My First Ever Pre-Nup Photoshoot

Published on April 9, 2018April 9, 2018 by Gurezu25 Comments

Last Thursday, March 14, 2018, our photography club finally pushed through with our biggest practice shoot yet. This is the first time we will be shooting a couple who’s going to marry for reals soon. The location was our office building roofdeck which I already featured in my blog before. Even this is only a practice for our club, I can say that our team is a complete package already. Aside from photographers, we also have videographers who also got drone shots for this shoot.

Without further ado, here are my output.

Camera: Fuji-Xa3

Lens: 35 mm 1.4 Fujinon

Post processing:Lightroom (NoobGFX Creamy Preset Skintone2)

Actually, my most favorite is this silhouette shot.

But of course, I also enjoyed taking “behind the scenes” shots too.

Actually we were a little bit disappointed that the staircase area was restricted for this photoshoot. We were able to climb that last time when we had an ocular visit. My mentor and I had a lot of plans for that already. *SIGH” But still we had a great time shooting our couple because they are so cooperative.

When the sun has already set, the view from the roofdeck was shouting for cityscapes shot but honestly we were too exhausted. But somehow, I gathered some energy left inside to me to snap a few. Mostly are blurred because I was really tired.

UPDATE: Adding the ” Save the Date” video edited by EJ Deliquina. He’s a freelance videographer and video editor. You might want to acquire his services. Just check out his video fortfolio in his Vimeo Channel straightforwardvideo!

And another one! Our photos for this session was converted in to a PHOTOBOOK care of the groom. One of my photos was selected. I’m very happy of course 😉

Ending this post with a picture of me of course. I was not in the mood to have my pictures taken because I looked so haggard already with all the shooting. Good thing the weather has been good. It was not hot or raining. Weather is just in the middle. It was really ideal. Thank God. (Also for cancelling all my meetings that are conflict with our photoshoot schedule. Grabe love na love ako ni God hihi)

How about you? Do you also want to be the next roofdeck models? (Haha!)

photo by: G2Photography (my mentor)

Credits:

Models: Toni Quitiquit and AC Bukalan

A big thanks to TNG Management and Infor Facilities. Thank you also to my co photographers: Sir G2Photography, Meann, Sir Ariel, Sir Jem. Videographers: EJ and Edwin.

Drown in Flowers in Northern Blossom Atok, Benguet

Published on March 8, 2018March 13, 2018 by Gurezu25 Comments

My sister wanted to celebrate her 26th birthday at Baguio. I was not that thrilled because I already toured Baguio years ago. But thanks goodness, while researching something to add in our itinerary, I stumbled in a facebook blog about “Northern Blossom at Atok, Benguet, two hours from Baguio. Finally, it felt like this is the twist I am looking for our Baguio trip. I immediately added this on our second-day itinerary.

*Monday, March 5, 2018, 6:30 am, we went out of our transient home and hailed a taxi going to Dangwa Bus Station. According to the facebook guide, we would ride a bus going to Bontoc or Sagada. We were just in time because the next trip going of the bus was 7:00 am. I told the conductor that our drop-off would be the Municipal Hall of Sayangan Atok, Benguet. The tickets caused P73.00 per person.

* We arrived at around 9:15 am. The municipal looked like this. We entered and asked around how to register as tourist and we were redirected to a tent booth.

*To tell you the truth, there was a slight misunderstanding during the registration. After we signed up in their log-book, we were offered to purchase a day tour that would cost almost P1500.00 for our group. Although the tour is exciting, it would be way beyond our plans and our budget. I made clear that just wanted to visit Northern Blossom and Benguet Kochi Sisterhood Park where there are real Sakura flowers. They said we don’t need a tour if that’s the case. It’s just a walking distance from municipal hall. Someone from the registration guided us on our way.

*Anyway here’s the tour packages they offer. I would love to go back and avail this. When I go to Sagada, I would make this as part of my trip.

* Finally! We arrived at the Northern Blossom main house. We signed up and pay P200.00 per person. I was asked to choose between Area 1 and Area 2. Area 1 has shorter route but most of the flowers were harvested already because of the recent Panagbenga Festival. Area 2 is untouched but way longer. I chose Area 2 without blinking. Who cares if we get tired?

*I must say the photoshoot started inside the registration house already. The wooden interior made us feel instantly relaxed,

*And finally, the flowers! The tour guide actually know the name and some trivia about the flowers by heart whenever we ask. But who would remember the information anyway. The important is to ENJOY THE FLOWERS!

