Ging Lorenzo's Photoblog: Chen and Sebastian: Portrait session

Chen and I met one gloomy June morning 13 years ago--and I'm not referring to the weather that day. I remember being nervous and so out of my element as I walked through the halls of AS that first day in college. Chen and I were two of the very few girls in a dominantly male ECE (Electronics and Communications Engineering) block in UP. At lunchtime, we, along with a few other girls decided to head out to lunch together. Now, Chen and I came from "rival" schools, came from different backgrounds and had very different personalities...but during that first lunch together at GotoKing, when she ordered TWO whole meals for herself, I knew we were going to be friends forever. Hehehe.

I believe that as you go through life, there will be people who will have significant influence on how you turn out to be later on, whether they are aware of it or not. Whether you were aware of it or not. I think Chen is one of those people for me. She pushed me (in a good way) to do things that I have always wanted to do but was always too shy to try. (Yes, believe it or not, I was once a shy girl. Hehehe.) And although there were many others who were also there to encourage me, Chen was actually there to go through all those things with me. She was the one who convinced me to get professional voice training during our first summer in college, while she took piano lessons in the next room. She dragged me to a performance class, and we sang and danced on stage at the Music Museum in embarassing outfits and even more embarassing dance moves during the recital.:D She also took me to audition for a small theater group where we were able to actually act in front of paying audiences.

When Chen moved to the States 3 and a half years ago, I was still in my corporate job and didn't even have my own DSLR yet. And although she wasn't there to go through it with me, she (along with many other friends) helped in my transition from a corporate slave to what I am now. And I know she helped a lot in building up my confidence through all those years. In other words, kumapal mukha ko because of her. Hehehe. Just kidding!:D

Chen came home with her family (hubby Bondi, and baby Sebastian) a few months ago for a long vacation. And before she leaves again, I wanted to treat her to a special photo shoot with Sebastian. (Bondi left a couple of months ago, but we were able to do a short family pictorial. See their photos HERE.) We talked about the concept that I wanted to do, I sent her a few sample photos, and she prepared their outfits. I hired EJ Litiatco (with hairstylist Taday) to do Chen's hair and makeup. And then we were off.

We didn't get the nice sunny weather that we were hoping for but we did manage to get great shots.:)

One of the first few clicks. I love this one.

Seb wasn't exactly in the mood to do the pictorial either, but we patiently waited for him to be comfortable and we were able to get different expressions from him. (Btw, I think EJ did a great job as always.)

Not everyone would agree with me, but this was actually one of my favorites from the shoot. I just feel that it tells a good story.

My general concept for the shoot came from a couple of photos similar to these next two that I saw on the net. I loved the idea so much I asked Chen if she wanted to do it. The thing with friends is that they don't have a choice but to trust you.;)