Mother's Day photo galleries are up!

Photos from the morning sessions are in the Mother's Day 1 album.

Photos from the afternoon sessions are in the Mother's Day 2 album.

I was only supposed to choose 10 photos from each session but I ended up editing some extras because there were just a lot of great photos that I loved.

Meanwhile, here are a few of my favorites of each of the mommies.

Teza is Toby's mom. I made the announcement about the Mother's Day photo sessions just days after I photographed Toby's party and Teza was one of the first to book a session. I love her smile!:)

Cecilia came with her daughter Joyce (next photo). I felt a bit intimidated when I first met her but she turned out to be really nice. She was ready to do anything and she really knew how to work it in front of the camera.;) She even brought a couple of outfits to choose from. And she also brought candies for everyone. :)

Joyce was the one who contacted me to book two sessions (for her and her mom). When I saw her, I couldn't believe she was already a mom herself. She looked so young and very pretty. I found out later from her mom that they are actually a family of dancers. No wonder they have such vibrant personalities.

Mec was our contest winner. It was nice finally meeting her, although I believe she was at a couple of parties I photographed a few months ago.

Jade is another past client of mine. She is Cody's mom. I loved how her creamy complexion registered on camera. She also has those sparkling eyes and beautiful smile to go with it.

Isabel is the grandmother of my favorite twins Marty and Milo.:) She is such an elegant and graceful lady who dotes on her grandkids. I'm looking forward to working with her and her family again next month at Marty and Milo's 1st birthday party.

Nhery is Manuel's (Lyra's hubby) mom. She was quite shy in front of the camera. If you look at her other photos in the gallery, you would see how very pretty she is when she smiles. I just had to keep reminding her of that throughout the shoot and it somehow made her warm up a bit.

Flor is Lyra's mom. I enjoyed taking her photos very much. She had a very easy smile and I knew she was enjoying herself. Lyra said her parents had just gotten in from a long trip from Quezon that afternoon. Mommy Flor still looked fresh and full of energy though.

I would like to thank again the mommies for the opportunity to take their portraits. It was such a great experience for me (and for EJ). We're looking forward to doing something like this again in the future.

I hope you guys enjoy the photos!:)

Sophie: 1st bday party

April 20, 2008
2 Serendra Function Hall

Sophie is Toffee's cousin so I have become quite familiar with their families. They're all so nice to me.

It was also nice to be working with the super talented Jhoanne Alon of Polkadots Events again. Her work always amazes me. Here are a couple of photos of the venue set-up.


Hazel (Sophie's mommy) asked me to go straight to the venue. We agreed to just take pictures of the party paraphernalia there before the program started. She brought everything I needed (invite, dresses, etc.) plus a nice green blanket to go with the pink details! I loved it!

Check out Sophie's lovely pink dress.

A photo with Mommy and Daddy.


And look at these unbelievable artwork! If I wasn't working, I would've gotten in line to get my own face painting. The baby in the second photo is Sophie's cousin Toffee, by the way. He was asleep throughout the whole painting session.


Here's Sophie at the end of the party, showing some character. This was actually one of my favorite shots of her.;)


More photos HERE!

Carla: 18th Birthday

April 19, 2008
Leslie's Alabang

Yes, for the first time (and most probably the last time), I did two events in one day last April 19. After finishing up with Louis Paul's baptism party (we left their place just before 4PM), we headed straight to Alabang to photograph Carla's debut party that night.

We met up with Carla at the Franck Provost salon where she was going to have her hair and makeup done. While the hair and makeup artists started on Carla, I was able to take photos of her very colorful dress with matching shoes. Carla's party had a Hollywood theme so she made sure she was red-carpet worthy.

We got to the venue just before 8PM. A lot of the guests had already arrived so I immediately proceeded to take pictures of the party details. The venue itself was already very pretty but the simple details made it look even more beautiful.

It was already dark out, but we opted take a few relaxed portraits with Carla just before the program started.


The program was short and sweet and before we knew it, it was time for Carla and her friends to start the real party.:)


Please click HERE for more photos!

One year!

Yes, today is our 1st wedding anniversary!:) I think I promised to post pictures from the wedding last year but never got around to doing it.

This is a slideshow that I put together about a month after the wedding as a way to show some of our friends and relatives our favorite photos from the wedding. Our wedding musicians played the instrumental version of this song ("Two Words" by Lea Salonga) during my bridal march. Photos are by Kix Tavora, Edu Cortez, Edison Reyes, and me (yes, I did take a few shots during my own wedding.:)).

Hope you guys enjoy this.:)

Louis Paul: Baptism

April 19, 2008
Our Lady of Beautiful Love Parish

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to photograph Louis Paul's baptism. It was a very unique experience for me. The Roiland's are originally from France and apparently, French people consider a baby's baptism a very important milestone. A lot of their family and relatives flew all the way from Europe just for the occasion. The moment I stepped into the family home felt like being transported to a different continent. I LOVED how the big windows let the lovely summer sunlight in. I LOVED the little colorful details around the house. Oh, and I LOVED listening to everyone talk in French! (I just wished my one semester of French in college could have helped me understand what they were saying.) I knew I was going to have a grand time taking photos in the next few hours.

