Prenup: Eliza + Boyd

Surprisingly, there's a lot that goes on in a prenup shoot. Before you can actually start shooting, like you have to think about what concept you want, the costumes and props to use and if that isn't already a lot on the plate to think about, there are also the factors you can't control, like the weather, temperature and props going 'pop' (more on that later). 

We were thrilled when we were asked to shoot Eliza and Boyd's prenup, even if it was a bit of a rush, I would say that we pulled it off nicely :) 

I would say that Paul and I are fortunate enough to live in a nice subdivision that has some beautiful spots for shooting, like literally just a few steps away from the house. We were so nervous because we weren't sure if it was going to rain, the dark clouds that were so slowly gathering were not a good indication. Just in case it did start pouring down we had a back up plan. Fortunately it did not rain and we were able to have the shoot ! One lesson we all learned was to use balloon props immediately, as they have the tendency to..you know pop. 

So, aside from balloons popping it was a pretty good shoot ~ because of the feel of the location, Taylor Swift's "Are we out of the woods yet?" started playing in my head and I realized that like everything else, relationships can be tricky and challenging but when you  get to the point where you are already planning the wedding and doing the prenup photos and all those fun yet tiring details, you know you made it and as someone who's been there and done that ~ it will all be worth it. 

Congratulations to Eliza and Boyd! 

Click here for more photos! 

PHOTOGRAPHY: #VantagePoint Antipolo Cathedral

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been a happy resident of Antipolo City for years now. Everybody who lives in the city knows the Antipolo Cathedral, since this has been a hub or center for public transport vehicles coming from the Metro or else where.

Historically, the said church has been there since 1632, has incurred damages throughoout the years of historical events(revolts/wars) and natural phenomenon(earthquake), but was re-erected time and again.

The church eventually became a cathedral and national shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. Pilgrims, travelers, and devotees flock to the church from all over the country to pray for safe voyage.

When I went around to practice and shoot, as usual lugging around 2 cameras inside of  a shoulder bag that weighs at least 2 pounds. Typically I bring 2 Canon DSLRS(a crop sensor camera and full frame sensor camera), 2 prime lenses and a telephoto lens that I rarely use. So when I think of all of those, when I can go for a smaller camera that can match what I currently have. I'm quite curious when the Light L16 comes out, Would like to get a feel for the camera, since it is rumored to be very light and compact with a revolutionary folded optics, that allows the design team to put more optics and sensor. Specs say that the camera has 16 individual 13MP sensors.

Until then, I'll keep shooting with my big and heavy DSLRs. No mirror-less camera for me yet, and definitely no smart phones until I find a light and portable camera that I can carry where ever I go and can hold it's own against my camera/s.

O'Hara X Torre: An Art Exhibit

Sharla O'Hara with her Oil and Canvass 

Sharla O'Hara and I go way back. We were friends back in Gradeschool and during this time we were all into Anime and drew in the Japanese Anime style. I say "drew" because I no longer draw now and that's probably something that new acquaintances don't know about me. I guess you can say that the writer took over the budding artist, but I guess my mom shot that horse in the face a long time ago.

Although she did let me take art classes back when we could afford it, I guess I'm writing that now so you guys know that my love and appreciation for the arts has deep roots, it's in my family and in my blood and even if I didn't get to pursue it professionally or as a hobby, I took up another form of the arts (so to speak) which is writing- so now I get to write about Art :)

Sharla's Illusion Series. She worked with a 'Disco Ball' Board. 

By the way, Paul also has some art skills tucked away, like me it was the photographer who took over the artist. I guess it's all good coz as they say: "If you chase two rabbits you'll wind up with nothing for dinner". 

It was only recently that Paul and I started to go to galleries and attend exhibits (as you've probably seen in the posts) and we want to make it more of a habit and hope to get to see more art - I guess we're lucky that we have friends and acquaintances who are talented young artists- which brings us back to Sharla - who I've not seen in years! I think the last time we saw each other was in the sixth grade and that seems like ages ago- now she...well she's a lot of things aside from her art she's also a model (wet weeeeew) :p

On the serious side get to know Sharla and her work here are some excerpts from the event page. 

Sharla O'Hara majored in Painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in Diliman. She is a muralist by profession since 2008. 

She has been experimenting with materials used for faux and artistic finishes used in interior design projects or her paintings (among other things). She incorporates some notes of optical illusion or trom loie'l in her art.

Sharla describes her art as: "Glam, grotesque, organic and synthetic, illusion, compulsive and maybe a little dark sometimes..." 

