Dusk Till Dawn • A View From the Balcony

It was a relaxing long weekend as we got a chance to go out on a staycation. I am very glad that I got a chance to take photos again outside away from home. We stayed at a condo unit with a balcony facing the most active volcano in the Philippines.

You could check out the place where we stayed here A Weekend With a Breathtaking View.

I spent a lot of time on the balcony just waiting for the sun to go down and watch the evening come alive. Up here while relaxing I took a lot of photos and who wouldn't with a view like this.

I never used the presets on my camera but decided to try them out on the two photos below. Looking at them, I can't even recall which two profiles I used.

I switched back to the normal mode of the camera as I wasn't enjoying it.

Night came and the lights from the restaurants below came alive. I'm pretty bad with night photography and haven't practiced enough with long exposure shots. My Panasonic isn't too good with low light or maybe it's just me.

Over the horizon, on the left of the balcony, the city lights give a relaxing glow.

Another try with long exposure and used a color preset in lightroom. Doesn't seem to make it better. From up here, I do not have a lot of options and angles to shoot from. I was thinking of going down from the building and taking a little walk near the street.

I went down from the 10th floor and realized I forgot to wear a jacket, it was so cold that night. I was only able to take a few shots and went back up to the comfort of our room. It would have been pleasant to snap some more photos along the way.

The next day I woke up around 5 am just as the sun was about to rise. While enjoying my hot coco I took some more shots to remind me what the morning sky looks like here in Tagaytay.

Looking at the volcano I noticed that there were clouds above it. But I looked closely for a few minutes it seems that those clouds were steam coming out of the volcano. We know it's active but please don't erupt.

From afar it looks just like a fluffy cloud passing by.

Looking closer with my zoom lens it clearly shows the steam coming out of it. When it erupted back in 2020 it was frightening as ashes reached when where we lived. I am only imagining how frightful it was from where we are staying right now. Front row seats to the fury of nature. When it erupted a lot of people living here sold their properties at a lower price. Houses and restaurants were all covered in ashfall and I know how hard it is to get rid of the ash.

Looking back to the left side of the building seems like there is a fire going on this early morning. Being up here, stories unfold in every direction you look and life looks very different.

Thanks for staying with me from dusk till dawn. I would have loved to share a cup of hot drink with you.

See you again soon.

All photos are original and taken with

Lumix GX85 with Olympus 45mm f1.8 and Olympus 40-150 mm