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.

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 =)

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 =)

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! ;)