar chomping editor that looks like “Superman’s” legendary Editor-In-Chief Perry White is grumbling and barking orders.

While it seems that the Internet, computers, software, and the intricate nature of servers and cyberspace is about to put newspapers into the Smithsonian Institution somewhere between the dinosaurs and the original USS Enterprise starship model.

But, before that last press operator, turns off the light and walks out of the building – let us take note that the legions of aspiring bloggers have days when they have the grey hair, ulcers and swear words of the legendary stereotypical American editors-in-chief.

Some of the back issues of my U S Air Force newspapers — The first USAF paper that I was assigned to was the Barksdale Air Force Base “Observer.” I had been a volunteer “stringer”, essentially Jimmy Olsen in a blue suit, for the “Blythe Spirit” at Blytheville AFB, Arkansas,, but I didn’t get a paycheck for those articles – I did get a byline. In the Pacific, I beat feet on the street for the “Kadena Shogun” in Okinawa. But, the “Philippine Flyer” at Clark Air Base was the most action-packed, crucial, critical, “never a dull moment” newspaper or military assignment of my career. “Ah, The Glory Days Of Wings And Rapid Response.” Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

For three weeks, I have tried diligently to “go to press” with my Memorial Day article. My “Sam I Am Blog” is my main blog publication. I am a one man electronic newpaper. Thus, when the Word Press system refused the article and photos, I had no copy boy to swear at.

I checked my Firefox browser for my Windows 7 software and the Mozilla feedback stated I had the version 12, which is the latest for my machine. I suspected my Java, I went to the website and updated my Java.

Regardless what I did, the Word Press system would not accept the article and photos. I know Word Press.com runs the blog platform for bloggers. I know Word Press. Org has the plugins that you can use to update your system.

I originally set up my system in the United States before moving to the Philippines.

I suspected the connection speed might be the problem. In the1990s, I was not extremely fond of my modem and phone line connection to America On Line, yet, it was faster than back in the late 1980s, when I was stationed at Kadena Air Base Okinawa and the modem connection began at 300 baud and finally increased to 1200 baud.

The early days of computers and the Internet, really made you wonder if it wouldn’t be wiser to invest in legions of trained carrier pigeons.

Living in a rural area of the Philippines is a lot like living in rural southwest Missouri when it comes to Internet connection speeds and overall system stability. No matter what I tried the Word Press system did not allow me to publish my Memorial Day article.

Like any good publisher or editor, I went to Plan B. Of course, real publishers and newspaper editors would probably have only delayed “rolling the presses” by a few hours. However, a one man newspaper has to sleep sometime.

My Plan B meant I take the copy and photos and publish them in the sister publication, my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog. I did the copy and photo layout and pressed the “publish” button. The magickal electronic “presses rolled.”

I still have no idea what the glitch is on Word Press. I even tried to post the photos and copy by setting up a new page, but the system “locked up” on me each time.

I hope I can publish this article on Word Press to let my regular “Sam I Am Blog” readers know that my two Memorial Day articles are on my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog.

The first article discusses family Memorial Day traditions in the United States,

The second article outlines the Death Anniversary celebration in the Philippines.

While it is time for this grumpy blog editor to get some shut eye, I leave my readers with the links to the articles on the “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog.

Barangay Baras Sign in Leyte, Republic of the Philippines — Baras, a rest stop along the Internet’s Information Super Highway and the World Headquarters of the “Sam I Am Blog” and “The Samuel Warren The Writer” blog, where the presses roll at One Warren Way. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Article 1

M-Day !

American Family Tradition Stands The Test Of Time Across The Pacific Ocean

http://samuelwarrenthewriter.blogspot.com/2012/06/m-day-american-family-tradition-stands.html

Article 2

The merger of a Filipino family tradition and an American family tradition achieves immortality for the Saldana, DeLong and Warren ancestors

Death Anniversary Day

Saldana Family Death Anniversary Ritual June 4, 2012

http://samuelwarrenthewriter.blogspot.com/2012/06/death-anniversary-day.html

“Roll the presses !”

Sam

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Samuel E. Warren Jr. Quote

Heaven

“When I die, I don’t need to go to Heaven.  I live on the

island of Leyte, in the Republic of the Philippines. 

What could Heaven possibly offer me

that I don’t already have  ? 

Just let me open up my eyes back in the P.I.”

