Los Angeles Engagement: Dodi + Ann

This engagement shoot is very important to me. This is my first official prenuptial photoshoot in the U.S. Thanks to Alaine for referring me to Ann and Dodi. Ann and Dodi both work in the U.S. as California-based physical therapist. Initially, the couple have thought of having an anime theme but in the end, they just decided to have a simpler type of prenup shoot. They brought few dresses which they used in the different locations we went to. We started the shoot around 6:30 a.m. and finished around 12-ish in the afternoon. My most favorite location is the Getty Museum. It’s my first time here despite of the fact that I’ve been living in the U.S. for the past 9 years.  Dodi and Ann are both candid. They are very natural in front of the camera. Though both of them are conservative, they are cool and easy to get along with.

To you Dodi and Ann, thank you for giving me my first break. I will never forget you guys. I wish you will have a blissful married life ahead. Thanks for the sumptuous Japanese lunch meal too. See you guys on June 11!

I’m Yours: Chari and Mhel

Lesson Learned: Don’t shoot in a theme park/picnic area on Sundays.

Prior to this e-session we did a maternity portrait shoot in the morning. We came in the area around 8:30 and left there around 6pm. There was just too much crowd all over the park. It was so hot, the sun was sooOoo up, very humid. we should have put on some sun block lotion.  Anyway, we had fun in this shoot despite of having only a couple of hours to shoot. Unlike their first e-session, they came prepared this time sans the salon-style hair and make up. Cha did her own make up and she just had her hair blow-dried. They brought 4 set of clothes. Well, actually there are 6 but we only got to photographed 4 set of clothes due to lack of time. We also took this opportunity to take some family portrait. Chari took this chance to have her instant Save-The-Date Card. No fuss. Print and Go, so to speak.

Scroll down below and you’ll see few snapshots of their La Mesa Park Engagement shoot together with the Save-The-Date Video. You can find the rest of the engagement photos here.

Engagement: Apol and Janice

Location: Bahay ni Aguinaldo, Kawit Cavite

Remelville Subdivision, Noveleta Cavite

Pol and Janice is the last couple Russell shot during his stay in the country. Well actually, Russell almost decided not to give this engagement pictorial a go since he already met his “quota”. On top of that, I almost backed out too after seeing the inspiration photos for the vintage theme they are trying to pull through. We just couldn’t afford hiring a prenup stylist and having the studio props that we saw in the set of photos that Janice sent us. But since Janice is the sister of his very good friend from college, he practically can’t say NO  and I don’t want to burst the bubble of an upcoming bride either. I was once a bride and I definitely know the excitement that Janice feels over having an engagement pictorial. Initially, we had issues with the date of the shoot. Ours and theirs didn’t meet halfway. When we finally agreed on a specific date, location shoot was the next problem. We no longer want to shoot inside Intramuros. It’s just so used (and abused). Janice suggested to have it done in Imus but she later on realized that the park near Imus Cathedral is not an ideal place to shoot especially during Sundays. There is just too much crowd. I suggested Kawit Shrine (Bahay ni Aguinaldo). I was just hoping that we would be allowed to shoot inside the park but Janice has her own way of making magic. She used her charm(she is soOooo chika if you will meet her in person you know)  to the Kawit Shrine Administrator and so they were able to gain permission too shoot right  inside the house itself (It is really not allowed to shoot inside the house.). Best of it all, it is for FREE !!!  It was a bummer though that I was sick on the exact shooting day so I was not able to join Russell. I met Pol and Janice when they are already shooting inside Remelville Subdivision where my in-laws live. I was able to take few shots. It’s not hard to see that Apol is very comfortable in front of the cam although I am not sure if he is used to taking pose in front of a photographer. You can see so much emotion in his eyes when ever he tries to strike a pose. Janice and Pol’s engagement pictorial is a super fab way of ending the prenup shoot series that Russell did during his short stay in the Philippines. Russell was able to shoot inside the house without any dramatic lights to enhance the photos. He just exploited the available light- sunlight!

Here are few pictures to share. Enjoy! (You can see the rest of the prenup pictures here.)

And to compensate my absence during this shoot, here is a simple slideshow for you, Apol and Karen. Enjoy!