This door is inviting…promising for more breathtaking views!

Along the way, I met this really cute kid who obviously want his pictures taken.

This is the cabbage rose. Not a flower but a vegetable. Actually Northern Blossom is not new to me a anymore. Local tv show “Kapuso Mo Jessica Sojo” already featured this garden because of its Cabbage Roses. But it was shown long time ago so it slipped out of my mind. The facebook blog reminded me just in time.

TWINNING WITH MY SISTER. I purposely bought same style dresses to wear for this trip so we can have our twinning moments in this farm. I am so prepared I am amazed with myself.

AND MORE PICTURES!!!

BACK TO THE REGISTRATION HOUSE …

After the trip to flowers, we returned to the relaxing registration house. We were humbled to meet the owner of Northern Blossom. He toured us inside their transient house. (Yes you can sleep inside the Northern Blossom Farm)! And he even offered us soda and Benguet coffee.

And another bonus! There were two sweet puppies roaming around the house. They are so friendly they lick you when you touch them. I want to bring them home with me. Even when going back to Baguio, I’m still thinking about them. I miss them so much. They are really sweet.

I FEEL SO ATTACKED!

After this, we ate lunch at the Van station going back to Baguio. It was just a walking distance from Northern Blossom. Just look for Marosan’s Restaurant. The trip going back to Baguio costs P100.00 per person.

Sadly, we did not push through of going to another flower farm which has authentic Sakura due to our mother and her friend were so exhausted already. It was also really hot that time. If you are going to visit, better to ride a bus at around 4am going here. And besides, the locals said that Sakura are not in full bloom yet. I’ll promise I’ll go back in Atok Benguet. Even our bus ride became so enjoyable because of all the breathtaking views of the mountains and rice terraces. I’ll definitely go back to see what Atok, Benguet has to offer. Hopefully the cherry blossoms are already in full bloom that time.

Ending this blog with my most favorite picture, “the hills are alive with sound of music”. It makes sense since my name is Mary which is also Maria.

Hope you enjoy my photo overload post. How about you? What beautiful place have you discovered recently?

Summary

Northern Blossom can be a nice side trip when you are in Baguio or you are on your way to Sagada. Entrance Fee is only P200.00.

From Manila: Victory Liner bus-P455.00, Joy Executive Bus P730.00.

Dangwa Station to Sayangan Municipal Hall Bus. P73.00
Tourist Registration at Municipal Hall
Northern Blossom. P200.00 Entrance Fee.
Van going back to Baguio in front of Marosan Restaurant, P100.00 each.

To contact Northern Blossom, here’s the calling card.

OOTD and Why Do We Love High Places?

Published on March 3, 2018March 22, 2018 by Gurezu27 Comments

Except for those who have fear of heights, majority loves high places. We love to climb mountains to reach the summits. We want the view from the rooftop, the high floors of the building and cityscapes. Humans dream to fly lead to invention of airplanes. There’s always an exhilaring feeling of reaching the top. To touch the clouds.

Such thoughts came to me when I went to the roofdeck of our office building last Thursday.We went there with my manager and photography mentor because we were planning to have our IPC (Infor Photography Club) activity here next time. For now, we went there to have an ocular inspection of the place so we can plan our shots ahead of time.

I was mesmerized the moment I stepped in and thought my outfit was perfect for quick “Outfit of the Day shoot”. I was wearing a plaid skirt which I bought from ukay-ukay and cream top which I bought in an instagram kawaii shop ‘x.chloescloset.c’.

I realized I have been reaching summits after summits this month. Three mountains and our building so far. In next few days, I’ll have a trip to the highest point of the Philippines. And i’m so excited for another great view my eyes will be witnessing. And of course with my travel buddy, my cameras.

But going back to the question, I have pondered hard to answer. I think my answer would be, humans just fancies perspectives they don’t usually see. We are land dwellers and the views from the top requires effort and resources. I’m pretty sure if the roofdeck is accessible for anyone in a snap of finger, people wouldn’t be as thrilled. If we have wings, people won’t have dreams of flying. People won’t bother climb a mountain anymore. Seeing things from above won’t feel as magical anymore. We humans actually fancies things we can’t easily get. Things that needs hardwork to achieve in all aspect of life. Summits included.

How about you? What silly questions you have pondered for a while?

