Accidental Heatless Waves

Sprayed some of my favorite Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray on my hair today since I love the scent. I had to put my hair up in a bun since it was boiling out and a few hours later I had to undo the bun. 

072016

saying goodbye to falsies

take no lip

Thanks to Sam for lending me this Gucci dress. It's a shame I had to fold it twice cos the length wasn't working with my thigh-high boots. 

Wish I could wear my hair like this more often but those waves resulted from backing out from the up do on the last minute. Some looks are so photogenic but look like crap IRL. 

 Will gladly accept new lippies for Christmas this year... Notice that I only have two in my kit- Russian Red and Rebel from MAC. So far my list's comprised of lipstick, scented candles and a vacuum cleaner. Mom, I hope you're reading this! 

❤

Cheyser

Managed to snap some portraits of Cheyser yesterday after taking each other's outfit shots. I've been wanting to do a series of portraits featuring friends with little to no makeup. Wanted to convert these to black and white but I thought the colors matched her personality. I've always loved looking at simple portraits like these, backlit, bright and pure, with the subject's eyes piercing through....

❤

Hipstamatic addiction - rediscovered

Watts Lens + Big Up film

John S Lens, Kodot XGrizzled film

vindy

Went to the Riviera with the whole family today before my brother took some shots near Taal for his art/photography class. 

'Twas "very vindy". 

Shots by my brother, I just edited. 

Parting with my Lumix GF1 tomorrow and finally receiving my new cammy this weekend. 

❤

Penshoppe (Philippine Fashion Week)

Solenn & Victor during rehearsals

This girl is so fit!!!

Danica Magpantay- I watched a few minutes of her interview with Boy Abunda and all I can say is that she is so adorable! Totally did not expect that playful, sweet vibe because she looks so fierce in photos and on the runway.

I need those pants in my life.

Sam and I went to SMX last Sunday to be part of Penshoppe's "paparazzi" during their show for Philippine Fashion Week. Our friend Tanya invited us and thought we'd have fun taking photos during the show, which had a theme that revolved around the "lives of celebrities". It made my Sunday sorta busy and I had to go back and forth SMX and High Street. We were given instructions and rehearsed our blocking for the show, then Sam and I drove to 2nd's at High Street to practice since I was leading worship that day (without Riz!), then finally we headed back to SMX again after singing to get final instructions before the actual show...

We had fun shooting and just chatting away, and I got to see so many people from the blogging/fashion community... PENSHOPPE'S SHOW WAS PACKED! I'm so clueless about these shows because I only attend when a friend is showcasing, so this was my first "RTW" show. Pretty amazing one, too. No wonder everyone says that Penshoppe's always one of those they look out for.

I wasn't planning on taking part in fash week this season but I thought it would be fun to be a photographer this time (oddly enough I've never done any photo jobs for PFW before). Of course I didn't get to attend any of the after-parties. Rushed to get home right after the show to finish some schoolwork...

♥♥♥

Oh and we laughed at the fact that we looked so ridiculous in our all-black ensembles on a 37C/98.6F day. Literally HOT! Sam quipped, "We look like the make-up artists!"

We needed to wear something we could move around in, which is the case when we're holding cameras. You really don't want any of your underwear showing when you're the one crouching and reaching for an angle!

Missed wearing these boots.

Coverup= Bayo, jeans & swimsuit coverup (worn as tank top)- GAP, boots- Zara, bag- Topshop, leather bands- Carbon and the Bead Shop

♥

Jeune fille

model: Ashley Ramos

makeup artist: Diane Lorenzana

stylst: Sarah Policios of 11th of October

lights & set-up c/o: Edric Chen

I had a photo shoot with Ashley Ramos last Saturday for her portfolio and for 11th of October's new collection. I asked if she's ever had a shoot or has done any runway jobs before and was surprised when she said that she's never done any modeling jobs ever. She's only 17 and I think she's about 5'7". I was so shocked at how young she was and understood right away why she chose to let her mum go with her (cos it was her first photo shoot). With her height and pretty face, I know she'll land more jobs in the future. Just don't be too shy next time, Ashley! And sorry for making you laugh too much at some points :))

After getting her makeup done and after getting styled by the girls of 11th of October, she wasn't quite as confident to pose for us, compared to the other models Edric and I have worked with before. But as soon as I nudged Edric to play some music (no wonder it was so awkward at first), she became more comfortable with everyone looking at her and you could see her eyes lighting up for the camera more.

It always takes some time to get used to posing in front of different photographers and in front of sooo many people (as what my professor had said before, it takes a whole village to get that perfect shot). I guess for aspiring models like Ashley, you'll get the hang of posing for strangers, especially when you know you're working with the right people. It's important for you to trust them or do some research before accepting any jobs. I guess I'm lucky that I'm not so new to photography anymore. I've worked with some talented artists, and I've worked with not-so-good ones as well (hehe). It's your job as a model to project, give out your best poses and to take care of yourself! Remember, not all photographers can Photoshop well! There's only a handful of people out there who can actually edit well. Oh and it also takes a lot of guts and attitude. BE FEARLESS! That's my advice for everything.

Edric was even ranting to me while Ashley was getting her makeup done about how post-processing here was mediocre compared to the editing jobs abroad. He also showed me this mind-blowing video on how this photog edited her pics (forgot her name but she's soooo damn good). Imagine, the minimum fee (for newbie retouchers) is $50 PER PHOTO which takes 2-4 hours to finish! WOAH. And so I realized that it's no wonder the editing jobs here are so bad (with horrible liquified photos and super ugly dodge and burn, airbrushing, etc.)- people don't get paid enough! If my regular job paid $30 for editing 50 photos, WHAT A HEADACHE. I can't make a living off that. The good ones I'm taking about freakin' dodge and burn DOT PER DOT and draw-on/emphasize each pore to make it look natural. FINALLYYY some clarity and an explanation as to why I am always disgusted with heavily-airbrushed photos. I always like real skin showing through portraits.

If I could find a job abroad that would entail post processing, at $50 per image as my starting rate, hell yeahzz I'll take that as a sideline!

After graduating I'm seriously going to learn more about lighting and watch editing tutorials for days. This run-of-the-mill editing that I'm doing has got to go up another level!

♥