—- Samuel E. Warren Jr.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wingman To The Angels

Wingman

To The

Angels

By Samuel E. Warren Jr.

I can die a happy man !

I don’t have a son.

I don’t have a grandson.

I had the honor of any father or grandfather, as I stood and walk alongside my nephew in his commencement exercise.

“What Mothers Do” – Lanail Saldana holds a graduation gown, while Marife Saldana Roa, the mother of Glen Roa, checks the precise alignment of the flower on her son, Glen’s graduation gown before commencement exercises. Canon 40 D Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

I walked alongside my nephew, Glen Roa, on the day that he underwent a monumental turning point in his life.

March 29, 2012, I strolled alongside my nephew, Glen Roa, in his formal graduation procession of the Juan Villablanca National High School, in Pastrana, in the Republic of the Philippines.

The joy inside my heart, mind and soul, I describe as, being promoted to the rank of “Seraphim” and given the opportunity to fly Combat Air Patrol off of the left wing of Saint Michael, the Archangel.

As a writer, monumental moments in my life, I always put on paper or place in my electronic journals, the “Sam I Am Blog” and my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog.

A writer feels emotions like his fellow man and fellow woman, but, a writer has the passion to translate that emotion into words and to commit it to print for future generations.

For me, walking alongside Glen in his commencement exercise gave me a supreme sensation of pride that could only be explained as being assigned to the military ranks of the Heavenly Host.

What greater tribute could there be in the Afterlife for a military man or woman than to be designated a “Seraphim” and authorized to fly alongside the Archangels ?

I am not a religious man. I try to be a spiritual man.

This event, gave me, the Pride, to feel like I had the honor to serve: as “Wingman To The Angels.”

“The Walk” — Samuel E. Warren Jr., strolls alongside, Glen Roa, his nephew, in the formal procession on Glen’s Graduation Day. Canon EOS 40 D Photo by Christy Warren.

The nature of the ceremony, obviously, made the day a monumental moment in Glen’s life.

The day was obviously – “Glen’s Day.”

Glen Roa accepts Communion at the church, before joining his fellow students in the formal graduation procession to the auditorium. Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

However, Glen’s American uncle felt the tremendous positive energy flowing from the universe into the graduates, their parents and relatives.

A magnificent, positive energy that reminds people, you can change the world, you can move mountains. You simply need the faith in yourself and your convictions to move you along the path to greatness.

I stood next to Glen and felt like one of God’s Seraphim standing on a majestic mountain peak bathed in golden sunlight. The rays of the sun, moved along my angelic breastplate and tunic. My wings opened to the sunlight. I stood ready to serve in the immortal ranks of The Heavenly Host.”

My feet stood in the Real World on the soil of the Republic of the Philippines, but, my imagination takes flight. I draw my sword and spread my wings. At altitude, I bank in the sunlight and fly through the ranks of the seraphim. I soar and sail among the formation of the archangels and move into position to fly off the left wing of Saint Michael, the Archangel.

Today, I am Saint Michael’s Wingman.

Back in the Real World, I stand alongside Glen. The sweltering heat and sunlight reaches the point that it is uncomfortable to just be standing outside. Yet, Glen stands in the long white line of students selected to graduate.

“The Long White Line ” — boys and girls in caps and gowns move along the route of the commencement exercise procession toward the goal of graduate. Photo by Christy Warren.

I have always been a persistent, passionate writer. When I pick up my camera for a news or important photography situation, I enter my Michelangelo mindset and try to figure out how I will be able to capture a photo that will remain a moving work of art to stand the test of time. The photography mindset is never a conscious act as much as a mental urge to be in the right place, at the right time, to capture a moment of history to stand the test of time.

My calling in life had always been to be the best reporter and photographer that it is humanly possible for me to be.

My writer’s mind, tells me God and Saint Michael, took the necessary actions to move me to this point in time.

In November 1988, I reported to Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines. I was a single American G.I., in pursuit of the dream of earning a Pulitzer Prize for writing or photography. Born a Texan and raised an Ozarks country boy, my ambition in life was to be a world-renowned photojournalist.

Life is an assignment that takes a serious of missions to put you in the right position to attain success and contentment. On duty, in the Real World, the United States Air Force would issue orders that would take Christy and I to Japan, Alabama and finally to retirement in Missouri.

Mount Pinatubo’s noxious sulfur fumes had changed the blanket of air over Clark Air Base into the pungent, persistent, almost choking stench of “rotten eggs.”

The slight shudder of the earth beneath your feet in February had grown to an intensity that seemed Mother Earth was being racked with strong contractions like a woman in labor by the month of May.

Before the rebirth of Mount Pinatubo into a volcano, Christy and I had taken the military orders and landed in Japan.

Mount Pinatubo had been nature’s “bunker buster bomb blast” that severed all Real World communications between Christy and her family in the Republic of the Philippines.

The status of all Christy’s relatives were “Unknown” – Missing In Action.

In a matter of days, Mount Pinatubo had devastated a section of a nation with a force usually displayed by nations at war.

And, the aftermath of Mount Pinatubo’s action, took 21 years for Christy to finally locate and determine the fate of her family in the Philippines. Marife and Ramon had had their own families.

With communications reestablished the Warrens in the United States and the Saldanas in the Philippines were becoming a family separated by a body of water called the Pacific Ocean.

Like United States Army General Douglas MacArthur, Christy Warren was determined to “Return To The Philippines.” General MacArthur had a mission. Christy Warren had family in the Philippines.

Glen adjusts his robe and straightens his mortarboard graduation cap, I smile and realize that at last Life had brought us to this point.

Glen, the young man, had grown up hearing stories about his “Tita Christy and Tito Sam.” Since our return to the Philippines, he had seen we were not fictional characters, but real people.

My grandfather, Joseph Samuel Warren, had been an East Texas farmer. My father, Samuel E. Warren, had served in the European Theater of Operations and the Pacific Theater of Operations, during World War II. Dad had earned two Silver Stars and assigned to the United States Army Signal Corps had installed some of the first telephone lines through the jungles of the Republic of the Philippines, during the war.

Glen had told his mom, he wanted to join the military. I hope the stories of my dad’s military service had inspired Glen to understand that military service is a calling of patriotism and compassionate devotion to one’s fellow citizens.

Glen’s confident smile reminded me of my exciting days at Clark Air Base back in the late 1980s. I looked at Glen and was reminded of General Fidel V. Ramos. I had been fortunate enough to take a photo of General Ramos on one of his visits to Clark.

When I arrived at Clark in the 1980s, I landed in the Philippines in the aftermath of the EDSA People Power Revolution and it was an exciting time.

The Global News Media had labeled former President Ferdinand Marcos an “evil dictatorial strongman.” Since President Marcos had always been a reliable and devoted ally to the United States Government in the Pacific and Asia, people in the Philippines were suspicious of the United States Government and most all Americans.

Life in the Philippines had became a constant topic for the global news media. Since the revolution in 1986, the world watched to see what would happen in the Philippines.

Corazon Aquino, a housewife and widow, had become the President of the Republic of the Philippines. While President Aquino had been educated for a few years in the United States, Americans as a rule, really knew nothing about the new president.

At Clark, we performed out military duties and wondered if we would get orders to pack up and head for “home” – the United States. In 1988 and 1989, I went to work each day in a country that was in transition as a new government established itself. It seemed everyday the international news media had stories of political intrigue originating from the Philippines.  Americans back home in the United States were confused about the news coming out of the Philippines. 

Every couple of weeks I would call my mother back in the United States, who would usually be upset because she had seen television coverage about the actions of the New People’s Army and had seen on television and in newspapers the coverage of protests demanding “Get US troops out of the Philippines” and, of course, the television footage was always shot outside of Clark or Subic on the days that protestors showed up, a few minutes before the global news media arrived with their television cameras and radio microphones.

I remember seeing a photo of General Juan Ponce Enrile, in uniform, on the cover of “Time” magazine. Despite the news going on around us at Clark, the names of two prominent Filipino generals always seemed to emerge in a positive light: General Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos.

I looked at my nephew, Glen and wondered if he would rise in life to have the admiration and respect of his comrades in arms like General Fidel Ramos. Then, we began walking in the procession toward the auditorium.

In my writer’s mind I had been elevated to the position of “Wingman To The Angels.” In the Real World, my nephew, Glen walked the symbolic pathway that led him through the doorway to decide which path he would take in life.

Glen Roa, steps to center stage, during his commencement exercises to accept his diploma. Samuel E. Warren Jr., his uncle. crosses behind him to stand beside him on the stage. Canon EOS 40 D Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

He stepped on to the stage and bowed to the audience.