Photo credits:

Gerard Dangca using Samsung Galaxy 8

Photos processed in Lightroom with ‘Orange and Teal’ preset.

Why My Lazy Ass Went Mountain Climbing Again (Cayabu + Maynoba Trail)

Published on March 1, 2018March 2, 2018 by Gurezu14 Comments

Who would have thought that a person like me who doesn’t fancy strenuous activities and too much sun exposure (ayoko umitim!) would go mountain climbing not only once but twice in just one month? I am still in shock myself. To be honest, I still feel that mountain climbing is a torture. I thought that since this is my second climb of the month, everything would be easier for me. I was wrong. It feels like I am still a Mountain Climbing virgin. I don’t feel my pacing improved at all. And I still rest for like every 3 minutes. I swear. I feel like a weakling.

But still, the question is why I succumb myself in excruciating pain? I should have been soundly sleeping on a Friday Night. So ladies and gents, these are the reasons why I went on.

FIRST REASON: Gusto ko lang mag picture-picture. In Search of Great Moments To Capture with My Camera. Now this might be a superficial reason to you but my strongest driving reason is photography. I just want to take pictures. And I know, there’s a bountiful of beautiful subjects in mountains. Not only because of nature but the people who ascend with me. I want to capture the hardship, exhaustion the joy of the people around me. It might be a shallow reason but guess what, it pushed me to my limits and brought me to the top of three mountains this month.

Here are my favorites from my camera so far.

2ND REASON. I want to have epic pictures of myself creating epic memories. I want to deviate from the usual selfies and ootd’s. I want to have pictures of me doing what I thought is beyond me. Me doing the uncomfortable. Me doing something new. Me meeting new people. Me going to unfamiliar places.

Photos by: JP Duro

Photo by: Manong Baby

Photo by: Serniel Barbosa

SPECIAL THANKS to my co-photographers. Bilang ganti, may pictures din kayo sa akin.

At pari rin si tour guide na dinala na gamit ko, naging instant photographer din. Thank you Manong Baby! (Yun talaga name niya haha)

THIRD REASON: MEET NEW FRIENDS!

This is a company organized event. There were 97 participants. Although they are my officemates, I haven’t seen or talked to most of them until this event. Some of them also, I already talked by Skype meetings quite a few times but haven’t know their faces until now too. Ilang beses akong “Ay putek, ikaw pala iyong nakasama kong mag troubleshoot ng blah blah blah hahahaha” . In digital times, even important meetings can be done thru internet. Thanks goodness for this event, we had the chance to actually meet and interact personally. And have fun together.

My Hiking Group: Group Three. May nagpahiram ng gloves, namigay ng pagkain, nagsiwalat ng hugot quotes, at higit sa lahat, naghintay sa kabagalan ko. But they turned that into a joke. When I finally catch up with them, they would say “Ayan na ang Alpha natin”. Sarcasm overload. Tawa ako ng tawa. Thank you guys!

Photo below: Serniel Barbosa

After the climb, we finally shared the proceeds of this climb thru an outreach program. We gave school supplies and groceries to the locals living with the mountain. and that would be the FOURTH REASON why I joined this event. And has a big part of why I decided to climb again.

Photo below: JP Duro

As much as I want to write a full review of my climb, I think this post is long enough already. WordPress is loading so slowly now maybe because of too much photo overload. I think I should save that for another blog post.

And that’s my reasons ladies and gents. How about you? Do you have something you don’t actually like doing but do it anyway? What keeps you going?

CREDITS:

SPECIAL THANK TO My Co-Protographers

Serniel Barbosa

JP Duro

Manong Baby

First Solo Gig and How Lightroom App Saved The Day

Published on February 18, 2018February 18, 2018 by Gurezu4 Comments

Day 12 of 30-Day Blogging Challenge.Today marks the first day I went to a photography gig solo. You know, without my mentor with me which is my comfort when I panic. But to tell you the truth, I’m not that pressured because it was my best friend who hired me. She understands that I’m still an amateur. But still I did my best to post-process and send the photos the same day of the event. And I did it! I haven’t done that with our photoshoots before. It took me at least three days to process our photoshoot haha! But of course, this time is different. This is a serious business. I must deliver!

This is a baptismal event. I won’t be sharing much of it. But I just want to exclaimed how wonderful Lightroom is! To tell you the truth, this is the first time I used it in post-processing. I only used VSCO and Snapseed before. Alhough they are wonderful app, they are pretty limited specially when it comes to processing multiple photos at once. I already tinkered Lighroom before but decided to watch a 15-minute youtube video maximizing the basic tools this time. And oh boy?! WHY DIDN’T I DO THIS BEFORE?!!!! JUST why?!!! It would have made my life easier since million years ago.

Anyway, I’ll be featuring two photos I edited earlier. I usually salvage too underexposed photos. But I just couldn’t throw away these two photos because for me, these are good moments. I was just not that the quick enough to adjust my settings to capture them. That’s the hardest thing about shooting events. You have to be ready and quick because more often than not, you don’t have the chance to re-do a moment.

Photo 1. These two kids just arrived and it looks like they missed their Tita so much. They hugged and kissed her. I was there but oooopsss.

It was too dark!

Good thing there was Lightroom. Yey!

Photo #2. After eating lunch, the father wants to have a photo again wih his son. But baby was not looking at the camera. Until …

Why too dark? This side of the room had sudden outpour of people standing. The light condition changed at a snap!

But Lightroom is here!!! YEY!

I know I got a long way to go when it comes editing and photography itself. But I’m happy that I was able to save these photos.

I’m looking forward in improving my workflow. I have many backlogs.

How about you? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve those photos? What is your favorite photo editing tool of all?

“Night Fairies” Photoshoot Series

Published on February 8, 2018February 10, 2018 by Gurezu18 Comments

Fairylights became a trend last year because the viral series of photos by Brandon Woelfel. Basically its just like a Christmas light but lighter and safer since it uses LED. So as part of our Infor Photography Club practice, we decided to have night fairies shoot. We did not imitate Brandon Woelfel’s editing style though. We had three models for this photoshoot series. Actually it should be only one session but it became three due to popular demand. My models are my friends and new officemates although they belong in different department. Like before, our photoshoot was just held in our office. And if you are interested to try this,I bought the Fairy Lights online at Copper Lights PH.

Not only I became a photographer but also became a stylist. I conceptualized the dress and props to use. I also lent my own white dress that I rarely use. This is really one of the most fun photoshoot we had last year. And I think my output was great base on the feedbacks I received.

My camera was Fuji XA3 and I just used kitlens (16-50mm) for most of the following pictures. Although sometimes, my mentor let me borrow his prime lens.

Before anything else, this photoshoot series is a collaboration with my Infor Photography Club Mentor Gerard Dangca of @g2photography. My photos would be series of darkness and vagueness if not because of this guidance.

HASMINE

Make-up: @judylovesthis

Processed with VSCO with hb2 preset

SOME BEHIND THE SCENE PHOTOS…

By the way, this dress is mine and I bought it in Zalora like a year ago. I didn’t have the chance to wear again. Luckoy me because it was perfect for this shoot.

Outfit For Today: White Lacy Dress from Zalora. #Zalora #WhiteLacyDress #klubkeluarga #ootd #summerdress #outfitoftheday #WhiteDress #Beach #CatchingUpForTheSummer #SummerGetaway

A post shared by Gurezu.com (@gurezu) on Jun 10, 2016 at 7:25am PDT

INNAH

We only had few pictures of fairy lights for this one because we did a light painting session which is more tedious. But that deserves another blog post.

SARAH

For the previous shoots, we used warm fairy light. So for this time, we decided to use the cold type of fairy light. It was harder to work with because the light it emits is so unflattering and too harsh for the skin. On top of that, the location we used to shoot is unavailable and we have to use a very enclosed room. But we still proceeded anyway and took it as a challenge.

But of course, I won’t let this photoshoot series to pass by without having my own photos. Hahahaha! Ako pa ba?!

GUREZU

Photo credits: @g2photography

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy the photos. How about you, do you want to be my next fairy light model?

Day 10 of 30-Day Blogging Challenge.

OOTD: Student Vibe Outfit

Published on February 2, 2018February 6, 2018 by Gurezu7 Comments

It’s 1:43 am and actually too late for my Day 6 of 30-Day Blogging Challenge. I was so busy. At the moment, I am with my fellow TFIOB bloggers and we are on our way to Batangas for our first climb together. I still have no sleep. But I will carry on and finish a blog no matter what to win my challenge.

Yesterday, we had a photowalk shoot around BGC. This is the first outdoor shoot for our club. So I purposedly dressed up because I also want to have new pictures of myself. To have a new profile pic. To have a new banner for my blog. I have serious reasons.

