Sneak peeks always come with only one photo. Rightfully so, how can you provide more when it is indeed just a "peek". Then again, there are always exceptions to the rule especially when it is something unordinary, huge, and super-awesome. 

Today, I shot the photosession of Adonis and Delia. Adonis is a wedding photographer from Greece. I was stoked when he actually asked me to shoot him and his wife for a session while we are in Vegas for the WPPI. Being asked to shoot by a fellow photographer from Europe? that's unordinary. =) 

Since I've been hanging out with superstar photographers Dino Lara and Nelwin Uy throughout the convention, I invited them to go in the shoot with me if they didn't have anything to do. I guess MGM bored both of them so they said yes. that's huge =) 

All of these plus an awesome Vegas location courtesy of Missy Moran who dolled-up Delia... super-awesome. =) 

Thus this is the sneak peek of a cant-be-missed post of this mega Vegas e-session. And just like the sign on the above photo says, come back soon for more! =)

My career as a wedding photographer can still be considered young. I'm barely 3 years into yet what I've seen and experienced have been unbelievably interesting and diverse. 

Last month, that first paragraph will seem like an understatement as I went deep into the continent of Asia to capture the wedding of Ashwin and Julie in Chennai India - with full indian rights and traditions of course. I've never been to a place so rich in culture and also very different to what I'm accustomed to. And to still be able to do what I love doing in a totally unfamiliar environment is very humbling. =) 

Chennai is the city capital of the Indian province of Tamil (did you know that the provinces in India are divided based on the language that the people speak?) located on the southeast side of the country - this explains the photos by the beach on this post. It's modern and yet it's traditional. Every part of the place is unusually, at least for me of course. =) There are so much to see and to learn and I'm very grateful that I was given the opportunity to do so =)

Stay tuned for Ashwin and Julie's aftershoot session among the breathtaking temples of southern India onmy next post =)

  Of course, Julie needs to be beaded. =)

Ashwin here being assisted by his very kind father, Bala.
This is the part where Julie's Dad should convince/coerce Ashwin to come back and marry Julie. And yes, the umbrella is all part of the act. 

Do you see that blinding light on top of the videographers camera? That made my life terrible during the entire event. Imagine how my lighting requirement change with his every movement of the camera because the light goes where he goes. I did ask him if he can make it stationary, and he said he can't shoot nice video if he do so. So sorry nalang ako. =(
Good thing Julie brought reinforcements. In this act, she has to be lifted up in order to prevent Ashwin in putting the garland around her neck and vice-versa. I wanted to help out, but who's gonna take the photos? hahaha.

What is a visit to New York City without going to Time Square and Central Park right? On the same breath, no Big Apple shoot series will be complete as well without those two iconic locations. =) 

So here are the photos from Derrick and Mary Ann's engagement session in New York that we shot in Time Square at the Central Park. =) Mary Ann's cool parents and cousin tagged along too for a super fun shoot amidst the crowded streets and park! =) 

Enjoy the photos =)

Manhattan Island in New York is one of my most favorite places on Earth. It always seemed like it eats me up with its immense culture. Almost everything about it is interesting (I think that's what I get for watching too much movies hahaha) - well it least for me. There are a lot of great memories and first-time experiences. 

That's why I was stoked to be back in the city and this time to shoot engagement session - metrophoto style! =) This is the first of my series of engagement sessions from New York and I absolutely love the photos of Bryan and Dinah (pronounced as day-nah) that we shot in Soho, The Brooklyn Bridge, and The Grand Central Terminal. =) They are set to marry tomorrow in Manila btw =) 

It made everything more exciting when my friend Abel and our MUA Edilyn tagged along for the shoot. We had a tremendously fun time =) Check out the behind-the-scenes photos at the bottom of the post for those =)

  Here are some of our outtakes from the shoot =) Abel, who was kind enough to assist us during the shoot and take superb behind-the-scenes shots of me =) Edilyn, our super MUA =) We also met-up with Malou, a high school batchmate of me and Bryan. This was our mini high school reunion in New York! hahaha =)

Our super sweet and very smart, little King, Lance Ocean just turned five! =) He has grown to be a really witty and talkative boy and loves asking tough questions that even mommy and daddy sometimes don't know the answer to! hahaha =) 

We're saying hi from fabulous Singapore where we're celebrating Lance's birthday with of course little Lana Oasis =) It's the first time that all four of us are out for a vacation this far and this long and it's the most crazy and fun time. hahaha =)

While updates on the blog has been a bit slow, I'm totally gonna make up for that by posting all of my recent shoots in the US that has not been showcased yet. I started with James and Jaygee's Las Vegas shoot last week and today, it's time for the wonderful photos of Tony and Joy from their e-session in San Francisco. 

