Better late than never...

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Just dropping by...

Hey! Just wanted to peek in and say I'm still here. Just super busy. I promise to put up some updates as soon as my crazy schedule clears up a bit. And to everyone who have been emailing/texting me, I apologize for not being able to answer all your inquiries sooner. Please don't be mad.:( I am doing my best and I will definitely be more accessible by next week.

I'll see you guys around!:)

Cody: 3rd Birthday

November 18, 2007
Cafe Villa, Fort Bonifacio

This is another long overdue post, especially because Jade has probably been my most enthusiastic client so far. She actually wrote raves about me in her blog before she even booked me for her son Cody's birthday party! Hehehe. I felt very flattered but I was actually a bit worried about meeting her expectations.:D Fortunately, Jade was even nicer in person. And she put together a great party with cute and unique details so it wasn't very difficult to get good shots.

The theme of the party was "Barney goes to school". So, kids came in their school uniform, the party host was dressed up like a teacher, and the kids' tables were set up like a mini classroom. I thought that was very creative. The kids even had laminated ID cards for name tags.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the party.

One of the first things that caught my eye were the colorful balloons. You rarely see traditional helium balloons in kiddie parties these days so it was a refreshing sight for me. I loved it.

Jade forgot to bring a copy of the invitation but fortunately, I found a couple of them lying around just when the guests were leaving. Very unique design.

And here's the top of the lovely cake.

I love Fiorgelato! And here's Cody enjoying his cone before the party.

A quick family portrait before the party. We were only able to get a few shots because Cody wanted to get back to his Fiorgelato.:D

Playing with the balloons after the party.


More pictures HERE!

Toby Jarred: Baptism and Dedication

November 17, 2007
Baptism: St. Paul the Apostle Parish
Dedication and reception: Dencio's Capitol Hills

Toby is the cute little baby boy of my wedding make-up artist EJ Litiatco. EJ and her hubby Nohmer have decided to welcome their son into the Christian World in a celebration that brought together their respective religious backgrounds in one day.

EJ's family (including her parents, siblings, nephews, and nieces) LOVE to be photographed and I had a great time being their official photographer that day. They are such a cool bunch (especially EJ's mom.:D).

We started with a short family portrait session at their home (EJ's parents' home). When my sister and I arrived at their place, we were pleasantly surprised to see every one dressed and made up. I loved it. (I will be posting photos from that session in another entry.)

After the portrait session, every one changed into more casual outfits and we all trooped down to the church for the baptism.


And then we were off to Dencio's where the dedication was held.


Oh yeah, it was also Nohmer's birthday the day before, so this was actually also a belated birthday celebration for him.


Then came the yummy food, of course.:)

And then we took more pictures. Lots of them.

Here are Nohmer, EJ, and Toby with the tarp I designed for them.:D

Now you know where EJ gets her good looks.

EJ's whacky shot. Hehehe.

Toby's lovely cousins.

And finally, my favorite shot of Toby. (And believe me, I took tons of photos of him.) Look at those bright eyes!


More photos HERE!

Zach Owen

November 10, 2007
Barangay Pavillion, Parang, Marikina City

Bliss was a labmate at UP back in the old days, and she was also one of my sexy preggy models when I came up with some free maternity pictorials over a year ago. So, I guess I could say that was when I first met Zach. Almost a year later, I met him again, this time in person, when we did his pre-event photo shoot (which I haven't gotten around to posting yet). And then, about a month ago (I know, I've been a bit behind in updating this blog.) I went to take photos at his 1st birthday party. I always feel honored when clients come back to have me photograph another milestone in their child's life, and doing Zach's party was no different.

The party was held in Marikina, just a couple of blocks from Pete's parents' house. It was just a small gathering of Bliss and Jerry's family and friends, but everyone, even the adults seemed to enjoy the program a lot. And as always, I loved taking pictures of Jerry and Bliss, who, as I've mentioned before have very bright smiles always ready for the camera. And I think Zach may have just gotten this from them, too.

Check out the pictures below:

The theme of the party was Barney and I loved the little purple details including the little Barney stuffed toys which some of the guests were able to take home.

Before the guests started arriving, I asked Bliss if we could take some family portraits outside while the light was still perfect. I'm glad they agreed because even when we only had a few minutes to do it, we were able to get really nice shots. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Like I said, these guys have GREAT smiles!
The little girl in the middle is Zach's equally cute cousin Bhlue.:)



Zach enjoying the balloons when they came down after the party.

More photos HERE!

Bianca

November 3, 2007
Valle Verde 6 Clubhouse

When I post pictures in my online gallery of events that I cover, I don't just post all the "best" shots. I try to give the viewer a feel of what happened at the party, and leave them just curious enough to want to see more. I try to tell a story in only 25 photos (50 for weddings). However, this wasn't easy at all in the case of Bianca's birthday party. This was the third time that I've worked with Jody (first time was when we did her preggy shots, second time was during Bianca's baptism and Margaux's 2nd birthday party) and as always, it showed how she has perfected the skill of organizing a great party! Jody and I didn't get to meet up anymore before the party. The night before, when we were texting, all she said was to make sure I take shots of ALL the details. She repeated this to Pete during the party--to make sure I take pictures of the details, "as in LAHAT!" Unfortunately, this put Pete's slight case of OCD into high gear, and he proceeded to go around and make a list (as in on his phone!) of all the details he could see and then he followed me around to make sure I take pictures of everything! Hehe. I love taking pictures of details though, so it was fun.:)

The theme of the party was Disneyland, and this was obvious from the moment we stepped out of our car and saw the big sign welcoming every one to "Biancaland", which was written in the Disney font. Inside, the whole clubhouse was swarming in activities...and this was even before the guests arrived! There were food booths, game booths, photo booths...the stage set-up, the cake...all Disney! There were even fireworks just before the party ended! And I loved how the whole family (Daddy Dicky, Mommy Jody, Margaux, and Bianca) came in perfectly matching pink-and-brown outfits.

Ok, trying to sum up the event in a single entry would be impossible so, I'll just post a few pictures...not that they would be enough to sum up the party, either.:D

The venue, just when guests were starting to arrive.

A couple of the Disney signs that were posted all over the clubhouse.

The "loot-bags" were cute yellow pails filled with goodies.

And here's the birthday family with Ate Margaux helping out Bianca with the birthday candle.

Finally, a couple of shots of the beautiful girls.:)


Go HERE for some more photos!

Bryan and Eizelle's Engagement Photoshoot

Before I started on this entry, I actually had to check if I got the spelling of Eizelle's name right, because to me and to everyone who knew her from college, she is simply ICE. Yes, I've known Ice from UP Eng'g where we were both members of the now defunct (Huhuhu...) UP Computer Society (I just realized this is probably making me sound like I was a nerd in my past life.:D). She and Bryan also met at UP CompSoc when Bryan joined the org a couple of years after Ice. From what I've heard, these two became very very close friends for years before they finally became a couple. And now they are engaged to be married in December!

We did the pictorial at UP three weeks ago. It was a very challenging shoot because the weather was not cooperating. It probably rained five times during the entire time we were there! We had a lot of fun though because we had an entire troop with us for the shoot. I had Pete to assist me, and then my good friend Lyra (who has also been Ice's best friend since college) and her hubby Manuel were also there to help out (Lyra's brother was also there at one point). And of course, Bim and Chester of Playback were there shoot the session for an AVP they will be doing for the wedding. It was a pretty long session because we had to stop several times because of the rain. I think we took pretty good shots though. And Bry and Ice took us all to dinner at the famous Mang Jimmy's afterwards, so it was all worth it.:D

Here are some of my favorite shots:



As I said, we got rained out a few times. It wasn't so bad though since it helped us come up with photos like these.



A couple of "damuhan" shots.:D I do love the contrast between the blue of their outfits and the grass though.


It won't be an engagement pictorial without shots like these next two. Oh yeah, the wedding will have a Filipiniana theme so Ice and Bryan changed into these costumes towards the end of the shoot.

This started out as a simple ring shot, but we couldn't resist including the taho. And check out Bryan's marked finger (it was the day of the barangay elections).

