Pit Señor! Tradition lives on in the smartphone era

MANILA, Philippines – If you have a phone that dubs itself as the ‘Selfie Expert’ and you are spending the weekend embedded in one of the country’s grandest street festivals, what do you do? Take photos (selfies and groufies included) and videos, go live, light up the social media firmament with your posts – wit, humor and local color.

Well, not exactly.

Where there are millions of people converging in one place, the Philippines found the perfect brew: the shutdown of mobile networks. So it is more like this: take photos (selfies and groufies included) and videos (lots and lots of them) and post later (when mobile data returns or (assuming that you are a tourist) hie off to a place where WiFi is available and stable enough). Then go back to the festivities if you still have the energy after the back-and-forth.

The Sinulog weekend in Cebu City last week was no exception. To keep the city safe during the intense festivities, the government deemed it best to shut down cellphone signals in 27 barangays (villages) where the festivities were centered. But as The Freeman reported the day before the festival – “Faith trumps down fear”  – because the show must go on, rains threatening on the horizon notwithstanding, because nothing can come between the Cebuanos and their faith in the Sto. Niño.

Pit Señor! (the local greeting during the Sinulog) is the shortened version of “Sangpit sa Señor.” According to our Cebuano friend Abe Acosta, a lawyer and fellow media delegate, it literally means “tell Mister” or “tell Mr. Sto. Niño,” a call or cry for help for divine intervention in an area of your life you most need assistance.

Acosta led us through the meandering maze of streets teeming with people leading to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu along Osmeña Boulevard where mass was being celebrated on Saturday evening after the solemn procession. Rain poured but the heat was palpable. As the cliche goes, there wasn’t any place to drop a coin. You become the crowd.

After mass, the dancing began – two steps forward, one step back, two steps sideways (to the right) and two steps sideways (to the left). This way, you become part of the “sulog” (wave) of bodies praying to the child Jesus, an ancient ritual that remains alive in the smartphone era. But this is no place for “selfies” because there are pockets of faith that will remain untouched by technology. What’s your most fervent wish? It is in the heart.

The morning after is another story. The Sinulog grand parade, which people call the local Mardi Gras, is a commercial event that started in the ‘80s that has gotten bigger and grander over the years. Now on its 37th year, the parade – a colorful showcase of dance troupes, floats, marching bands, and costumed parade participants – featured 23 contingents this year  that took more than eight hours to finish.

Obviously, this is the shining moment of the ‘Selfie Expert’ (a.k.a. the Oppo F1s smartphone).

According to Jane Wan, Oppo marketing director, the mid-range phone is the handset vendor’s best-selling phone to date. When it was launched last August, the initial stock was sold out in three days. “Demand is still very high,” she says. And that is probably because of the attractive price factor (it retails for P12,900), the quality of the photos and Filipino’s unrivaled penchant for ‘selfie’ photography, which has made us the so-called “selfie capital” of the world.

The Sinulog was the perfect opportunity to test the phone’s camera features. As most Filipinos would attest, selfie photography is a delightful experience and a big part of the festival experience, but it’s a whole lot different when you’re doing it in a very public place, in not-so-ideal weather and lighting conditions, and while being constantly shoved away by parade security or marred by photobombers.

Here are lessons learned taking the perfect (and even not-so-perfect) selfie straight from the streets:

1. Get a selfie stick (or a monopod). Yes, you need it. Professional photographers and videographers will shun any camera shake and you should, too. This differentiates amateurs from professionals. Just because you’re not a pro doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim for the perfect shot. Social media is already full of eyesores (or photos shot without an eye for aesthetics). Restrain yourself from contributing more to the clutter.

If you’re not exactly tall, chances are your head does not tower above the rest of humanity. The extended length of the selfie stick will give you more perspective of the crowd and will get you closer to your target without having to use the Zoom feature.

2. Camera specs matter. You would have to believe that there is a difference when your smartphone has a 16 MP front camera. Even in Auto mode, you get a better shot. Interestingly, Oppo F1s’ front camera has a higher resolution than its rear camera (13 MP). Well, it isn’t the ‘selfie expert’ for nothing. But do try out the rear camera with features such as the Expert Mode and Ultra-HD.

3. Be mindful of the screen glare. Unlike a DSLR camera where there is a viewfinder you can peep through, a cellphone monitor is your only viewfinder. Sunlight directly over the screen can darken the whole monitor, making it hard for you to find the buttons you need to press while taking photos.

Steer clear of wallpapers that make the screen lighter than it already is. Even with a 20/20 vision, you wouldn’t want to squint your eyes and fumble through the controls just when the parade queen in full regalia is passing by your side of the road. Adjusting the monitor’s brightness and contrast settings will help a lot. It will keep battery from running out sooner than you expect.

If you set your phone with patterns to lock the cellphone screen, remove them before heading off to the streets. A phone that locks after every few minutes or so is another hurdle to overcome when the action begins.

Stay in the shade or where there is more natural shade. While this might be impossible to do considering that you are constantly moving with the crowd, that would at least help minimize the glare. You can also devise a DIY glare hood or maybe find yourself an anti-glare film for the screen (if it is available locally).

4. Nothing beats strategy. You’ve heard it before: location, location, and location. Those dancers do not dance or showcase their best moves just anywhere. Judges’ stations are scattered through the parade route. Find those places because chances are, this is where the dance troupes will stop to showcase what they’ve got.

Find areas where there are fewer people and you can angle your best shots more freely without obstruction. If you do not have any media pass, just do it with confidence. Security is not so tight in areas where there are thinner crowds. You can walk right at the center of the street and take photos of the marching bands and floats right up front. Look serious so the security people will also take you seriously. And in good old Filipino fashion, you can always ask permission to take a shot or video right in front of the dancers.

5. Move with the parade. Don’t just be a spectator, be a participant. In every fiesta, the ‘banderitas’ or party buntings are different in every barangay (village) or every few hundred meters. Don’t just focus on the parade, focus on the background as well. The changing vista will give your photos and videos more variety and more color.

Take photos of the crowds as well –the locals, foreigners, the costumed bystanders, the small children, the teenagers, the elderly, the medical team, the police, the dance masters and makeup artists, the choreographers. It’s their story, too.

6. Try advanced photography. As difficult as it may sound, the Oppo F1s has an ‘expert mode,’ which means you can adjust the camera settings or shoot in raw. That would be ideal. That is, if you can minimize the monitor glare and adjust specs fast enough.

So there! We hope we could all do better next time. And by the way, you can dance, too. It is one of the oldest forms of prayer. Viva Pit Señor!