Sam and Hanna

December 16, 2006
Bride's preps: Bride's place
Ceremony: San Antonio de Padua Quasi-Parish
Reception: Sotogrande Clubhouse

I met Hanna through Kix. She was actually planning on getting Kix for their wedding but he was already booked. So, Kix asked me to photograph Hanna's wedding for him. And to be honest, I was pretty nervous about it. I mean, if I messed up, I would have to answer not just to Sam and Hanna, but to Kix as well.:D But, fortunately, things turned out well. It also helped that I photographed a wedding at the same church just a week prior to Sam and Hanna's wedding.

It was my first time to be in a military wedding so it was a very interesting experience for me. But more than that, being part of Sam and Hanna's wedding was like being a part of their family as well. And I think their families were super cool.;)

Below are some photos from the wedding.

The rings.


Nope. This is not a baptism photo. These are Hanna's baby shoes. With matching socks pa yan!:D
Soon-to-be misis.

Hanna's mini ring.

Hanna: "Kami ang pamilyang maliit pero puno ng saya!":)

I don't know why but this shot reminds me of one of those Asian telenovelas. Hehehe.

The Arch of Swords.

Dancing to "Kaydet Girl", which, I think, is a very romantic PMA tradition.:)

Please click here for the online gallery.

UPDATE: Romel and Eunice!

I have already put up the online photo gallery for Romel and Eunice. Please click here!

Romel and Eunice

December 9, 2006
Preps: Bride's Place
Ceremony: San Antonio de Padua Quasi Parish, Silang, Cavite
Reception: Light of the World Formation and Retreat Center

Eunice contacted me back in August to inquire about my back-up photography services because she wanted to have a female photographer. When we finally met, we were both surprised to realize we actually know each other! Ok not really, but we're both from the College of Engineering in UP and a lot of her classmates were my orgmates. Galing no?:D

This wedding was special because it was my first time to shoot a theme wedding. Eunice and Romel opted for a Filipiniana-themed wedding. And I had a grand time shooting the details. Too bad we didn't get to take a lot of photos of their fiesta-like set-up at the reception because of the dark skies and the rain. It still turned out to be a lovely wedding though.

Below are just a few of the photos that I took.

The rings and the cord.


Eunice's Filipiniana-inspired bridal footwear.


Since the main photography team came a bit late, we (my assistant photographer Edison and I) were able to shoot the details in advance and were even able to do a short portrait session with the bride.



The bridal jeepney. Aliw no?:D


At the altar.


Watch out for more photos when I put up the gallery for Eunice and Romel's wedding!

Jethro and Mina

December 8, 2006
Preps: Philippine Plaza Hotel
Ceremony: Basilica de San Sebastian
Reception: Baluarte de San Diego

Kix and I were the back-up photography team for Jethro and Mina's wedding last Friday. I only met the couple during the wedding day itself (since they only hired me through Kix) but they were very friendly that I didn't have a hard time at all during the shoot. Mina was so sweet and accommodating. Even when she had her coordinating team, she still went around asking if everyone had taken their lunch already.

The wedding was fabulous and the bride was beautiful! I haven't really had the chance to go through all the photos I've taken but here are just a few of them.

The groom getting some grooming before the wedding.


Mina on her cellphone.


The e-ring.


The lovely bride.


The walk.


The dance.

I will be putting up the gallery for Mina and Jethro's wedding soon. Please watch out for that.:D

Adeline Kaytlin

I have to say that so far, I have been very lucky with my clients. Everyone has been so nice and sweet. No weirdos, no lunatics...But for a moment, I thought that was going to change when I met Kim. She contacted me to inquire about my baptism services for her cousin's baby. We talked on the phone before agreeing to meet up to sign the contract and to discuss some of the details. I met up with Kim just a couple of days before the event. She seemed very friendly, and even kwela...until she started referring to herself in the third person...Hmmm...Then just before I grabbed my things and split, she explained that "the cousin" was actually her husband's cousin and is also named Kim. Yun naman pala...whew! Hehehe. (Loko lang, Kim!:D)

Side story: I was only going to photograph the baptism reception (the ceremony was held the day before) which was scheduled for November 19--yep, the day of Pacquiao's big fight. Pete was very disappointed when he found out that the fight wasn't going to start until around lunchtime (we had PPV) because that meant we weren't going to be able to finish it as we had to leave for the baptism at around 1:15PM. he must have prayed really hard because just a couple of minutes before we were supposed to leave, the knock-out happened!:D

The venue for the reception was the Ayala Alabang Country Club. We kinda lost our way inside Ayala Alabang. I guess we were expecting the typical club house which is usually the biggest structure inside a subdivision, but my gosh! Every other house looked like a club house!

Anyway, enough with the kwentos...

Kim (the cousin) and his family were really nice. Pete and I didn't have a hard time at all talking to them and working for them. It also helped that Kim (the lady) was there to help me out with the photo sessions. The waiters were very courteous, even to "outsiders" like us. And the food...yum-o!:D For the first time since I started covering events, I was actually tempted to go for seconds. Hehehe. But of course, I didn't.;)

Below are some of the photos from the baptism.





Please click here for the photo gallery.

Niña and Jeph

This is not an engagement pictorial. Niña is Pete's younger sister. For her 21st birthday last September (day of typhoon Milenyo), Pete and I gave her a photo frame set with the note "Photos to follow." Then it took us over a month before we could finally find time to do the photoshoot.

