My FB Fan Page and other announcements

I was supposed to publish this entry last night when something went wrong and I lost the two paragraphs that I had already written. Grrr. Since I was already tired and sleepy, I decided I'd just rewrite and publish it early this morning. But when I got up at around 6am (I was supposed to go jogging), it was raining softly and it really felt like Christmas outside. I woke Pete up to show him, and I even told him "Nag-time travel ba tayo?" Hahaha. So, I went back to bed with the beautiful sound of the rain in my ears. And then I overslept for 3 hours! Argh! So, here I am trying to rearrange my schedule for the day (No, make that for the week!) to make up for the 3 hours that I lost this morning. Not cool!

Anyway, I wanted to post a few announcements to start this week off.

1. I have a Facebook Fan Page! Hehehe. My friends and some clients have been asking me to put one up and although I recognize the value of it, it just felt too weird to make a fan page for myself. So, last week, my dear friend Lyra put one up for me. Lyra has been such a big help in my business the past few years, and now she's officially my number one fan (on FB that is.:P) and the keeper of my fan page!:D Last time I checked, I had only about 60 friends over there. So, if you could, please check it out. That way I wouldn't feel so pathetic. Hehehe. Just kidding. As of now, we're just using the page to mirror my updates on this blog, but we're trying to cook up a few things so I hope you stay tuned for them.:)

2. I have released updated packages for kiddie events and portraits. So, if you have my old rates and you're interested to book me soon, please email me again.:)

3. Due to some personal reasons, I will be cutting back on kiddie party bookings starting July.  I will only be accepting around 3 to 4 kiddie events per month for the rest of the year. As of today, I am already fully booked until June, I have 1 more slot for July, and a few more slots for August until October.  I will start accepting bookings for November next month.

I will however be setting aside a few weekends for portrait sessions. Last year, I got a lot of inquiries for holiday portraits. Unfortunately, I couldn't accommodate all of them because my schedule was full. This year, I will start accepting bookings for holiday portraits starting August. Holiday portrait sessions will start in September. I will be announcing the schedule as well as possible venues on this blog as soon as I finalize my schedule.

As for non-holiday portraits, you may inquire anytime, and we can talk about the schedule. Starting July, I will also be setting aside some days to focus on non-holiday portraits. :)

And because blog entries are so much better with photos, here are a few of the cute babies that I shot just this past weekend.

Saturday morning, I was up early to shoot Zoe's portraits in MOA. Isn't she adorable?

Saturday afternoon, I worked with Jhoanne of Polkadots at Gab's birthday party!:)

Sunday, I had the pleasure of photographing little Bella's baptism. 

Christine: Maternity portraits

I first met Christine and hubby Joseph when I photographed their daughter Dana's 1st birthday party in 2008. Last year, I met up with them again when we had their family portrait session. Christine was a couple of  months pregnant by then and told me she wanted to do a maternity session with me. We did the session late January. And just a couple of days ago, I got a text from Christine with the happy news of the arrival of the newest member of their family! I can't wait to meet the little one as we're also planning to do a newborn portrait with Baby Darla soon.:)

Here are a few of my favorites from the session.

We had to move the pictorial at an earlier date than we originally planned because Christine felt that her tummy was already getting too big.  On the day of the pictorial, Christine and Joseph got stuck in a traffic jam, so I was getting worried that we wouldn't have enough time to take good photos (I couldn't extend the shoot as I had a party to photograph that afternoon).  While I was waiting for them at UP where we agreed to do the shoot, Christine texted to tell me not to worry. "Magaling akong mag-pose," she joked.  But when we started shooting, I realized she wasn't joking at all.  She was so relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera.  And she seemed to know exactly what to do, I didn't have to think of the poses alone. We finished in under an hour, and got a lot of great shots.

One of the first shots. One of my favorites.  

I have always wanted to use one of those grassy slopes in UP.  This was another one of my favorites.

Christine is such a natural.:)


I have done a lot of photo shoots at the UP Campus, so I wanted to look for new spots.  While waiting for my models, Pie and I drove around the campus to scout for interesting locations.  We saw this pile of junk in front of the Engineering Bldg. and I knew I wanted to use it.  I told Christine about it and I was so happy when they agreed to shoot there just before we wrapped up the shoot.  The shots turned out even better than I expected.:)

They were talking about where they were going to eat lunch after the shoot here.:D

Hamilo Coast Engagement Session: Benedict + Karen

Little girls don't dream of meeting their soulmates on the playground. They definitely don't see any of those annoying little boys as potential life partners. Little girls dream of Prince Charming sweeping them off their feet and riding with them into the sunset. And yet, there was Karen. And there was Benedict.

These two have known each other since they were about six or seven. They saw each other regularly in church and in Sunday School. They were constantly being paired together. However, it took them over a decade to realize that they actually wanted to be more than just childhood sweethearts. Benedict (or Budik as his family and friends call him) had cleaned up pretty well and became Karen's Prince Charming. And this July, about eight years since they officially became a couple, they will stand before their families and friends, and will be united in marriage in front of God. And yeah, perhaps we'll even see them riding into the sunset.

Last January, I had the pleasure of doing Benedict and Karen's engagement session.  I always like to meet up with wedding clients before they even book me to make sure that they know and like my style. Karen is actually my best friend Chen's younger sister, so I kinda felt suspicious that Chen probably just twisted her arm and used some "ate power" so Karen would book me for their wedding. But when I first met up with Karen and Budik, they told me they love my "happy sunny" photos and I immediately became excited about working with them because I knew we were on the same page.

We did the shoot in Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas. It was a LONG and sometimes rough ride going there. But it was all worth it!

The first few shots are usually warm-up shots just to get the models comfortable in front of the camera. But these guys were pros from the beginning! This was one of the first frames that we shot.

I love this shot because Karen looks soooo beautiful here! Ok, Budik doesn't look so bad either.:D

One of Karen's requests was to have photos that show how "in love na in love" they are with each other.  This was one of my favorites.

Karen looking fierce without even trying. 

I love this one!

These two shots are my absolute favorites from the session!

Next outfit.

Great-looking couple. It wasn't difficult taking great shots, really.

Last few shots before heading home.