Lawyers In Love: Trish and Francis

Posted by: Thet

It’s been a while since our family had a week end get away. Though I can’t say that Tagaytay is an out-of-town area for us (we live in Cavite for the mean time), having the entire family while shooting a prenup in Tagaytay is something new to us. Aside from that, this is the first time that we tagged along one of Russell’s classmates from his advanced photography class, Gracie. We were there at around 4:00pm but the sunlight was still harsh so we set the shoot around 4:30 instead. The couple is very flexible kaya walang problema sa pag move ng time ng shoot. The only problem that we had during this shoot is momentum. Damn! Super daming tao sa Picnic Grove. Maya’t-maya may dumadaan.

When I posted about a freenup in Tagaytay on one of my yahoogroups, Trish was the very first one to send an email. Actually, we were supposed to shoot inside Intramuros if not only for their hectic schedule. Trish and Francis are both lawyers. They actually met at UP Law School. While Trish works in Singapore as a lawyer, Francis practices on his own. He has his own firm here in the Philippines. Ang taray-taray lang di ba? Yet, this couple is VERY VERY VERY humble.I must admit that I got intimidated. The pressure is just there.  Nevertheless, we got comfortable with the couple instantly because of their very warm personality. I can tell right at that moment why they fell in love with each other. Trish is very beautiful (mukhang astista daw sabi ni pinsan), intelligent, kikay yet very elegant. Francis, on the other hand, is a man of charm, witty, sensible and good-looking-Mr. Nice Guy.

Since they are going to have another prenup with their official photographer, we decided to just have a spontaneous type of prenup shooting. Anything goes, so to speak. I call Trish as “Bungisngis Queen” while hubby calls Francis as “Man of Projection”. Why? Mas magaling kasi mag prjoect si Francis. Emoterong Tunay..And just because we want spontaneous shooting, it was Francis who would think of what to do and the right pose. Russell and Gracie would just shoot from different angles. We really had a good time doing the engagement pictorial for this couple. A lot of people looked at the couple asking us if Trish is an actress/model. She looks like Rica Peralejo/Ehra Madrigal, isn’t she?

Thank you Trish and Francis for the opportunity you gave us. Thanks for the the buko tart too!

See you on December with our better lenses

Bungisngis lang di ba?

A Super Happy Bride-to-Be

This is their “In Love” look daw

Directed by Francis. Hehehe

Francis to Trish: You Are Mine!

Here are few pictures from our good friend Gracie.

Hubby made this AVP. We can’t think of any other audio to use so he just decided to use my LSS pick for the week. More prenup pictures uploaded here.

‘Till There Was You: Shan and Tin

Posted by: Thet

We are now down to the last two e-sessions we need to do to complete the portfolio that Russell will bring to the U.S.  That also means that hubby is gonna be gone in less than a month I’m gonna miss him, that is for sure. But I’m gonna miss my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 even more. Joke lang beh. Hehehe.

When I first saw Tin, I thought that is she just simply beautiful. She looks like Kyla if you would imagine her wearing short hair. She had super light make up and she wore an equally simple yet elegant dress. Shan also wore a trouser and a polo that complimented his good looks. This couple is a very reserved couple, making it hard for me to crack some jokes while taking shots of them. I was quite hesitant shooting them with a kissing scene. But an hour later during the shoot, we just got comfortable with each other. We got quite a number of good pictures from this shoot but then again, we are still swamped with pictures to resize so we hardly had the time to edit them all (We’re doing division of labor per prenup shoot). We just limit the number of pictures uploaded in our flickr account to 100 pictures. Thus, no retouches and just minor photo manipulations were done in this set.

We took the shoot around Intramuros, more specifically on the now defunct WoW Philippines and Fort Santiago. While I am very much aware that one needs to secure a permit and pay P2000 from the Intramuros Administration (IA) in order to take some pictures in the city within the wall, we just pretended to be just photo enthusiasts trying to capture some good shots inside Fort Santiago. Still, nabuking kami! LOL The guardia sibil would keep on following us, informing us that we need to pay and get permit from IA. So Run Barbie Run ang eksena. Hahahahaha! heck, we are Filipinos anyway. Ang Pilipinas ay para sa mga Pilipino so I don’t think that’s justifiable to pay something for what we are entitled to do, right? Excuses!  Ayaw lang namin magbayad, in other words. Hehehe. In the end, we just spent most of our time shooting at the WoW Philippines area where we freely did our engagement pictorial shoot.

Here are some pictures to share. Scroll down below and you’ll see the simple photo slideshow inspired by The Beatles I made for this very special couple.

Hubby just installed Adobe Premiere in my notebook. Mejo sinipag mag self study so I decided to try this software for the first time. And here is the simple photo slideshow I made for this very special couple. Enjoy!

More engagement pictures uploaded here.