Some details.

Louis Paul being dressed up by mommy and daddy.


More colorful details. Traditional candies and the cute souvenirs.


The star of the day.


Louis Paul loved this giant stuffed giraffe that was standing in one corner of their living room so we just had to take some photos with it.

More photos HERE!

Sneak Peek: Jarmie's maternity portraits

I had the opportunity to take preggy portraits of my good friend Jarmie last Saturday. I will be blogging more on this when I finish with the rest of the images. We did an equivalent of two sessions so I have tons of great photos to show you guys!:)

In the meantime, here are a few favorites so far.

Ok, here's something new. I don't really do textured photos because I like to keep my images sharp, crisp, and clean. And I don't like it that a lot of people misuse textures in the hope of turning not-so-good images into something "extraordinary". However, I thought it wouldn't hurt to try new things once in a while and I actually love how this image turned out.:)

Marcus Tobias: 1st birthday party

April 6, 2008
Blue Whale Grill

It's been a while since I posted on the events that I've photographed in the last few weeks so I'm going to try to makeup for it in the next few days...starting with Toby's 1st birthday party.

Have you ever had one of those days when everything just seems to go smoothly, like the universe is conspiring to make your job easy. That was how I felt during Toby's birthday party.

My job started at the Holiday Inn where the family checked in before the party. I emailed Teza and Earl a few days earlier with some tips and reminders on what to prepare. When Pie and I got to their hotel room, we knew they took my email seriously. All the party details were laid out on the bed and on a side table all ready for me.




I loved Toby's Crocs! Too cute!

When I asked them if we could take some casual family portraits, they readily agreed and they were up for anything. My camera loves these guys!


We got to the venue and I was happy to see that the place had great big windows and the room was well-lit with nice soft natural light.:) And the details at the venue were great!

Outside the restaurant, I saw great spots for photos and when I asked Earl and Teza if we could maybe take a few shots before most of the guests arrive, again they readily said ok!


The party went very smoothly. Everybody seemed to have a good time. I know I did.:)

Please click HERE for more photos from the party!

Mother's Day photo shoot: behind the scenes

First of all, I wanna greet all the mommies a belated Happy Mother's Day!:)

Our Mother's Day photo shoot was a success! The weather was great (whew!), the light was lovely, all the mommies were fun to work with...Of course, I owe a lot of Thank You's to a lot of people for making the day happen.

First, I wanna say thanks to the owner of Pan de Amerikana for letting us do the shoot at their lovely restaurant. We were able to get really good photos because the place had amazing light throughout the day. And since we were there the whole day, we were able to sample their food for breakfast, lunch, and even merienda. Their pandesal really IS good. I have a feeling we're gonna be spending a lot of time there from now on.;)

A big thank you goes to EJ and her equally lovely sister Mara. These guys really did a wonderful job on all the mommies. I wish I could take full credit for the photos, but really EJ and Mara just made it difficult for me to take bad shots! EJ and I agreed that it was a very exhausting but very fun project. In fact, we're already thinking of coming up with another one.;)

I also wanna thank Lyra for being so supportive of this project. She helped me scout for the venue, then she helped me advertise the project, and then she helped judge the contest, and then she dropped by the venue early just to see if we needed help. Oh, and she was also one of the first people to book a session--no two sessions! I don't know what I would have done without this lady...

How can I forget my favorite assistant and sister Pie? She always makes sure I have everything I need during a shoot and last Sunday was no different. She held the softbox and reflector for me, she took care of the receipts, and she even handed me a handkerchief when I was sweating too much.:D

Of course, I also want to say thanks to my ever supportive husband Pete who drove us to the venue even when he was nursing a fever. He had to leave for a bit to go to the doctor but he went right back and stayed there until the end of the shoot.

And finally, to all the mommies who signed up, thank you so much for being such great models. EJ and I really enjoyed working with each one of you. We hope we made your day even more special. Thank you!:)

And now for the photos...Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos that either I or Pete took during the course of the shoot.

Some details around the restaurant.




I caught a glimpse of a batch of their famous ensaymada.

I always like to do test shots with my favorite model (second to Pete) before a shoot.

A photo of EJ, Mara, and me with Teza who was our first model for the day.


Yes, I did get my own makeover.:)


EJ and Mara at work...

And here are a few shots that Pie took of me in action (she has her own Canon 40D now).

Taking a short break with Pete.:)


Ok, here's a little surprise. I haven't had the chance to really look at all the photos that I took but since I'm in a good mood today, here's a bit of a sneak peek. Enjoy!