I have shot numerous sessions in downtown San Francisco but the place continues to fascinate me. I seems to have a character that just changes with every shoot. Always interesting, always beautiful =) 

Tony and Joy are such sweet people, their connection and love are obvious that they just naturally get lost with each other even while in front of the camera (which of course is awesome!). Joy is Filipina and Tony is Guamanian with roots from Taiwan. I would have loved to shoot their wedding late this year in the Bay Area but since schedule won't allow it, I'm more than grateful that I get to be a witness even with an e-session. 

Enjoy the photos =)

  and how about some delicious Thai food to finish a great day? yeah! =)

James and Jaygee are from Texas. They said the city they live in is in the middle of nowhere. I say that that place is very lucky to have two awesomely cool individuals willing to give it some boost of fun and charm. hahaha! 

The place where we shot this e-session is the probably the best opposite of Edinburg Texas. Where else can the words "boring" and "nothing" could have possibly been erased in the city dictionary than in Vegas. Yep, Sin City, the city where sin, celebration, and everything in-between never sleep, is where we wreaked havoc shooting up to 4am! Seriously. 

Coincidentally, it was also the weekend where James and Jaygee were celebrating their bachelor and bachelorette party. No need to tell you what happened there, and afterall what happens in Vegas... yep, it stays there ;) 

I'll be in Vages again this March 7-11, 2010 to take part in the WPPI activites. Shoot me a note if you guys are interested for a meet-up, shoot, or whatever else =) woohoo!

I have been looking forward a lot for Miko and Pat's wedding in Macau. Aside from of course it being an awesome destination wedding, it will also be the last of four consecutive weddings that we're covering in the span of time (tagaytay-nasugbu-tagaytay-macau). It will be a good test of our will and how extensive our creativity can stretch. 

But that seemed too easy I guess because fate made me miss my flight to Macau that evening and had to wait 4 hours to take a red eye flight to Hongkong and take the ferry to Macau (good thing they are 24 hours) to be sure I get there as early as I can - and not on the morning wedding day itself. I barely made it. At around 4:15am of the day of the wedding I finally got to our hotel where Rommel and Peaches have been anxiously waiting for me. 

That's just about all the not-so-good things that happened because from then on, it was one of the best wedding experiences we've had ever. Miko and Pats, their family and friends, and the other people who we worked the wedding with we're all fun, pleasant, and awesome. It's one of those things you wish will never end =) 

The preparation and the dinner reception were at the Pousada de Sau Tiago. A super nice boutique hotel where the details are overwhelmingly gorgeous. I got to take home a lot of cool ideas for the Metrophoto brand from this trip =) 

Join us in this unbelievably wonderful through the photos below. Enjoy =)

On our way for Miko's portraits =) Peaches was with us for the shoot. She took good care of some of the details photos and of course assisted our beautiful bride, Pats. Peaches also took these behind-the-scenes shots of me and Rommel at the roof of the hotel =) We worked the wedding with Lourd Ramos, shot here with Pat's sister-in-law Tet =)

Last time I posted photos from a destination e-session trip, it took me three posts just to provide enough focus to showcase all of them. I was planning to do that again for this set from our trip in Coron, Palawan last year for the e-session of Mark and Marilyn. After all, we had three gorgeous mini-sets that are truly awesome and blow-you-off-your-mind different - we shot at Kayangan Lake (above), the Kalawit Island Safari (below), and this beach which I forgot the name. All locations were breathtaking! 

Since I have a pretty long line of posts to put up, I decided that you just enjoy all the photos in one post =) Similar to how we enjoyed this out-of-town shoot with such an adorably funny and nice couple. They are very competitive too - on our way back to Manila, Mare engaged me and Mark to a game where we would name all the countries we know in alphabetical order. After a few hours, and after me zooming in for a huge lead over them, they teamed-up to try and beat me (which was unfair of course!). hahaha. But it was all for fun and I still won so nyenyenynyenye! =) hahaha =) 

Enjoy the photos, it's not everyday you see an e-session in a safari and the animals this up-close. =) 

And before you proceed with the outtakes from this trip at the bottom of the post, please be warned that there are a few photos of half-naked cavemen there. =)

And now for the outtakes =)

This was when I asked Mark and Mare to go far at the center of the lake for that breathtaking shot up in the gallery. Of course it was too much trouble and they needed three men to haul them there so I was telling them it's gonna be worth it (when In fact I could be wrong hahaha). I got lucky ;)

Thanks to this truck, I didn't have to climb up any tree for this shoot ;)

The heat in Kalawit Island that late morning was the hottest I've shot ever...

