I am SO back!

After exactly 29 days of what felt like living in the dark ages, I am finally back online! And as promised, I will be blogging as much as I can. Yes, I will do my best to get this blog up and running again.:)

In the next few days, I will be posting all of my remaining events from May (because I was only able to post one of them before I was suddenly cut off from the Internet:P). So, here's a sneak peek of the stuff that happened that month:

Mavi was welcomed into the Christian World at the Mary the Queen Parish and celebrated her 1st birthday at the Greenhills West.


Joefe was given a lovely baby shower by her family and friends at the Astoria Plaza.


Jazz turned one and partied at the Prestige Tower.


Janna celebrated her first year at Shakey's.


And finally, Godric was christened at the Edsa Shrine and he took everyone to lunch at The Old Spaghetti House.


Also, watch out for little surprises in between.:)

No internet.

You may have noticed that I have been updating this blog as often as I can because I'm hoping to finish up all my backlog by end of this month. I was doing pretty well last week. But then, this week my internet connection at home went dead. So, no entries this week.

What's worse is I can't even do my emails! Right now, I am here at Pete's office where I have internet access until he finishes whatever it is he is doing.(It's been so long since I've set foot in an actual office building/manufacturing facility, that it just feels so alien to me being here.) I am trying to finish as many emails as I could. But if you're expecting one from me and you don't get one today, I may have just run out of time. Will try to log on again over the weekend. Or early next week. Please expect an email from me soon that would begin with "So sorry for the late reply." :D

Ok, gotta go!

Ces Kasilag: the 3-minute headshots

Ces totally came to my rescue last Sunday. And to thank her, I am posting these headshots that I took of her right on the parking lot of the venue of the party before we headed home.

As the title suggests, these were taken in under 3 minutes. All we had was great light and a big bright smile--and sometimes those are all we actually ever need for beautiful portraits.:)

I was able to take about a dozen shots or so, but here are my favorites.

BIG Announcement: WWW.GINGLORENZO.COM

There are simply no words to describe how excited I am to finally be able to announce the launch of my website! As I write this, my friend Lyra is doing a countdown to midnight over Gtalk. We can't believe the day is finally here because the truth is, the long complicated story of my website's becoming started over a year ago. I know nothing about doing websites but with a lot of patience (from myself and other people) and a lot of help, I couldn't be more delighted with how mine turned out.

I have to take a minute to thank the following people for helping make this a possibility (because it really wouldn't have been possible without them!):

1. Lyra, for helping me figure out how to do the website. She was the one who gave me my weekly "homework", and really pushed me to do every task that I needed to do to get the job done. She also helped me in the actual customization of the website and gave me helpful feedback on my ideas.

2. EJ Litiatco, for making me look and feel good for my pictorial. You can check out some of my photos (taken by my talented sister Pie) in the ABOUT section of the website.;)

3. Pie, for taking great photos of me!:D And for helping me with everything! I know I couldn't have had the time to finish the website without her. In fact, I wouldn't have the time to do a lot of things without her!

4. Of course, my husband Pete, for EVERYTHING. An entire entry wouldn't be enough to describe all the things that he has done to support me in my business. He has been the great force behind me all this time. He's always been my best critique because he gives honest feedback on my work, and he was no different during the making of the website. Oh, and he couldn't sleep with the lights on but he had to put up with them the past few weeks (including tonight)as I worked late into the night.:D



I will still be doing some updates on the galleries and in some of the sections in the coming weeks, but I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Please go to www.ginglorenzo.com and let me know what you think.:)

Thanks!:)

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.

Ilocos trip: Laoag and beyond

Here are more photos from our Ilocos trip. These were taken on Monday, the day we were to leave Laoag for Manila. We figured we didn't have enough time to visit all the tourist spots anymore but we decided we needed to visit the windmills, the lighthouse, and the church.

