There are a few places in the Philippines that I still haven’t visited. Batanes is one of them. So I grabbed at the invitation from Epson Philippines for a chance to finally go this northernmost province of the country.

An early-morning flight to Basco was finally scheduled for February 18, after several postponements. We landed around 7am. A gush of strong wind upon disembarking that nearly toppled us made us realize that we are indeed in a very harsh, unforgiving place. I made a mental note: “Was I able to bring my jacket?”

Luckily, Epson did give us our blue and beige jackets for everybody to use during the trip. Batanes’ beauty fails to be translated; but to the photographer such a glimpse need not only be committed to the mind. Indeed, this almost magical place enraptures the photographer and instills upon him a fervent spirit to capture the landscape with his lenses.

It’s unimaginable that such harsh surroundings can bring out beauty and magnificence in a place…from the Ivatan houses, to the beaches in Sabtang, the quaint church of San Vicente Ferrer, and the people are every photographer’s dream.

With every shot the photographer takes, a piece of the land is taken with him; but unfortunately, there are few printers which can produce photographs that give justice to photographers’ art and his vision of the landscape.

Here is where Epson’s newly launched printers came in. The group brought the Stylus Photo R290, RX610 and the CX9300 so the group can print out their photographs of Basco and Sabtang. Who would have thought that we could get photo laboratory quality images from these printers that surely captured every detail of Batanes’ landscape in print?

I guess very few of us brought along their USB cable connectors or even their laptops but the printers’ PC-less connectivity options solved our worries. We were able to transfer files for printing by simply connecting PictBridge-enabled devices, memory card options, USB Direct Print or even go wireless via the optional Bluetooth connections available in some models.

The landscape of Batanes has always remained enchanting but through photography the entire world can now share in its wonder. Photography in Batanes has never been so beautiful, the arrival of Epson’s multi-function printers to the shores of Batanes, it also has never been easier.