First of all, I would like to introduce you to our Blogs section, where all our personal experiences, travels, and other possible stuff we would like to share with you should lie on. This post is one of the examples of a new series in which we would try out some things and will share its results with you through a blog post, or a video blog.

Now, why I should prove to you that you don’t need to get the newest smartphone in order to get great photos and videos? Of course, getting a newer flagship phone is not that easy, unless you are filthy rich and literally talk about money like it’s a piece of dust you can find almost everywhere.

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge from the used market, and since it’s a 3-year old smartphone, you might mock my buying decision like ‘why?’ or ‘you’re so cheap’ or any other phrase that will sound like those.

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But why still buy a 3-year old flagship?

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First, it’s still powerful, to the extent that it still outperforms EVEN the most priced smartphones from other brands, considering Samsung placed a powerful hardware inside. We all loved Samsung’s Super AMOLED display, and many more features (although I wished they’ve placed a larger battery (there’s fast charging so this isn’t much pain) and a dedicated SD card slot, though).

Second, I really love Samsung’s design philosophy, and I’m a fan of their premium-class looking design, both on the front and back (although it gets much more fragile because of the glass material within).

Third, I’m on a budget, and I don’t really need a super-expensive flagship in order to use as my daily driver. I bought this phone from a girl who upgraded to the Galaxy S8, so it was well taken care of. If you want to know our tips on buying second-hand or used smartphones, we’ve provided some good reads and guides below:

READ: ‘How to spot FAKE smartphones’

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READ: ‘Risks on buying used gadgets’

Fourth, is because it is still supported by Samsung and other app developers, there are still software and secutiry updates, enormous application support and so much more.

Lastly, its camera is so good, and getting it below PhP10k (for me) is absolutely a bang-for-the-buck deal. I won’t tell the exact price because they vary depending on the seller.

Okay, so now I’m done explaining myself, we should now proceed to what I’ve got in store from Tayabas, Quezon to share them (photos) with you.

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You might not have heard much about Tayabas when it comes to history, but by going there, the locals are more than welcome in assisting you and even explaining to you the histories that are underlying within that place, and by seeing those historical landmarks, we’ve realized that Tayabas is also a city which is rich in history. In fact, I’ve learned from them that Quezon Province was also used to be called Tayabas itself.

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The photos below are captured by the Galaxy S6 Edge, in Auto and HDR mode, without any further enhancements.

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Our first destination was the Casa Communidad de Tayabas, the town’s old tribunal and a famous landmark just near the municipal office. It was first built in 1776 by Gobernadorcillo Francisco Lopez, then made as a grand edifice at 1831 by then Gobernadorcillo Don Diego Enriquez, and it was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1978.

The ‘Vlogging Workshop and Seminar’ that we’ve conducted with the ‘Oplan Sagip Tulay’ or OST Tayabas was hosted in one of the function rooms that this place has. Other than that, the famous landmark has interesting displays and stuff as well.

Near the old tribunal is the Minor Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel (commonly known as the Tayabas Basilica or Susi ng Tayabas). It is a Roman Catholic basilica under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lucena. It’s the largest church in Quezon Province, and was built in the shape of a key. The church aisle is also the longest among Spanish colonial era churches in the country, with a length of 103-metre (338-foot).

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And going back to Tayabas municipal hall……

In its front was a little park, where a monument of our national hero, Jose Rizal stands as well as a statue of animals with a banner saying “Tayabas, wala kang katulad” lit: There’s nothing like Tayabas.

Among the three photos above (except the second, edited one), the details are preserved and the colors are produced very well, especially in well-lit areas. In order to make your photos more Instagram-able, you can use any photo-enhancement apps such as Snapseed, or Instagram’s built-in editing tools as well.

Before the first day of our trip ends (and before our group rested on our hotel because of the tiring vlogging workshop we’ve conducted), I’ve took some photos nearby to check out how the camera will perform when the sun isn’t showing that much due to cloudy/rainy weather.

Although our day didn’t end after taking these photos, we’ve decided to just enjoy the moments we had there, either swimming, eating, talking to each other and of course, sleeping for the next day because we had so much to do.

On the following day, we went back to Casa Communidad de Tayabas to get something as well as on the municipal hall to wait for our vehicle. Here are some of my photos:

The photo below is from the municipal hall rooftop, and look at the clouds.

We also went into one of Tayabas’ famous yema cake factory……

And ate delicious lunch at ‘Kamayan sa Palaisdaan’

And went to some historical bridges like the Malagonlong bridge….

While the Malagonlong bridge still seems to be sturdy enough to be in operational, the government decided not to open it anymore for vehicles due to the fact that it is too small to be passed by vehicles (one way-size only).

Although these next photos weren’t from the Galaxy S6 Edge, I’ve included them here to show you how the bridge currently looks like when you are on it.

We went to ‘Bukal na Mainit Hot Spring’ on our last day at Tayabas, and here’s some of what I’ve taken there:

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And later on, to buy pasalubongs……

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A street on Tayabas where you can buy their delicacies (Auto, HDR-enabled) [Photo: Bryan Snow/AMG]

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Lastly, some other random photos……

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Of course, this trip wouldn’t be possible without the help of our good friends at BakasYun Ni Juan as well as OST Tayabas! See my full appreciation post HERE as well as my complete Facebook album HERE.

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Now what are your thoughts on getting a second-hand / used flagship smartphone for b/vlogging? Let us know down in the comments section!