Dennis and Marion: Engagement photo session

Before heading for the crowded cemeteries November 1 of last year, I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement session with a very nice couple. Marion texted me a few weeks before, asking about my engagement pictorial package. We texted back-and-forth a few more times that day before we realized we actually knew each other! I was a couple of batches ahead, but we both went to UP College of Eng'g., and we were even affiliated with the same laboratory (CEL).:)

Since it was a holiday, Pete tagged along to help me out with the shoot. We met up with Dennis and Marion at their church (where they met, where Dennis is a pastor, and where they were going to get married). They treated us to a delicious lunch and nice chitchat before getting on with the pictorial.

As I was going through the raw shots again, I realized I liked a lot of the photos and couldn't decide what to post. I was finally able to cut it down to twelve. And here they are...



They are an easy-going couple and they wanted their session and their photos to be fun so they brought along these funny hats. I love this series.:)


Something a bit more romantic.




It was drizzling that morning, but as soon as we started the shoot, there was bright sunshine all around.:)


I like to capture happy photos and it wasn't very difficult doing that with these two.


This might be my favorite from the session.


I wanted to use the logo of their church in the background.


This was one of the last frames from the shoot. Dennis and Marion chose this shot for their canvas frame.


Please watch out for photos from Dennis and Marion's wedding which I will be posting soon!:)

Charm: 2nd bday party

January 3, 2009
UP Balay Kalinaw

As I said, I'm going to start posting some of my most recent events just to keep things fresh around here. I will still be posting all my previous events as well though. So, here goes...

My year started out early with Charm's 2nd birthday party. The last time I saw Charm was almost two years ago when I photographed her baptism. She was only a couple of months old back then. It was such a pleasant surprise to see how much she has grown!

Charm's real birthday is actually in February but since she lives in Jakarta with Daddy Arnold and Mommy Odha, they decided to hold a party in advance so they could celebrate with all their family and friends here at home.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the event:

My favorite shot from the day.:)




Look how cute their matching outfits were!

Click HERE for more photos!

Aaron: 1st birthday party

October 15, 2008
East Greenhills Village Clubhouse

One of my goals for this year is to start posting photos on time (well, at least not months after I shot them). And I've been thinking about it and I realize there is no way I can catch up on my blogging if I wait until I finish putting up all the photos from the last quarter of 2008 before I start with the new ones. So, starting this week, I will be posting some of my new photos as well. Don't worry, I will still post everything from last year as I promised.

Anyway, let me start this week (Oh yeah, I have declared Monday as my day off since I work most weekends) with an event from last year since this has been on my blog queue for a while.

Two days after I shot Aaron's portraits, I found myself at his Cars-themed birthday party. When Pie and I got to the venue, there was not a single guest there yet. It was a weeknight rush hour so every one was probably still on the road from work or school. As soon as the guests started pouring in however, there was no stopping the party.

Aaron wasn't giving me the big smile that he had during our pictorial. But he still looked so cute though.:)

Love the decorations.




Some family shots.


Mommy Jessica saw the photo I took of Jhoanne Alon of Polkadots Events and her family in one of the events that we did HERE. She loved it and wanted to try out something similar.


HERE are some more photos from Aaron's party!

Bridal Makeup by EJ Litiatco

Speaking of weddings, I have talked about her here several times already, but I could never say enough good things about EJ Litiatco. I have worked with other great makeup artists as well, but I have EXPERIENCED EJ's magic first hand. I first met her when I was looking for a makeup artist for my own wedding more than two years ago. Since then, I have had the chance to work with her on a few other occasions, including my sister's wedding and my 30th birthday party last year. I am also looking forward to working with her again very soon. *fingers crossed* :D

A couple of months ago, she asked me if I could help her with a bridal portfolio she's working on for some wedding fairs that she was joining. I gladly said yes. This was essentially a fashion shoot, which lies just outside my comfort zone, so I was naturally a bit nervous. However, as soon as I met our model, I knew it was going to be a pretty smooth photoshoot.

Valerie is a professional model. She has appeared in tons of magazines and has done several print and TV ads. However, she is very down-to-earth and very nice as a person. She was also very easy to work with. I have no qualms in saying that I am but an amateur in the world of fashion photography, but Valerie still respected my insights and took directions easily. Also, you can never take a bad photo with someone as beautiful as Valerie for a model.:)

And now for the pictures...

As a wedding makeup artist, EJ knows that not all brides are the same. She considers a lot of things when she does bridal makeup, and this includes the brides personality, the theme of the wedding, etc. She has come up with four major categories for bridal makeup: NATURAL, CLASSIC, ROMANTIC, and DRAMATIC. For this pictorial, we started with a few headshots for every bridal look, and then we roamed around the venue (Valerie's home) to take a few more shots in ambient lighting.

Hair styling by the talented Allan Arnecilla.:)

Here are the headshots (I just used a small softbox and a reflector):

NATURAL


CLASSIC


ROMANTIC


DRAMATIC


This was also done using the light set-up. We wanted to do a magazine cover type of photo. There are three people holding those flowers up.:D

And here are the bridal looks in pure ambient light:

NATURAL

CLASSIC





This was one of my favorite shots.


ROMANTIC

DRAMATIC

I think she looks a bit like Angelina Jolie here.:)


It had been raining that morning so we did the shoot mostly inside. By early afternoon though, the rain had stopped so we went out to take a few outdoor shots.

Benj and Weng: Wedding

September 28, 2008
Nuestra Señora de Gracia
Ibarra's Garden

I've been asked a number of times just these past two weeks if I do weddings as well. In fact, I started doing weddings even before I went into kiddie events and portraits. Then I realized I haven't posted a wedding here in months. I'm still trying to catch up on my blogging right now, so let me start with this wedding I did in September.

I did Benj and Weng's wedding with Kix Tavora and it was also the first wedding that I shot with my Canon EOS 5D.;) After choosing the shots that I wanted to post online, I realized that a lot of the shots that I liked were candid moments of the couple. It was a beautiful wedding and I did have a lot of photos of the beautiful details, but when I had to narrow down my choices (I can't post all my favorite shots because there were just too many!), I felt that I just had to keep the candid shots. My camera loved this couple! Their happiness just radiated all around and it wasn't difficult to capture it in photos.

Then I had another difficult task: choosing the photos to post here on my blog. Since I couldn't post 50 photos here, please don't forget to click on the link to the online gallery at the end to see the rest.

On to the photos...

First off, some details:


Weng's elegant dress.

Lovely detail on the dress.


When I first entered the hotel room, I saw Weng without any makeup on, and I thought she was so pretty. Here she is all gussied up and she looks even more stunning!

Did you really think I would forget about the shoes?:)


Weng with the videographers.


Just after they put the veil on her.:)


Another shot of the lovely bride.


The wedding was held at my favorite church in the whole world.:D (Note: Pete and I got married here on May 26, 2007.)


Most of the wedding guests don't see this part. This is what goes on just before the church door opens for the bride.

A few shots from the ceremony...






Showing off the rings to friends and family.


These were taken right outside the church after the ceremony.


One of my favorite shots from the day.


Then we were off to the reception venue.


Benj sang a song that he wrote for Weng. She was naturally in tears.




I love this shot of the first dance. You can just feel how happy they were to be married.


And then we took a few more shots before ending the night.


Last shot!

Please click HERE for more photos!