I had to ask for portable shade or I felt I'll faint.... aside from the smell of Zebra dung. =)

This is Francis, he looks like a boatman here but he is really one of our awesome photographers in Metrophoto. hahaha

If I get a nice shot and I don't fall off, I win immunity! =)

This is me winning the immunity idol! hahaha.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've traveled to the far and bizarre, to the fascinating and stunning. =) I can't wait to share to you guys the latest of my destination adventures so I'm posting a series of destination photoshoots yet again. I'll start with this post from Baguio and then we'll feature Palawan, Macau and of course, India =) So stay locked-up, these are connot-be-missed posts. hahaha =)

Enjoy these photos from Bieny and Tanya's (and their adorable son Igor) wedding in Baguio Country Club. =) We were treated to an awesome December atmosphere that made us want to stay longer. hahaha =) Of course, the beautiful gown is by the Veluz Reyes - see how Tanya and her bridesmaids had a hell of a fun time sewing the gown together. =)

By this time, it's either you had too much of Alex and Jam or you've become a fan that you want some more (yeah, after three straight posts of their e-session photos). hahaha. So allow me to post the photos where everything eventually led to, yes their super high-profile and wonderful wedding =)

Worked this one with Jody Liwanag of Events Experts, who totally executed everything flawlessly despite the huge pressure given the size of the wedding and the people in it =) Also to complement us and make sure more beautiful photos were captured, The Eddie Boy Escudero was also there as part of their wedding team =) 

Jam wore a gown by Rajo Laurel, was dolled-up by Barbie Chan, SDE'd by Mervin Gobaco, made into movie star vampires by Dom of Imacron, and everything was styled and directed by Robert Blancaflor. 

If you think I already mentioned too many names, then fine. I won't say that among the famous people present were Mr. and Mrs. Manny Villar, Lily Monteverde, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Eugenio Lopez, Bongbong Marcos, and yes, not in line but Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera. =)

So go on... get started, so many photos to see =)

Yesterday I posted the photos of Alex and Jam from our engagement session in Shanghai. We now move over to the next two parts of this China E-session series that are both shot in Beijing. 

The Chinese capital, although seemingly as modern as Shanghai, feels eerier and restrictive. I think it's because there are less people that I see on the streets and there are more of the guards wearing green suits with red bands. Of course, these could all be just be perceptions of mine from watching to many TV series and movies. hahaha. 

Put those aside, I did enjoy the time we spent in Beijing. We ate great food (peking duck in Peking! what else?!), we were able to see and shoot around the amazing Bird's Nest and The Water Cube - structures from the recently concluded Beijing Olympics, and was simply blown away by the magnificent great wall of China. 

Today I'm posting shots that we took in Tianamen Square as well as in the Olympic stadiums. =) Enjoy it while you can, tomorrow I'll post the last part of the series with photos from the Great Wall =)

  Behind-the-scenes

The looong wait is over. Last week, Alex and Jam finally tied the knot in spectacular fashion. And that only means one thing - well, it can mean a ton of things but most importantly, that their e-session photos from China now have a go signal for posting =) yay! =) 

Why am I excited? it's hard not to be when I have to cut the entire duration of trip into three blog posts full of awesome photos from Beijing and Shanghai =) 

Let me start off with our set from Shanghai, China. Almost everything was perfect, the food, the weather, our hotel, the only thing that didn't cooperate? The Chinese government. hahaha. They closed-off the entire Bund for construction as they prepare for the expo this year. Boohoo! So what do we do? we take the ferry to still get that breathtaking view of the Shanghai skyline, definitely one of the world's best =) 

Watch out tomorrow for part two of our China e-session series =)

For those of you who just tuned in, I posted yesterday the photos of Karl and Alanna from their engagement session in Cubao Expo and said there that it was awesome (or something like that). I also said that if you liked that previous set, you'd love even more the photos from their wedding. 

And here we are. Aside from treating you to super nice shots throughout the wedding AND portraits unlike any other (isn't that a Sony tagline?) both from Magallenes Church and Greenbelt 5, you will also see the year's best husband-and-wife first kiss when you scroll down to the bottom of the post =) Alanna said it took years of practice, but I know she's just being humble. hahaha =) 

Happy New Year everyone! 2010 will be metrophoto's best year yet ;) You'll be overwhelmed with what we have in store for the year. woohoo!

...and now for the best kiss ;) don't you just get drawn to it? ahuh! ;)