I'm back!

Yep. I'm back from my 4-day trip to Davao...and believe it or not, I didn't get to do any touristy stuff at all. NOT AT ALL. But I didn't mind one bit. I didn't go there to visit any tourist spot, anyway. I was there to see something even more beautiful...

This...
Meet my nephew, Maximilian Ybarra Lorenzo Sirilan--Liam for short.:D I photographed his baptism and took portraits of him and my sister (his mom) last weekend. This photo, however, was the first one that caught my eye when I was reviewing my shots earlier tonight. This was taken when I first got there, when my sister was giving Liam a bath. Oh yeah, and this was just taken with a 5MP P&S camera.;)

I'll try to post more photos in my next entries.

4-day working vacation

I will be going on a trip to Davao until Tuesday to meet my 2-month-old nephew for the first time and photograph his baptism. I will try to post pictures when I get back.:)

I'm not sure if I will be able to access my email or this blog during my trip but feel free to email or message me anytime and I'll try to get back to you whenever I can.

See you guys in four days!:)

And while we're at it...

I just wanna say that I do other kinds of portraits, too.


I will be posting other samples in the coming weeks. Don't forget to check back regularly for updates.

Here's the deal...

My very good friend Lyra (Thanks, Lyra!) posted a message on the Newlyweds@Work Yahoogroup regarding my plan to put together a portfolio on maternity portraits (What can I say, I have great friends!:)) and during the past few days, I've been getting a few emails from mothers-to-be about it. Ok, so I didn't exactly write about it yet on this blog, but I actually told Lyra that I'm willing to do FREE maternity sessions for the first few qualified ladies who email/message me.

Just so people get a clear idea on what this is all about, here are the details:

1. I'm looking for ladies who are on their 7th, 8th, or even 9th month--that is, if they're still willing to do the shoot at this stage--of pregnancy between now and end of October, who are interested in getting their maternity portraits for FREE.

2. The portraits will be "environmental portraits" or location portraits, as opposed to studio portraits. I prefer this because (aside from the fact that I don't have my own studio yet) I think it looks more natural and personal. The client can choose the venue of the shoot--preferably somewhere that has special meaning to her, where she can be comfortable doing the poses and where she can do a few outfit changes during the shoot. Indoor or outdoor locations are ok.

3. I prefer to use natural light (although, I also bring along some lights in case I need to complement the natural lighting), so the photoshoot would preferably be during daytime.

4. I am free to do shoots during weekdays. My weekends are a bit more hectic but if we schedule the photo shoot early enough, I may be able to accommodate it as well.

5. Other members of the family--hubby, other sons and daughters, pets (umm, just make sure they don't bite...hehehe)--are welcome to join in the photos, too!

6. I will be giving the client the high-resolution files of the best portrait shots of my choice (post-processed) in CDs, ready for printing a week after the shoot.

7. The client must be willing to have her photos posted on this blog and on my online galleries. She must be willing to have her photos used by me in my other promotional materials as well.

8. Again, this offer will only be until end of October, and only for as many clients as my schedule will permit.

Please email me at maria_abigail@yahoo.com if you have other questions.

Salamat! And hope to hear from you guys soon!:)

because preggy is sexy...

As I said before, I really love taking portraits. Not just the usual "posed" portraits but those that really capture the emotions of the subject/s. Whenever I do a portrait sitting, I always make it a point to try to make the experience memorable (or, at the very least, comfortable) for everyone, especially for the people in front of the camera.

One of the things that I've been interested in doing is maternity portraiture. If you google "maternity portraits" on the Internet, you would find that it is a big thing in the States. Indeed, when Demi Moore showed off her very pregnant body on the cover of Vanity Fair fifteen years ago, preggy became sexy.

So anyway, this afternoon, Pete and I were brainstorming on how I would promote my maternity portrait sessions. Pete was very helpful in coming up with catchy one-liners. I was cracking myself up when I was trying out different layouts for the "ad".

Here is one of the drafts that we came up with:


Hahaha.

That's my sister, by the way. I think she was just around 5 months pregnant when I took that photo.

If anybody knows anybody who would like their maternity photos taken, you know where to find me. Big discounts await the first few maternity clients.;)

JM's 1st Birthday

Last Saturday (September 2), I had the chance to cover a kiddie party. The birthday boy was Jean Mitchell Lopez. It was probably the most "bongga" 1st birthday party I have ever been to. They had confetti, a buffet set-up, a chocolate fountain station, an ice cream scooping station, lights and sounds, a videoke machine and a live acoustic band!

Below are a few of shots I took that night.

This was the part when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" and JM was supposed to blow out the candle on the cake.
Of course he got a bit of help from mommy.

And for most of the night, while everyone was busy celebrating his birthday, JM was having his own little party...in dreamland!

JB and Maricel's portrait session

UPDATE: JB and Maricel's gallery is now up! Click here for more of their photos.

As promised, here are some of the photos from JB and Maricel's couple portrait session. They are not getting married anytime soon, but who says only soon-to-weds can have nice portraits, right?

JB and Maricel came all the way to Quezon City from Laguna just for the shoot. They were such great subjects and I think we took a lot of great photos in the short span of time. Below are five of my favorite shots from the photoshoot. I will be putting up their gallery on Zoto soon, so watch out for that.

This is one of the first shots that we took for the afternoon. JB and Maricel were still a bit camera-shy. What they didn't know was that I was actually taking photos of the couple behind them. Just kidding.;)
These are two of my favorite shots. Maybe because they were some of the most challenging. I actually had to get down and dirty (literally!) just to get the right angle.

Pete "directed" this one. He is my assistant-cum-manager-cum-art director.;)
I love the brick wall!:D
Thanks to JB and Maricel! And of course, thanks to my trusty assistant...Pete.;)

JB

I have always been interested in doing portraits. I just never had the chance to do them with people other than my family and close friends. For a time, I've been asking some friends to pose for me, but our schedules just never seem to match up. JB was one of those people whom I asked for a portrait. He is a former coworker of mine in my former company. He's tall and has a well-built body...and I knew he would be up for anything! (He had an "artistic" nude self-portrait posted on his Friendster profile before! Hahaha.) I asked him months ago but at that time, we were both too busy (work for him and weddings for me) to actually do it. Last week, however, he resigned from his job and will be leaving for Singapore to work this weekend. Luckily, we both found a common schedule for the shoot.

Below are two of the photos we took.


Oh yeah, JB's girlfriend Maricel came along and we also did portraits of them. In fact, we ended up doing more shots of them as a couple. I'll post their couple shots in another entry.

By the way, notice how "wholesome" the two photos are. I was hoping we could do more artistic shots. Hehehe. But JB begged off saying he needed to lose a few pounds particularly around the belly. When I showed him some of the shots though, he told me he'd definitely want to do more daring shots next time!:D