Sharla has been tapped by Beauty Bar to paint on the walls of their new store which is opening in Centrall Mall in BGC - I'm really excited for this-so hopefully our schedule will allow us to drop by :) 

Kat Torre and her oil on Canvas

Sharla shares the on going art exhibit at Handuraw Pizza Sikatuna with Kat Torre who is in herself a jack of all trades when it comes to art. Kat is a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Mailing, Los Banos Laguna. She designs her own line of jewelry and watches which is manifested in Ensuenos. Like Sharla, Kat also majored in Painting at the College of Fone Arts in the University of The Philippines in Diliman.

Kat's impressive resume also includes designing and creating props, sets and costumes for stage productions like: "Magnificat", "Padre Pio", "Cory the Musical", "Manila, Vanilla" and "Halo Halloween". 

Kat's Color on White Canvas

She is also included in the Top 3 Finalists of the 2013 Globe Art Competitiom: ImaginART. 

Kat is looking forward to getting back to painting and sculpting. Her works will be mainly paintings of women. 

Aside from the promising art from these young artists the vent was made extra special by (drum roll please) PIZZA and I have mentioned that I am a Pizza kinda girl so - SCORE! 

Handuraw Pizza Sikatuna (where the art is currently displayed) is a nice and cozy place which does not only offer yummy pizza at P300.00-P400.00 per order but it is also a great place for friends to get together to chill and relax (there's a roof deck which is a great place to hang out and have pizza and beer). You can also contemplate on the art on display, there's a hallway once you enter the door where the art is hung and there is more space upstairs for more art! The main floor has space for musicians to entertain as well so patrons can enjoy the music! 

Although sharing the exhibit, Sharla and Kat have distinct styles in their art, as you open the door you will see colorful images on white canvas from Kat Torre the series is followed by Sharla's "illusion art", words and photos really don't do the art any justice so I guess you guys will have to see it for yourselves ;) The exhibit will be up in the next two weeks! 

Robinsons Place Opens In Antipolo

I studied in Assumption Antipolo for twelve years and that means going through the same route twice a day, five times a week for twelve years (except for the Summer months of course) and in that daily route was a patch of land filled with trees and plants. When you live in Antipolo and study in Assumption Antipolo for that matter you get used to being surrounded by nature and you treasure it.

So when it was announced that a Robinson's mall was opening and was going to be built on that patch of land I used to pass by every day I was honestly torn, for one I was happy that there was a new mall opening like 15 minutes from our home but on the other hand a mall was taking over a patch of land which has always equated as "nature" to me. 

Having a new mall open means jobs and opportunities for my fellow Antipoleneos so that's another good thing which would probably help me come to terms with the new mall better.

There was much excitement when the Mall finally opened, friends and family who have been there before us and all said the same things: Great Architecture but not much stores. 

Paul and I checked out the mall as soon as we could and we had the same thoughts, the architecture was beautiful, a bit similar to the Robinson's in Tagaytay. I'm glad that they maintained the lush green of the place by having plants outside, it's not just a building they put up, all concrete and no jungle because, well we love that jungle aspect of Antipolo. 

Following the trendy layout of new malls, Robinson's Place Antipolo has outside gardens patrons can enjoy. We haven't been out there so we haven't checked it out yet, will definitely do the next time we pass by the mall. 

Other things we're excited about is the Robinson's Movie World- Yehey! For Movie Buffs like us! Although we weren't so happy about some of the movie posters we say in the cinemas, for geeks like us, looking at pixelated Movie posters is an eye sore. Hopefully whoever is in charge of that gets their act together and quality checks the Movie posters. Sorry but for the Movie buff and the geek in us that's a definite no-no. Still looking forward to our first movie date at the new Robinson's Movie World - will definitely post on that too! 

Casimir's

In our continued effort to feature local restos, Paul and I (along with our family) decided to check out Casimir's-a newly opened BBQ - Grill buffet right outside our village.

Walking distance (if you feel like it) from our house! Although not advisable since you'd be so full, you might get an upset stomach if you walk that much after stuffing yourself full. 

So here's the deal- it's an All You Can Eat; Unlimited BBQ for p188.00 per person. Not bad right? 

Paul and his family often go to buffets, so they pretty much know how to pace themselves to make the most out of the meal. Unlike  "kain ibon" me who should ideally eat small frequent meals because of my hyperacidity. 

The menu featured a variety of Filipino dishes (there was even fried fish and tahong (clams) the speciality being grilled pork and chicken. The flavoring was good enough for you to definitely come back for seconds and thirds even. 

It would probably be a good idea to visit during lunch time when everything is newly grilled. Although the food is refilled when it runs out. 

Alcoholic beverages are served (which is good news for Paul) and the prices are pretty reasonable. P43.00 per bottle of San Miguel Light (considering how some places in Makati serve a bottle of beer for P90.00 a bottle- some even at a P100.00). 

