Liam turns 1!

After Gelo and Lota's wedding reception, I went straight home, packed my bags and headed for the airport to catch my 4AM flight to Davao. Yep, no time to get some shut-eye or even to take a shower. Hee. I got to the hotel in Davao where the rest of the family already were (I was traveling with my brother, the rest had flown in the previous day.) at around 7AM. I took a much-needed three-hour nap, took a shower when I woke up, and then I was all ready to go to my next party.

It was my nephew Liam's first birthday on the 4th of August, but I asked my sister to hold the party the next day instead so I can attend.:D (And for that, I volunteered to make the invitations and the tarpaulin for free. Hehehe.) We all trooped down to Gerry's Grill at the Gaisano Mall for the lunch party. It was more of a gathering of friends and family rather than a kiddie party, although there were balloons and loot-bags. You wouldn't see them here, but I was in a lot of the photos from the party because half of the time, I handed my camera to my little sister so I can enjoy the food and the company of my family and my little nephew of course.:)

Here are some of the photos I took:

Pogi no?;)


I love it when my camera captures this kind of laughter.:)

The birthday family.


And HERE are some more photos that I took.:D

Thank you!

This is a bit late, but I wanna thank everyone who texted/emailed me on my birthday last September 17. It was the last one I'll ever have in my 20's. (Eek.) I also wanna thank everybody who has made this year extra special for me. I remember that it was the day before my birthday last year when I got my first inquiry about the maternity portrait sessions that I was offering. That was a big deal for me because it was the very first time that I actually had to represent myself as a photographer to a client. Before that, I was always just some other guy's assistant photographer, or a studio's nameless associate photographer. Looking back, I can't believe how many more people I've met in the past twelve months and I feel so honored to have been given the chance to witness and share in their special celebrations. And I have no intention of slowing down yet, because this year is going to be even more exciting. We're cooking up some big plans for you guys, so please watch out for that.;)

Oh yeah, I had a low-key (but special) birthday this year. Pete and I had dinner with our families the night before, which was a Sunday. (My dad paid for dinner. Hehehe.) On my birthday, I TRIED not to work too much the whole day. And Pete and I went out to a nice dinner and some ice cream.:D

Here are a few pictures. All photos taken using my phone camera.:D

Angelo and Carlota

August 4, 2007
Preps: Astoria Plaza
Ceremony: Nuestra Senora de Gracia
Reception: PSE Auditoriom

Like I said before, Lota has been a very good friend of mine since college and Gelo has also been a good friend for years now so it was a great honor for me to be asked to photograph their wedding. I would have loved to sit back and enjoy the event just like every one of their guests but I'm also glad I got the chance to capture the most precious moments in the lives of two of my most special friends. These two have spent most of their three-year relationship apart and I really admire them for being strong despite the distance. All throughout the day (and even before) you could just feel how very very happy they were to finally be together. And you could tell their family and friends were just as happy for them.

Here are a few of the photos from the wedding.


That little guy is Lota's nephew. If you look through the rest of the photos, you'll see how he loves the camera.:)

The lovely bride in her gorgeous Veluz Gown.
The walk...
I love the expression on Bishop Bacani's face.:D
You know how everyone is into photo textures these days? Well, this one naturally had "texture" because of the wet walls of the church facade. I think it looks nice.:)
Lota helped me a lot during my wedding preps and I wanted to give something back so I volunteered to make their table numbers using the photos from the prenup photo session we did. I think the guests loved them and every single one was gone at the end of the reception.
The happy couple.:)
By the way, Kix Tavora was also there to photograph the wedding. And of course, Pete was there to help out as well.:D

HERE are more photos from Gelo and Lota's wedding!

July kiddie events 2

Iya
July 13, 2007
Gerry's Grill Libis

It was a happy Friday the 13th for Iya as she celebrated her 11th month birthday party with relatives and friends with a nice dinner party at Gerry's Grill. Yep, you read that one right. It was Iya's 11th month birthday party. You see, Iya and her mom and dad are currently based in the US because of a company assignment and I guess they couldn't be home to celebrate her 1st birthday party so they opted to hold the big party a month in advance instead.:)

The party wasn't like the usual kiddie parties that you see these days. It was simply an intimate gathering among family and friends. And everyone had a lot of fun.