Pete and I did a 2-hour photoshoot with Niña and her boyfriend Jeph at a playground near UP and by my favorite building in UP(...NOT!). Here are some of the shots from that session.








I will be putting up a gallery of the other photos from Niña and Jeph's pictorial...when I get the time.:D But do watch out for that!;)

Andrea

One of the first things that Andrea said when she saw me was "You look familiar..." Now, I've heard that line hundreds of times before because apparently, I have a very common face and I always seem to look like someone's cousin or a classmate's friend's neighbor. But the way she said it told me that Andrea had actually seen me before, and I started to panic for a moment. I don't really like talking about my college days so I crossed my fingers that she wouldn't start talking about being in the same class under the same terror professor. It turned out to be worse than that. She knew me from high school! Back when I wore braces, had glasses, with long thick unruly hair (ok, so the hair is still there...hehehe), and wore a short-sleeved barong and tablecloth skirt as a school uniform! Eek! Hehehe. Andrea and her husband Ramil were freshmen when I was a senior in Pisay! Small world!:D

Anyway, Andrea's was the last one of the free maternity portraits that I did for October. We initially scheduled it for October 30, but I asked her if we could reschedule, and we agreed to do it on November 5 at UP.

Andrea and Ramil are such a sweet young couple. I wish them all the luck in preparing for their first child. I know they will be great parents.

Here are some of the photos from Andrea's maternity session...Andrea looks a lot like a certain celebrity...I just can't remember who.





And with that, I'm happy to announce that my rates for maternity sessions are ready. Please email me at maria_abigail@yahoo.com for inquiries. As promised, I will be giving out discounts to the first few ladies who will avail of this service.;) If you guys know of anybody interested, please send them my way.:) Hope to hear from you guys soon!

Rea Katrina

Watch the fingers :D Pete and I photographed Rea's baptism last November 4. And my golly gosh! Ang bongga! Hehehe. Rea's parents Arlene and Rudy went all out for their unica hija. The guestlist was pretty long for the usual baptism. The reception was held at the Oasis. They had great food, party poppers, and even a live band!

The best thing about photographing the baptism was the warmth that we felt from Arlene and the whole family. Everybody was so friendly. Pete and I almost felt like we were guests.:D Oh, and Rea is such a cutie. She reminds me so much of my little nephew.:)

Below are some of the photos that we took:







P.S.
I'm having some technical problems with my Kids by Ging gallery so I decided to temporarily set up Rea's gallery in my old Zoto account. Please click here for more photos from Rea's baptism.

Happy Birthday, Pete!:)

Let me just break myself away from work for a few minutes to salute a person who has been such an inspiration to me for the past 8 years--most especially these past few months. This photo, which I took during a shoot yesterday, pretty much sums up who Pete is in my life. He is my superhero. We have weathered through many super typhoons together, and he never once left my side. He also helps me clean up the mess after.:D AND, of course, he carries around my camera bag and other equipment for me. Hehehe.

But seriously, Pete has about twenty engineers reporting to him at work, and his job requires a lot of hours. And yet, he doesn't mind driving me around, carrying my photo equipment, helping me set up, and being the dutiful photographer's assistant...all for free. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is. I wanted us to celebrate our anniversary (which we weren't able to celebrate last November 4 because I had a shoot...no, actually WE had a shoot.:D) and his birthday last Saturday but we weren't able to as he got tied up at work. Today, I made him promise to NOT work for 16 hours, as he has been doing very often the past few weeks. Unfortunately, this time I am the one who has deadlines to meet so we probably wouldn't be able to celebrate today, either. We'll see.

Anyway, Pete usually likes to keep his birthday low-key. But I say he deserves a grand celebration. And since I couldn't do that, this is my way of telling the world (err...the five or so people who read this, anyway...hehehe) what a great person he is, and how I am honored to have him in my life.

Happy 27th birthday, Pete!:)

Ninoy and Jez

October 28, 2006
Bride's Preps: Rembrandt Hotel
Ceremony: Parish of the Holy Sacrifice
Reception: Chateau Verde

After a long break from wedding photography, I was finally able to do a wedding again a couple of weeks ago, thanks to Gina, who is an old friend of mine from high school. She contacted me at the beginning of October to ask if I was still available to photograph her younger brother's wedding. Luckily, I was.

The wedding was an intimate affair held at the UP Chapel and the reception followed at Chateau Verde, a lovely little restaurant tucked away inside the campus.

The young couple, Ninoy and Jez seemed very shy about doing poses for the camera. We tried working around it though, and focused more on taking candids. Over all, I think we were able to capture the emotions of the event and the magic in the air that can only be had at a wedding.

Here are some of the photos:

The handsome groom.

Some lovely details.






The blushing bride.


And now for the couple's portrait...

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Like I said, they were shy.:D

Please click here for more photos.

Arianne

James is a very good friend of Pete and mine from college. A few months ago, he announced that he and his wife Arianne are expecting their first child and everyone in the barkada is excited to welcome their baby boy in a few weeks.

We did the photoshoot a couple of Sundays ago in Tagaytay. Pete and I didn't mind making the trip. It was just like going out with a couple of friends on a weekend. We actually had a lot of fun. And although I usually charge extra for out-of-town shoots, I went easy on James. He just had to pay for our heavy merienda/early dinner. Hehehe.

We were able to take a lot of great photos that I actually had a hard time choosing which ones to post. Here are some of my picks: