A garden family portrait is always a great idea for capturing moments of your family members in a more relaxed mood, and there are more angles to play with! The pandemic has just made us realize how time is valuable, and that every opportunity to bond and create new memories should be made. Photos capture such moments and freeze these experiences to look back on years after.
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Just by the corner of Portia’s parental house is a lake with a stunning sunset view and clean air. We headed there for a quick family bonding and to have outdoor family portraits by the lake. I took photos of them hanging out together and being silly, and it’s great to release those hearts of a child – simple, appreciative, and just choosing to be happy.
The fam also headed up to the lighthouse for some portraits and to have a 360 view of the humble village. It was great that they were all up for it!
The photo session ended with a great sunset photo of them and went back to their lolo and lola. 🙂
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Vivienne, our former bride, organized a family photography session last year in time for her Lola’s birthday. It was classic, fun, and sweet as everyone blocked two hours from their busy schedules. The apos most especially had fun posing with their lola. And when lola wore her sequined, red and long gown, everyone was in awe!
Venue: Beyond Concepts Studio
Styling: The clients’ own
Last January, my former couple, Steph and Eugene, (see their engagement photos here)gathered with their families and a few friends to celebrate their twins, Ethan and Serene’s fun story of their baptism and first birthday.
They were dressed as Woody and Jessie from the Toy Story movie.
The fun story started with their blessing and baptism at Christ the King Church, followed by a short family portraits and the birthday gathering at their house. Most of the guests who were not able to attend to follow protocols tuned in to their live preview.
Let babies be babies! So the twins changed in their most comfortable wear to get curious in their playpen!
Steph and Eugene were very thankful for the their families and friends for showing their love and thoughtfulness to Serene and Ethan. Truly, the pandemic shows that people could still stay connected and express their love in creative ways!
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The quarantine won’t stop the kids to be kids, so mommy Sophia (our former bride) setup a backyard play place with a mat for picnic and a portable pool for her children, George and Elise. They ate breakfast on the mat, danced, jumped, and the highlight of the day–swam in their mini pool!
It was a special day as they celebrated George’s fourth birthday and him and Elise’s moving up day from Kinder and Grade 1 accordingly. Elise made a blue greeting card for George with a hand drawn star on the cover, while mommy Sophia gave him a Lego toy.
They even posed as their favorite marvel characters!
Kids remind us the happiness in simple things, thus, the reason why we smile too when we see them enjoying. Let’s make as much memories as we can with them!
Let us look at more of their photos below!
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Mommy Bernice, my friend from college, told me that it was Adam’s wish to have a new sibling.
I asked him to draw his baby brother and oh, what a sight! He drew himself listening to his brother from her mommy’s tummy, and he named him Ben. It’s the most creative drawing of a baby!
His parents, Bernice and Archie, were my friends in college. And Bernice was 8 months at this time, so we did the photoshoot at their house to make it more comfortable for them. It was a maternity and family photo shoot at the same time. 🙂 Lots of good lighting coming inside their house in the morning and it’s a great thing they had a bit of greens outside which was perfect for a family photo. 🙂 They also prepared a peculiar ultrasound photo of Ben touching his nose (hehe!) and some blue balloons for props.
The photo and Adam’s drawing added to the personal feel of the shoot. Our half day was simple, light, and natural, just like the way we wanted 🙂
Keep on staying at home. Keep on smiling and loving, and keep staying safe everyone!
In these trying times, let us remember the memories we had with our families, and continue to make more memories with them in our own homes. As much as we all wish for this pandemic to end soon, it is also showing us, or reminding us how family is very important. Suddenly, the world gave us more time to be with them, to be more caring and selfless. The parents of Matthew, Mike and Lian, both work in a hospital abroad; they are saving lives. May we do our duties as best as we can to stay safe so that we can go out again, play with our kids and enjoy nature, just like what this amazing family did months before the pandemic.
Let us finish the race and keep our faith!
Cheryl’s sister and husband were “balikbayans”, and there’s no better way to bond than go out of town for a short break where they can dine together, play, and have a little sight-seeing. So together with her own family, Bryan and Bryce the baby boy, and with her mother, her sister and her husband, they went for a day trip to Tagaytay to do all these! We started off at Breakfast at Antonio’s, then to Sky Ranch and to Cliffhouse. It was, yet again, a shoot-as-it-happens kind of family portraits. I love it! We all loved it! No pressure, just enjoy, do whatever you like (though I make suggestions of course), and be as you are kind of shoot! The kind gig where I didn’t feel like it’s work, like I was just a friend who happened to be there too, so they invited me. Hehe.
We left Manila very early in the morning to have breakfast at, of course, Breakfast at Antonio’s. Bryce played in the lawn and we did a quick family shoot as we waited for the food to be served. Then we headed to Sky Ranch for some rides! Bryce enjoyed the airplane ride with his dad, and as Bryan got dizzy, it was touching to see Bryce’s concerned look as he put his hand on his dad’s forehead 🙂 Cheryl and her sisters played some kind of shoot-the-bottle, and Bryce caught some crocs and rubber duckies in the mini pond. The family also rode the blue train that went around the vicinity. To cool off the hot weather, we spent the entire afternoon at Cliffhouse for “merienda” and another family photo shoot.
The day was priceless as they shared stories and laughter. A great moment before heading back to the crazy city. 🙂
I love seeing my couples’ families grow! And as an example, I took photos of Paul and Pia’s beautiful garden wedding at San Pablo, Laguna. Now, with their source of joy, Pipay, we headed to their parent’s vacation house at the middle of vast greens! Armed with just their smiles, the shoot was like a weekend of quality time–relaxing and playing with Pipay amidst natural setting– just perfect for a short getaway from work. I love that it was so simple, no setups, no styling (just our natural good tastes 😛 ).
Paul and Pia being bikers, a ride on a bike had to be a part of our shoot, and Pipay enjoyed it!
Day two of the family vacation of Kareen, Lui and Claudia in Bali, Indonesia was full of activities. We went to three places, Tanah Lot Temple, Bali Swing, and in Ubud.
Our day started with a two hour drive from Seminyak where we stayed, to Tanah Lot Temple located further south of Bali. Not a very good time to visit the temple in the morning as it was packed with tourists! But nevertheless, the family enjoyed the view of the temple built on the rock formation on the sea. We weren’t allowed to have a closer look of the temple because the waves at that time was powerful, although seeing it from afar was already enough to amaze us. Kids be kids, and Claudia got entertained with shopping! The area was filled with trinkets and animal toys for sale, and Claudia bought a butterfly-like toy and a wooden duck on a bamboo flute that when blown, it made a duck sound. Lui, Kareen and Claudia also enjoyed the stroll along the gardens going to the other rock formations.
The highlight was the Bali Swing and mind you, this wasn’t an ordinary one you see in parks! This was the kind of swing that would let you go on meters high up in the air, with the forest meters down from your toes! A swing for adults, you can say, and Kareen and Lui (Claudia was not allowed at her age yet) had their share of screams and laughs as they rode it! Claudia stayed with me as I shoot, and she laughed hard seeing her parents. A priceless one! There were also areas for photo ops such as man-made nests where people can sit on. It was totally a place for families.
Our third stop was around Ubud to visit a few temples on the way. We didn’t have much time as we needed to allot travel time to go back to Seminyak. There are numerous temples along the way and picking good ones and stopping for a quick photo shoot wasn’t hard. It was a good way to end the trip, just relaxing and quietly exploring the temples. 🙂
Family vacations usually involve celebrating special occasions–birthdays, anniversaries, passing the board exams, reunions–a good excuse to take a leave from work, relax and enjoy the company, build stronger ties and of course, do as much sight-seeing the time permits. For Lui, Kareen and Claudia’s vacation in Bali, Indonesia, it was to celebrate Lui and Kareen’s wedding anniversary.
For two days, they went to the Bali Zoo, Tanah Lot, Bali Swing, and temple sight-seeing. Most of their activities were dedicated for Claudia, which she enjoyed very much, even though she had a slight fever! Day one was a half day tour at the zoo. It was a first for Claudia, and she was very happy seeing the animals that her laughs echoed! There were a few animals which she got afraid of, but it was easily replaced by excitement and curiosity as she was smiling and pointing at them, even with crocs and snakes!
On the way to the pool, an elephant surprised them. It was beautiful!
Claudia loves maps! She was still looking at it even a day after the zoo trip and reciting the animals she saw.
Their day ended with a quick stop at one of the temples around Ubud, Bali. There were temples in almost every corner, and they chose this one as the relief sculptures were very detailed and awesome. Too bad it was already closed when they arrived, but the exteriors was already a good photo op!
This probably summarizes Claudia’s reactions as she saw various animals! Love them!
NEXT ON THE BLOG: Day 2 (Tanah Lot, Bali Swing and a few more temples!)
The rain became a blessing as Mark and Nella and their kids, Lucas and Matthew, had their portraits inside their house. It was spontaneous, fun and very relaxed as the kids played, watched TV, ate and whatnot during breaks. Lucas was so fond of the balloons that he wanted it close to him all the time, and was giddy every time he let them go! Funny part too was Matthew’s smash-the-cake scene, for he really did smash it hard, turning the cake over and letting it roll! We recapped the setup at their bedroom as it was Matthew’s sleeping time, and Kuya Lucas helping to put her baby brother to sleep was a heart-melting scene! Well, we can all agree nothing feels like home.
Daniel and Angeli were my couple a few years back. They now have Leah, their joy in their lives, a miracle baby, who after so many prayers, held on strong to Angeli. A gift from God, Leah is a smiling baby, loves to clap, and is starting to appreciate the Bible stories with the help of Dan and Angeli.
Venue: Jardin de Miramar, Antipolo
