PHOTO EXPLORATION IN AURORA AND ISABELA
Filmmaker Aaron Palabyab and I went on an exploratory photo roadtrip along the gorgeous coastline of Aurora and Isabela. We owe it to our local friends (special shoutout to Mang Jun & Miss Angie) who we met on the trip, and welcomed us during our journey.
Huge thanks to Chevrolet Philippines for letting us test drive their Trailblazer Z71 4x4! We wouldn't have accomplished this trip without it.
To start off our trip, we drove through the night and caught the sunrise along Ampere Beach in Dipaculao. Its unique rock formations are popular especially amongst landscape photographers. The backwash along the shore can be dangerous, but during this morning, the waves were a bit more gentle which allowed me to get close, and capture the receding water.
From Dipaculao, we passed a few more municipalities until we reached to Dilasag (the last municipality of Aurora province). After finding a place to stay, we conducted an ocular along Parang Hills for sunrise the next day. Since the coast faces east, the morning light was our priority--photography wise.
This sunset was a memorable one even if I didn't take as many photos. Before the sun hid behind the mountains, On and On by Thirdstory was playing from the speakers of our car (I forgot to disconnect the bluetooth from my phone), and I just immersed myself in the warmth of the sun.
Just when we thought the show was over, the sky exploded with red, orange, and purple hues.
It was definitely a good first day in Aurora.
Even with meticulous planning, we're always at the mercy of Mother Earth. Due to the dense clouds in the horizon, we only had a bit of light to play with. I still got a few photos down, but the lack of direct light diluted the potential. Since we usually keep our itinerary loose, we decided to stay one more night in Dilasag to hopefully catch a better sunrise. In the meantime, we decided spend the rest of the day exploring the surrounding attractions.
The first waterfall is called Singip Falls which can be found within Dilasag. What made this very interesting was the size of the boulders, and the frigid water at the basin. We had this area all to ourselves for awhile, until some locals arrived to take a dip.
The second waterfall we went to has been in my bucketlist for quite sometime. During my first visit to Dilasag (see Aurora part 1), my local friends told me stories about Dibulo Falls in Dinapigue, Isabela. It's about 100 meters high, and the road going to it requires a motorcycle or a 4x4 vehicle. Thankfully, we had the Chevrolet Trailblazer, and the best local guide, Mang Jun, to lead us there. The roads were mostly rough and some parts were a bit tricky to maneuver around, but the reward was more than worth it. It's truly a must-see when visitng Dinapigue, Isabela.
For sunset, we decided to return once again to Parang Hills (an hour and a half drive from Dibulo Falls). We tried to catch the full moon rise, but once again the clouds weren't in our favor.
The morning started heavily overcast, but the small gap above the horizon was just enough to give us the light we needed. In case you missed it, I went for the exact same composition as the previous morning for the first shot. The light really makes a massive difference in allowing more details in the landscape to shine (literally).
An hour after sunrise, the sun was up and bright which made great conditions for some photos of the car, and of course, an obligatory selfie. After wrapping up our morning session, we had our last breakfast in Dilasag before going back to Dinapigue, Isabela. More exploration was needed after what we saw the previous day.
It proved a bit more difficult to find a place to stay in the remote town of Dinapigue, but we eventually found a transient house to stay in thanks to the locals. For our late afternoon shoot, we went to this seemingly abandoned seaside airstrip turned into an intrams venue for the local elementary school. Everyone seemed to know each other as they cheered and laughed together, and I couldn't help but smile while I spectated the event.
Jowylyn and Roxanne. Two cousins whom I met not far from the runway. They often spend time by the shoreline during sunset, and upon seeing Aaron fly a drone, they watched excitedly from a distance. We talked for awhile, and they shared stories of some of the places they like to visit around the area. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to produce some prints for them to keep, but I know I'll be back one day to give them copies.
It's often good practice in landscape photography to stay awhile longer even if the sun seems to have set. Our patience was rewarded by an incredible view of crepuscular rays, and a moonrise + milkyway combo to cap off our day.
For our early morning shoot, we went to this viewdeck overlooking the coastline. Dilasag can be seen in the far end with a speck of light coming from what looked like a lighthouse.
We bid farewell to Miss Angie who offered to tour us around the next time we visit, and of course, we were more than happy to accept that offer. From Dinapigue, we drove up and down through mountains until we reached Dinalungan in Aurora.
Since I was already familiar with the area, I knew where to stay so we quickly rested before our sunset shoot. We actually found a spot with a tree and a field in Casiguran (about 45 mins away), and it may seem like a crazy idea to many, but most landscape photographers would understand.
It was a successful sunset, and I think it was well worth the drive. We literally just found this spot off the side of the road!
As we rested that night in Dinalungan, it suddenly started pouring hard. Tomorrow was the last day of our trip, and we were hoping for one last proper sunrise in Tabon beach, but the sound of the rain was lulling us into skipping the morning attempt.