First on my shoot list was the city of Vigan on the country’s northwestern coast. Once a busy port-of-call for Mexico and Europe bound galleons, this now-sleepy UNESCO world-heritage site boasts well-preserved streets and architecture from those storied years. Setting the T7 on program mode, I explored this historic area on foot, capturing its character with quick snaps of the wrist. Sony’s camera was so small and ergonomic that I could use it with only one hand. Its performance, too, was impressive. Five-area multi-point auto focus was quick and the metering was accurate, allowing me to record many a decisive moment on pixels. To render the look of an old print, I tooled around with the B/W and sepia feature, as well as a Cokin sepia light filter, thereby capturing Vigan’s antique houses and horse-drawn calesas in all their nostalgic glory. At other times I shot in “saturated” color mode, especially at night when the T7’s tripod adapter and 10-second timer came in handy.

After two days in Vigan, I traveled eight hours by bus down to the national capital of Manila, where more of that Spanish heritage awaited. Despite its thoroughly modern streets, much of that colonial charm still remained. At the old walled city of Intramuros, I photographed time-honored landmarks like Fort Santiago and the Manila Cathedral. With the T7 set to ISO 400, I shot the opulent interiors of the San Agustin Church, barely getting away with a 1/15th shutter speed.

Braving the downtown crowds, I also raided the Quiapo market for photo-ops, shooting such unusual merchandise as Christ Child statues and “mystical” talismans with the Cyber-shot on macro mode. Unlike monster SLRs, shooting with the T7 was as easy as ABC – it slipped in and out of my pocket in seconds, and recorded sharp, well-exposed images just as quickly. Indeed, very few people noticed there was a photographer at work. With mucho quality and menos luggage, I captured the colonial remains of Spain – no daguerreotypes required.

The litratistas of old would have loved that!