I stood at his side and bowed.

As we stepped off the stage, I was confident, that Glen would be a young man, who would make a name for himself, and serve his fellow citizens.

To the reporters of “USA Today,” the “New York Times,” the “Washington Post,” “Time,” “Newsweek,” the “Manila Bulletin,” the “Philippine Daily Inquirer” the “Philippine Star,” Reuters and the Associated Press, I would suggest, “Get your cameras ready,” my nephew, Glen Roa, is a young man, who will make headlines and history.

Congratulation, Glen !

Philippines Commencement Photography for grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins

Glen Roa, a 2012 Juan Villablanca National High School graduate in cap and gown. 

Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Ornamental photo frame graphic by Photo Frames Online.

 

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

I’m a photographer. My mother loved the “Kodak moments” of life. I don’t believe a family birthday, anniversary, wedding or graduation ever passed that momma didn’t slip a camera out of her purse and take some snapshots.

It took me a few years to inherit momma’s photography habit, but, I did. I have also noticed in life sometimes when those monumental moments happen, grandparents and mom and dad get so wrapped up in the event they forget to bring a camera.

I don’t know if the relatives of Mohon Elementary, Pitogo Elementary and Juan Villablanca National High School remembered their cameras for these commencement exercises for the 2012 school year. There were a multitude of cell phone photographers and videographers at each of the events.

 

At JVNHS there was a professional photographer, wearing a khaki AGFA vest, who photographed the students in the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish church mass to the students leaving the stage at the JVNHS auditorium.

I trained as a news photographer, so I shoot photos like a reporter and not an official portrait or wedding photographer. Thus, for those family photos to frame and hang on the wall or to place in family photo albums, people will want to seek out the official event photographers.

 

Leniel Saldana smiles, while her son, Rayniel Saldana poses for a photograph at the Mohon Elementary School Graduation March 27, 2012.  This photo is an example of one of the photos that I lightened using software, before posting the photo to the web.  Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

My Canon EOS 40 D camera and I were at Mohon, Pitogo and Juan Villablanca because Uncle Sam had nephews graduating. In case, grandparents, mom, dad, aunts, uncles and cousins forgot their cameras, then, you can visit Picasa Web Albums Samuel Warren or facebook Samuel Warren to see the photos

My wife, Christy Warren, also took some of the photographs at Pitogo and Juan Villablanca National High School..

There is a variety of photo sizes in the posted photographs because my camera is not a full frame 35 millimeter that usually prints out the 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 prints. I am a newsman, which means when I look at a photo I always see it through an editor’s eyes – thus, I tend to crop out distractions such as people walking into or out of a photo as the shutter snaps.

In all photographic situations, I take the light into account. After all, photography, is actually two Greek words that translate into “writing with light,” thus, I am always aware of the lighting conditions.

I use Irfanview and PhotoScape in working with photographs. I edited some of the Mohon and all of the Pitogo photos for light, which will explain why the Pitogo photos should appear brighter. If you glance at the Mohon photos, you should be able to tell that I only made the time to lighten up three or four.

 

 

Mac Mac Roa whirls like John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”, during this dance number at the Pitogo Elementary School Graduation Exercises March 27, 2012.  This photo is an example of  trying to crop the photo to bring attention to the dancer.  In group photography situations involving movement, it is always a challenge to try to isolate the subject or subjects without getting obvious distractions in the background of the photo. 

Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

I have explained my photography editing routine for any relatives, who want to download any of the photos. Be aware that the photos are different sizes if you plan to download a photo to a printer.

While I have used software to compensate for lighting in the photos, a relative may wish to use their favorite software program to enhance a photo that they would like to keep for a memory.

The Mohon Elementary School Graduation Exercises and the Pitogo Elementary School Graduation Exercises have already been posted to the web addresses I mentioned above. Good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise and I should have the Juan Villablanca National High School Commencement Exercise photos posted in a few days.

I’m a naturally curious person, so if you do download a photo, a few photos, or all of the photos, for your scrapbook or to post to your blog, I would ask that you send me an email to samuelwarren55@gmail.com because I’ would just like to know if the photos were important to a mom or dad, who might of forgot the camera.

Visit my blogs, the “Sam I Am Blog” on Word Press, my “Samuel Warren The Writer” blog on Blogger or my “The Knight Writer” blog on Tumblr for articles and photographs on life in the Republic of the Philippines.