So for today, I present to you a student vibe get-up. The highlight of this look is the tennis skirt I bought at ig:@bohochic. I love tennis skirts because it is youthful and playful looking. Probably because its like a student uniform. Haha!

Paired up with statement shirt and sneakers, the student vibe is now complete.

My mentor took this photos with a 56mm prime lens. Also today, I decided I’ll buy 35mm prime lens because I really love portraits. My mentor recommended this lens since it fits my budget and can do the sharpness and bokehlicious pics too just like his lens.

Well I think that’s all for today. I need to sneak time for sleep while we are still traveling. I’ll do a full blog about our photoshoot some other time.

Thank you for reading. SEE YOU TOMORROW!!

Photo Credit: Gerard Dangca of g2photography

Our Mini-Photoshoot in the Office with the Theme “Black”

Published on January 27, 2018January 2, 2020 by Gurezu25 Comments

I am officially blogging about my photography journey. Let me vent out some feelings a little bit. I’m actually feeling frustrated and anxious right now. Apart from the feeling that I feel like I’m starting again in blogging world, I haven’t reach a level of confidence that I wanted when it comes to photography. I overthink and at the end, I don’t start and finish anything. I argue myself these past few days. What matters is I love to write and take pictures right? After a lot of self-negotiation, I’m finally throwing any emotional baggage at the moment and decided to blog about our first photoshoot of the year . #WriteAndShoot2018, here we go.

Last year I transferred to another company and eventually joined their photography club. Almost every week, we organize a photoshoot to hone our skills. We do our shoots inside the office since our models are also from the company and we are just borrowing their time. For this year, we are starting our photoshoot series with the theme “BLACK” inspired by the Korean series with the same name. Actually our model proposed this concept herself. And that’s good because I won’t have to overthink on the concept.

Before photoshoot, we prepare what we call a “mood board”. Actually it’s just a collection of pictures from the internet which fits the mood of our theme. It serves as

1. inspiration for the photographers

2 idea for the models to know what kind of expression they would exude for the photoshoots.

Imitation is an effective learning style. So at first we look at these photos to learn how those effects were made. Apart from that, we play a sort of playlist in a background for added atmosphere related to our theme. It also helps our models feel homey and at ease. For this photoshoot, we just played the theme song of the korean series BLACK. To tell you the truth, we got this photoshoot workflow from the free seminars we attended in Camerahaus. Actual photoshoots were really like this. Let’s copy from the experts haha!

(Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

We were five in this session. Or beautiful model, Hasz. Our mentor which is also my manager, Sir Ge. EJ, Dan and yours truly as photography proteges, char!

(Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

Behind the Scenes Photos featuring my behind hehe. (Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

For some reason, this photo looks funny to me. I just can’t look at it without silently laughing bwahahahahahahahaha! (Photo credits: Dan Olarte)

So here are my output for this session. A mix of edited and unedited pics. And some technical notes I could remember.

Would You Trust my Eyes?

Just a short note. My godox flash was set in manual master mode channel 8. It served as a trigger for the honeycomb flash located beside the model.

WARM MEMORIES

Achieving Warm Tone. Just a short note, I set my camera in high Kelvin values for this but for some reason it didn’t work. My mentor Sig Ge set the RGB adding red levels.

“Goodbye Darkness”

There were sorrow and regrets beside you.
But there’s also rest
And a lot of time to reflect
Only with you I can see the light
And I’m seeing it bright now
Before I say my farewell
You must know there’s a joy within you too
Goodbye darkness

And guess what, EJ which is actually a videographer suprised us with a BTS video of our shoot. I was really amazed with his editing skills.

BTS | Hasmine | All about BLACK from straightforwardvideo on Vimeo.

That wraps our first photoshoot session for this year. This also marks day 1 of my 30 days blogging challenge. Yes, I’ll be posting everyday for 30 days! I was inspired by another wordpress blogger boredsensei whom I also met in recent blogger meet-up. She is an English teacher in Japan. As of now, she’s already in her Day 12 already. I love how she chronicles her daily life in Japan because it is very informative. It has been my dream to go to Japan because I was into anime’ before. I even studied basic Japanese. Reading her blog makes me feel I’m getting myself ready for my own visit soon. LAW OF ATTRACTION PLEASE!!!!

Ending my blog with my photos of the session taken by my co-photographers.