Bangui Windmills
From Fort Ilocandia Resort where the event we photographed took place Sunday evening, and where we were checked in, we decided to visit Bangui Windmills first, and work our way back south.

It was the first time I have ever seen windmills up close. They looked like giant fans and I had this eerie feeling that someone was looking down at us. Pete, on the other hand was like a kid in a candy store. He was the one who really really wanted to see the windmills and he was so happy when we finally caught sight of the blades. We got there at around high noon though, so it was very difficult to get good shots, not only because of the bad light but because of the scorching heat!

Cape Bojeador

After the windmills, we stopped by the Cape Bojeador Lighthouse. I loved the texture of the walls and the lighting even at high noon. I guess this is why I was more interested in taking portraits and shots of details than I was in taking photos of the lighthouse.

At some point, I handed over my camera to Pie so she could take a couple of photos of Pete and me.

We were about to leave when I realized I hadn't taken a single photo of the lighthouse.

This is the view from the hill just below the lighthouse.


Fort Ilocandia
Fort Ilocandia is such a grand but charming hotel. Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend a lot of time to enjoy our stay there since we got there just in time for the event, and had to leave as soon as we got back from our visit to the windmills and the lighthouse.

We were literally packed up and ready to go when I noticed the BEAUTIFUL afternoon light. I promised Ces that I would be taking their family photos before we leave (I will post them in a separate entry) and I knew this was the perfect spot for a quick pictorial. Check out one of the test shots I took of Pie.

After taking photos of Ces and her family, I gave my camera to Pie and Ces so Pete and I could have our own photos. I didn't know if I wanted to post these photos because we're obviously not dressed up for a photoshoot. But just pretend that we don't look sweaty and we have better clothes on, and ignore the messy hair. Just focus on the yummy light.;)

First photo was taken by Pie and the second photo was taken by Ces.:)




Oh, and we wanted to drop by Paoay Church after checking out of the hotel, but unfortunately, just minutes after we drove out of the hotel compound, the skies turned dark and it started to pour. We did get a glimpse of the famous church, but we weren't able to take any photos anymore.

Finally, I would like to thank my wonderful client Rosemarie for giving us the chance to go on this trip.:)

Ilocos trip: Vigan

A couple of months ago, I was inspired by one of the blogs I follow to list down about a hundred things that I want to do or accomplish in the next three years. A lot of the items on my list are big goals like opening up a studio and building a house, while others are as simple as learning to cook a certain dish. This past weekend, I just checked one item off my list. I went on a road trip to Ilocos. I have never been that far up north before and I have always wanted to go there. And when a client booked me to do an event in Laoag, I was so excited!

Although this trip was primarily for work, we decided to do the tourist route as well. Ces Kasilag, who was to be my second shooter for the event in Laoag, brought along her family (hubby Jon, baby Franco, sis-in-law Gigi, and yaya) while with me were Pete, Pie, and our driver Mano Wally. With two photographers in the group and another one in the making (my sister Pie), we couldn't help but make the trip a mini photo expedition as well.

We left Manila before dawn on Saturday, and arrived at Vigan around noon. I'm not a travel blogger or a travel photographer, so this entry will just be full of random photos that I took during the trip. I will be posting the rest of the photos (from Ilocos Norte) in another entry.

Syquia Mansion

First stop was Syquia Mansion. I know a lot of people find museums boring but I actually find them interesting...and maybe a bit creepy at the same time.


Some of President Elpidio Quirino's personal stuff.


Interesting pieces that are probably worth millions. And they were all just lying around the house. The mansion only has a couple of caretakers and no hi-tech security system (except for the altar).




A detail on the 18k gold-plated mirror.







Guess who they were shooting.;)


Guess who took the better photo. Hehehe. Just kidding, Ces!

My favorite model.

Again.




Calle Crisologo

Next stop was the famous Calle Crisologo.






Pie looking like a real turista.




Pagburnayan

Sunday morning we went to visit this pottery factory. I love this next photo.

Pie looking very serious.