There are bottomless drinks available for P60.00 but 1L bottles of soft drinks are also available for sharing. :) 

If you are bringing a kid along it would be best to check with the staff if they can be free of charge, since kids (up to a certain height) are free. This was almost a source of contention from us since the staff first informed us that Paul's nephew would be for free but then later said he wasn't but in the end agreed to him being for free. If they insisted on charging our nephew then that would have been a big deal breaker for us. 

Casimir's has a nice enough vibe with wooden polished tables, you have the choice to eat inside or enjoy the cool breeze outdoors (it's nice and cool in Antipolo) :) There's also a nice bar set up where you can enjoy your drinks, not sure if you can bring food in though. 

Will definitely be back with friends and maybe my family next time, it's a nice enough buffet place and is definitely a cheaper alternative to other buffet places. There wasn't any dessert available when we dined there and we were asked for our suggestions and I told them it would be nice to have desserts next time. So maybe we'll check those out too. :) 

Weekend Photographer:

Earlier this morning, I went out for a walk to take some photos during the golden hour. I've researched, what time would be the best time to shoot and prepared in advance to get the most out of the short window time for shooting with an awesome light from the sun.  


It's been quite a while since I went up to this place to shoot during the sunrise.  I've always been fond of this place ever since we moved from the city to the mountains of Antipolo.  I always find the place also known as 'the second floor' somewhat magical.

I've been shooting here for quite some time now, for some weird reason I find myself visiting this place over and over again to think, shoot, or just take a look around and see the city from the mountains.  I didn't take a photo of the city view since I focused on the sunrise and how things look with this type of sunlight.  

It is true what they say about shooting during the 'golden hour' you'll get warm and diffused lighting.  Hopefully next time I'd bring someone to shoot along or be the subject.

Here's a trivia and something you may not know, Ica and I have a few of our engagement photos shot as here as well. 

Weekend Photographer: Alay lakad 2013, Antipolo City

Weekend Photographer is my blog post for my instant projects during my rest days.  My rest days varies sometimes in the weekend, other times in the middle of the week.  My wife doesn't tag along in these solo-projects, so I'll try my very best to write down what I've experienced during these weekend projects.  Just another addition to the many blog posts here, hope you guys like and enjoy.  Comments would be appreciated as always!

Lightroom 4 Geotag of the photos taken during my solo photo walk.

Right in the middle of summer, Antipolo my home town hosts an annual pilgrimage from Quiapo Church to Antipolo Cathedral held during the evening of Maundy Thursday (Roman Catholic Calendar). Church goers start to walk from Quiapo then straight to Antipolo (according to Google Maps the route covers an approximated distance of 27.3 km). 

I on the other hand was free and was on my rest day so I opted to walk along with the crowd and snap some photos, to practice photography in general.  

During this project, I honestly hesitated to pull out my camera in public since there might be  some thieves lingering about and with this in mind I still went on ahead and pulled out my camera but with my senses up a notch(if that makes any sense).

A puto vendor waiting for the people. 

So I brought along my camera(Canon 500d), camera bag which has 3 lenses( 50mm f/1.8, Canon 18-55mm(kit lens), Sigma70-300mm macro, flash, back up SD cards), a tripod, and a bottle of water.  You can say that I may be  dragging along a lot of stuff, and well see how this goes later.  

To me once you see this view, when travelling along Ortigas Extension Ave., you are in Antipolo.  A few meters later, you'll see the Capitol of Rizal(the dome structure behind the the trees) and Ynares Center.

Familiar sight, the Capitol of Rizal beyond the horizon.

When I travel to the main proper of Antipolo, I always thought of capturing this.  I'm not completely pleased with what I have right now but I may have to revisit this shot and do it all over again and recompose.

I didn't catch anything interesting on the way to the cathedral.  When I got to the church, this is where I used the tripod, since I planned to shoot panoramic and HDR images. Below is the result of what I did.

The photo below, is a merge of 3 or 5 images on different exposures, and merged them all together in Photoshop CS4.  I like the way it shows the people in motion, it gives more character to the image.

Antipolo Cathedral - HDR

A hint of rainbow

In the photo above, I set the camera low to make the church look bigger.  It's just unfortunate that I'm standing near a shade of a building or tree(not sure), and it is pretty obvious since the people on the foreground are all silhouette.  Although this gave my image a more interesting look as it leads the viewer back to the church as it is the main subject here. 

I went on to hang to hunt for some shots, I equipped the 50mm for low lit situations such as the image below.  It seems tight but I got the effect that I wanted.  Using candles as the main light source to get some people exposed in the least to show expression and a little detail.