Annika: Portrait session and baptism

June 6, 2009
Santuario de San Antonio
Palm Grove, The Rockwell Club

A few weeks before her baptism, I took some portraits of Annika to use for her guestbook. We did the pictorial the day after the family arrived from Dubai. So, naturally, Annika was still trying to get used to her new surroundings so she was a bit fussy. It didn't help either that it was terribly humid that day. We were all very patient with her though, and we were still able to get nice shots. Below are just some of them:

Soooo cute! Look at those long lashes!


I love the light and the textures in this photo.

It's amazing what a big difference a couple of weeks makes to a baby. When I saw Annika again on the day of her baptism, it felt like she had grown a lot. And she wasn't as fussy as she was the first time we met. It was a rainy weekend, but everything went smoothly. And the whole family was really really nice. It didn't feel like work for me at all!

Here are some of my favorite shots from the event.

First off, the baptismal attire.


The invitation.


Of course, a shot of Annika before she got dressed. She looks so much bigger here, doesn't she?


With mommy and daddy.


A nice family photo before heading for the church.

A few shots from the baptismal ceremony.









That's pretty mommy Gracita.



Lovely details from the reception venue.



The colorful cake and cupcakes!


A couple more shots before ending the night.

Iris: Just because

I know a lot of smart people--I mean really really smart people. Geniuses. I've been surrounded by them ever since I made the mistake of thinking I was one of them when I was twelve. :P And this lady is one of the SMARTEST persons that I have ever known. Seriously. But then, she's probably that to most of her friends and families as well. For me though, Iris is also one of my best friends from high school. And my fondest memories with her don't include Physics or Calculus. No, when we were together, we talked about stuff that normal teenagers talk about. We shared our secrets crushes, talked about our first heartbreaks...and we talked about makeup and clothes. :D But one thing that we both really love is food. In fact, one memory that I have with her that really stands out is of that day about 14 years ago at the UP CASAA. Iris gave me my very first taste of sisig, and my life was changed forever. Hehehe.

Iris is now living in the States with her husband Eric and lovely daughter Erin, but she came home for a month-long vacation recently. I feel like a horrible friend because between the bad weather and our crazy schedules, we were only able to meet up once during her entire stay. I was supposed to take photos of Iris and Erin a couple of weeks ago, but we decided to cancel at the last minute because of the rains. Instead, Iris and I met up for late lunch/meryenda at the Chocolate Kiss in UP. She showed up in a t-shirt, jeans, and flipflops. And she was stunning. (I was glad I decided to bring my camera after all.:D) This time, we talked about "grown-up" things like marriage, and kids, and buying houses, and our careers. And it's a great feeling realizing how far we've come. We still both love food though. And before we parted that night, Iris introduced me to Samurai balls which is sold at one of the stalls in SM North. I probably have to get me some of that the next time I go there.:)

Here are some of the photos I shot of Iris.

My first few shots don't usually make it to the blog but these two show how "weird" Iris felt being in front of my camera. She has never seen me at work before so at first she kept laughing whenever I gave her directions.

It had stopped raining, so we looked for some outdoor spots.

She was getting more comfortable in front of my camera at this point.:)





Can you believe how skinny she is?

I love these next two. They look like they could be photos for an ad.


This was taken at the same spot where we took my portraits that appear on my website.

My favorite shot of Iris. She was wearing very light makeup. She still looks gorgeous though, doesn't she?:)

Happy 3rd birthday, Liam!

Liam is one of the smartest kids I have ever met. And I'm not just saying that because he's my nephew. By the time he turned 2, we realized he could already read whole words. And then he suddenly started reading groups of words (like taglines in magazines) by the time he was 2 and a half. He is genuinely interested in reading. There was one time when he picked up a book I was reading and went through the pages just to see if he could recognize any of the words. And his eyes would light up when he sees a word that he could read. No one has ever sat him down and given him formal lessons. He learns words as he encounters them.

Today he turns 3. I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as before, but every time I see him, he always surprises me with how much he knows.

Sunday night we had a small party (just the family) to celebrate his birthday. We ordered in food, had ice cream and cake. Here are a few of the snapshots I took.

The tarp and balloons which were placed over the "sampayan". Hehehe.


Liam's Handy Manny cake and cupcakes which we ordered from Kitchen Krafts through Jhoanne Alon of Polkadots Events.


And here's the birthday boy admiring his cake.


Blowing out his candles.


Hmmm...I don't think that's how you do it.:D


Pete and I had to leave early because we still had a long drive ahead. Here's a photo of us taken by Pie before we left with Liam enjoying his ice cream.