Club Balai Isabel Engagement Session: Jay + Far

I realize a lot of people still don't know that I actually do weddings as well.  As a matter of fact, when I first went into photography full-time, I started by shooting weddings with other photographers and for some studios.  And then I started getting my own clients a couple of years ago.  When I shot my first kiddie event a few years ago, I really didn't know how to do it because all I knew about shooting events was what I knew from shooting weddings. So, I treated every kiddie event like it was a wedding. And I guess that's why became a good kiddie event photographer. But you know what, I believe I became a much better wedding photographer precisely because I started shooting a lot of kiddie events.  I know a lot of photographers don't like shooting kiddie events because there's no "magic".  But I say there is magic and beauty every where, you just have to look for it.  So, every time I go to shoot an event, I always try to see the beauty and capture it. And that's not really difficult to do on weddings where everything is just beautiful, right?  Oh, and compared to running after kids and patiently waiting for them to smile or pose for you, shooting subjects who actually listen and who actually like to be photographed is a walk in the park ;)

Jay and Far found me online.  I don't really advertise and I don't shoot a hundred weddings a year like other wedding photographers, so it was nice to know that they chose me based on my style and trusted me to photograph their big day. They're both based abroad but they booked me only after a couple of phone calls and a few emails.:) When we finally met up just after New Year's, I was glad to know how nice they both are in person.  And they are so much fun too! I also found out Jay is also actually into photography, and I always like working with a fellow photographer.

We had Jay and Far's engagement session at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay Batangas. It was the first time for me to actually see the Taal crater that close.  The place is peaceful and there are a lot of really interesting spots to shoot. It was raining that morning, and we got a bit of a drizzle when we started shooting. But the rain stopped after a few minutes, and we got awesome weather for the rest of the afternoon!

Below are some of the photos from Jay and Far's engagement pictorial.

The theme of their wedding (which I photographed a couple of weeks ago) was "Travel and Leisure", so they wanted to start the session with their "tourist" look.;)


I love how these two can make each other laugh. Or maybe they were laughing at me?:P


They were married in Cavite, by the way.

Jay with his camera.


Bubbles! And the light was magnificent in Balai Isabel!

We planned on taking some sunset shots, but it turned out they don't get sunsets down there. Instead we got this nice diffused afternoon light.

The movement and colors on Far's dress were just lovely.


One of my favorites.


Another one of my favorites.


And still another one.

One more.


Some nice close-ups of our lovely couple.





Isn't Far just beautiful? Wait til you see her wedding photos!

I'm a big fan of natural light, but sometimes, I just have to bust out my off-cam flash.

We shot these last shots just before we totally lost the light and had to shoot with off-cam flash exclusively.  But I am so happy with how these turned out. Jay and Far are so wonderful to work with and so easy to photograph.

I will be posting Jay and Far's wedding photos really soon, so watch out for that!:)

Mican: Dedication and 1st birthday party

February 28, 2010
Oceana Event's Place
Party theme: Hello Kitty

My last event for February!  It was my first time to photograph an event at Oceana, and I have to say I was impressed! Or maybe I was more impressed with all the details at Mican's grand birthday celebration.  The birthday family is based abroad, and they came home just to celebrate their little princess' birthday with family and friends.  It was a full house!

Here are some of the photos from the party.

The gorgeous cake with the cute Hello Kitty mini-cakes.

If you want a party this colorful, you will never go wrong with Kidstar Kastles (led by the lovely Imma Ongteco)!

The place looked amazing!


The birthday family getting a bit serious during the dedication ceremony.

And then of course, we headed out to take a few shots.

Mican didn't feel like posing for my camera yet though.


That's Chayno conducting one of the games with the guests.


Janis gave Pie and me Hello Kitty white-chocolate-coated Oreo cookies like these. Yummy! Oh and they gave us a mini-cake too, but that went straight to my little nephew Liam.:D


Mican's cute cousin.








Mommy Janis getting a colorful tattoo.


Towards the end of the party, we tried taking pictures outside again (the light was also prettier by then).


Fortunately, Mican was already in the mood.:)





Super cute!

Elli: 1st birthday party

February 27, 2010
Dazo Hall, Philam Village, Las Piñas
Party theme: Elmo

It's not the easiest area to get to because you have to brave the traffic of Alabang-Zapote.  I know a lot of party suppliers charge exorbitant fees or simply turn down events in Las Piñas. But when Elma contacted me for Elli's party, I knew I was going to love working with her. As usual, I was right.

Below are some of the photos from the party.

We started at the family home, which is just a few minutes away from the party venue. As soon as I walked inside the house, I realized this was a family who loved having their photos taken.  They had a lot of frames family photos on display.  I just had to use some of them in the photos.

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Guess what the theme of the party was?

Elli was so not in the mood for photos before the party.

Elma gets all the credit for the balloon decorations! And she told me she got her inspirations from stuff she saw on this blog. Ahem!;)

The entire family.  This was probably the only photo of all of them during the party. The two older kids were too busy enjoying the program to join us for the short outdoor pictorial.





Finally, we were able to make Elli smile.:)

And laugh!


I love this one.

Back at the party...