Take a look:

Wacky shot.:D Notice how the banner in the back got Iya's age wrong.

Iya with mom and dad.

Lovely detail.

Colorful balloons adding to the festive set-up.
And here's Iya about three hours into the party.:)

Please click here for more photos from Iya's party.

Rea
July 14, 2007
Makati Park and Garden

I do my best to treat all my clients equally and I don't play favorites. But when you work with such a nice client as Arlene, it's very hard not to go out of your way to be extra nice in return. I first met Arlene in October of last year when she booked me for Rea's baptism. I also covered her brother-in-law's wedding last December. Since then, I have met most of the family (her side, and her hubby Rudy's) and they are all SO NICE to me. So, it was such a joy to photograph Rea again on her 1st birthday party (and I did miss the little one, since they've all moved to Singapore earlier this year). Oh, and Pete and I were on the guest list too, by the way.;)

As always, Arlene went all out with the party. There was a lot of colorful details that I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Lovely costume!
The lovely mag-ina.:D
Rea Katrina is officially a "Ging Lorenzo baby". Hehehe.
Colorful cake!
All the kids had their own cupcakes to blow as well. San ka pa?:D

Here are more photos from Rea's 1st birthday party.

Luis
July 28, 2007
Banana Leaf, Podium

As I wrote in a previous entry, I first met Luis during the short photoshoot that we did in June. His dedication at the Banana Leaf was my last event for the busy month of July. It was a luncheon party attended by relatives and friends. Both the dedication ceremony and reception was held in the same venue. The whole event was pretty short. (I don't think Nalyn, Luis' mom , even had the time to eat during the party.) But, I think everyone had a great time just as well.

Here are pictures:

Luis' dedication certificate.

The oh-co-cute cupcakes!

Hmmm...these pictures look familiar, don't they?:D


I think this photo is very cute and funny!:D

More pictures here!

Sick leave

A lot of people think that when you work from home, getting sick is much easier. There's no boss no worry about. And no need to file for sick leave. Well, on the contrary, being sick when you work for yourself is much tougher. At least when you're an employee, you can just call in sick and they will either find someone to cover for you or they'll just pile up your tasks on your desk until you return. In my case, I have to do everything right now and being sick just means getting way behind on my schedule. I've not been feeling well since Sunday and it just got worse yesterday so I haven't actually been able to do real work the whole week--at least not as much as I want to. Fortunately, I don't have a shoot this weekend so perhaps, if I'm feeling better by then, I can start catching up on my tasks.

So yeah, this is me calling in sick. I'm trying my best to rest and save up my energy so I can get back to where I left off soon. So, since Monday, I've been limiting myself to answering emails and text messages, updating this blog, and doing a little bit of processing on the side. Oh yeah, and I also have a shoot for a magazine tonight so let's keep our fingers crossed that I don't collapse under the weight of the camera.:P

July kiddie events 1

July was a very busy month for me. I had five kiddie events in all, a prenup photo shoot and a couple of shoots for a magazine. Here are a couple of my kiddie parties that month.

Tristan
July 7, 2007

The luckiest date of the year found me at Tristan's 1st birthday party. It was held at Tristan's dad's family residence in Parañaque. The party started about an hour late because of the heavy downpour that almost ruined the nice garden setup that everyone had worked hard for since the previous evening. As soon as the party started though, everyone (especially the kids) started having so much fun that nobody seemed to mind the drizzle. It turned out to be a very lucky day for Tristan after all.:)

By the way, Tristan and his parents are actually based in New Zealand. Ann (Tristan's mom) and I worked out the details through email and only met for the first time at the party. The whole family seemed really nice. It's always great to work with great people.




Kids having fun.


Quick family portrait. Tristan wasn't in the mood for photos anymore.:D


More photos from Tristan's party HERE.

Sierra
July 8, 2007
Hardrock Cafe Makati

Erika and Peachy (Joaqui's mom) are very good friends that they got married only a couple of months apart (they had the same reception venue too, if I'm not mistaken), and had their first babies also a few months apart. Naturally, their babies celebrated their birthdays a few months apart and at the same venue!

Here are photos from Sierra's birthday party.


The party host/magician playing with fire.

I thought this shot was very familiar. I realized I had a very similar shot from Joaqui's party.




Click HERE for more photos from Sierra's party.