Gavin Biel

October 28, 2007
St. Jerome Emiliani Parish
The Palms Country Club

After being postponed a couple of times (because of schedule conflicts), my meeting with Gigi and Vincent finally pushed through about two of weeks before Gavin's baptism. They turned out to be very nice people and very easy to work with. The baptism (and reception) itself was a very relaxed event with only a few of the couple's family and friends. I also found out that they will be moving out of the country very soon so this could be one of their last chances to have a family celebration with their loved ones before they do. No wonder they made it a point to make it extra special.

I've shot a wedding at St. Jerome before and exactly a year and a half later, I went back to shoot my first baptism there. I'm very familiar with the church as we always pass by it whenever we go to Alabang Town Center, and I love the Spanish-inspired structure. My sister said the same thing when she saw it for the first time during Gavin's baptism.

The Palms Country Club is a popular wedding reception venue. It has a grand exterior and lovely interiors. Very swanky. The food was great too!;)

Here are a few shots from the event:



St. Jerome Emiliani (side of the church). My sister Pie said you'd almost expect Zorro's silhouette to appear at the rooftop any minute.

Gavin enjoying the company of one of his dad's friends.:D

This is Gavin's girlfriend.;)

And finally, a family photo before heading home.


For more photos click HERE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE!:)

Maegan

October 21, 2007
Pilar Village Clubhouse

Remember this cute little baby? Well, I met her again when she turned one a couple of weeks ago. Her mom Angie prepared a nice Disney-themed party for her at the village clubhouse. Maegan wasn't as bubbly as she was during her baptism but I guess it was probably because she was a bit tired (I heard she didn't take her morning nap that day) and she had a cold. As soon as she woke up from a short nap during the party though, I could tell she was enjoying all the attention from the adult guests and was having fun watching the show with the rest of the kids.

Mommy Angie worked hard on the party, and it showed in the elaborate details--from the invites, to Maegan's attire, down to the decors.

Here are a few of the shots from the party:



I LOVE this red sofa.:)


This was Maegan towards the end of the evening.:D


Click here for more photos!

Gwen Riley

October 20, 2007
Our Lady of Pentecost Parish

Rhoda contacted me only about a couple of weeks before Gwen's baptism but fortunately, I was still available. There have been cases when I met the client only during the event itself, but this time I met Rhoda (and her family) AFTER the baptismal ceremony. Rhoda told me the baptism was scheduled at 3:30PM and wanted me to go straight to the church. My sister and I got there very early so we decided to have coffee and cake at a nearby Bo's before going to the church. Even then, we got to the church a few minutes before 3PM. About 10 minutes later, I noticed that a priest was already waiting at the altar and I started to panic because I haven't even met the client yet. Rhoda texted me that they were on their way. A few minutes more, I saw a family with a little baby rushing into the church. They went straight to the altar where the priest was. I hurriedly approached one of the guests and asked if this was in fact the baptism I was supposed to be photographing (because I didn't know how Rhoda or Gwen looked like). When she said yes, I went to the altar and tried to get Rhoda's attention. I waved and mouthed my name to her. She nodded and then the ceremony began. It was a pretty fast one and when it was all over, the clock said it was only 3:35PM.

Rhoda explained to me afterwards that there was a slight miscommunication with the priest. The schedule they had availed of was really 3:30PM but the priest had to be somewhere else after, or something. It was a pretty stressful start for the celebration but things got better during the reception. I found out it was actually a triple-celebration: Gwen Riley's baptism, Rhoda's birthday, and they had a house-blessing to top it all off. With a lot of things going on, we didn't get the chance to take a lot of portraits of Gwen and the family. I did get a lot of candid shots and I loved taking photos of the lovely details, especially the cute little cupcakes and the colorful balloons. I was only hired for the baptism, so when I left (around the time the guests for the baptism left), the party (for Rhoda's birthday) was still in full swing. In fact, I was told they were still expecting a few guests to arrive later. The whole house was in such a festive mood that the little mishap at the church earlier seemed to have been completely forgotten.

Here are a few photos from the baptism and party.

"The family that prays together, stays together."


One of the cute cupcakes...Got milk?:D

One of the few photos I got of Gwen. She was only about 6 weeks old on that day and she spent most of the time asleep. I do love sleeping newborn photos though--in fact, I actually prefer them sleeping when they're that young. They look so cute and peaceful.:)


Click HERE for more photos!