follow my journey

At the very beginning of my career, I was like a sponge trying to soak up as much as I could in terms of skills and style. I wanted to focus on documenting and creating visually interesting images that I liked. I spent a good amount of my college days studying art history, drawing, and painting, and I had a lot of ideas and inspirations. Still new to my craft, I felt like I lacked a clear direction or style of my own. I focused mostly on bettering my skills and working on what I felt was really would give my clients the best experience with all that I could offer.

Before I turned pro in shooting weddings, I photographed a variety of subjects from landscapes, to cars, food, pets - I was practically obsessed with photography. I dropped everything in life outside of work to devote into my new found passion. Most of my old work is still on a platform called Flickr, where I met a lot of other aspiring photographers and artists. The platform also, in the early days of social media, got several of my works published all over the world.The diverse skillset I developed from the different aspects of photography are now the backbone of my repertoire.

One of my favorite photographs I still proudly show off was captured in the middle of the best man's speech. In the middle of the frame is the mother of the groom, who unfortunately passed away before the wedding. Being a family friend every since he's a boy, they've become almost like family. He was seen dedicating the speech to the later father of the groom, and you would see the bride and groom touching their glasses in the foreground, and the widowed mother seen here trying to hold in her emotions. I have captured a total of 3 frames and this felt like this one is the epitome of the very moment. 

I wasn't very sure about the image back then since I had so little experience, but she actually went to the online gallery to purchase several physical prints - giving me the validation that even thou it may be a sad moment, but I'm sure the image means a world to her as it documents how she felt about her late husband. 

I would then spend the next years of my career slowly but surely finding my own unique visual style. At the very core of it, I began to realize I didn't want to capture people as they pose or smile FOR the camera. I wanted to photograph people at their best moments when they're relaxed, being themselves, and smiling because they're genuinely happy and having a great time. Framing those moments is something that I believe would probably take a lifetime to master because it goes well beyond my skills with lighting or the camera, but rather how I interact with people. Whether it is through giving guidance and positive reinforcements, or understanding how people feel in front of the camera, I make sure to adjust myself and my workflow to provide the best client experience possible.

A lot has changed after the pandemic. We had a lot of people moving on to different careers, relocated, or have moved on with their lives taking different paths. We were blessed to have very quickly rebuilt our team and managed to pick up right where we left off back in 2019, far exceeding our goals and managed to maintain the exact same high quality we strive to serve all our clients. We also grew our company and moved up to a bigger office / studio space.

I struggled quite a bit recovering from covid & pneumonia, which eventually would take about 3 years to recover. 

I began to expand my horizon as I continue to build up my experience. I very much enjoy capturing those moments that would make my audience smile. It's become a never ending quest of trying to find the right moment being in the right place having the right equipment pointing at the right spot waiting for that very thing to happen so I can capture it.

My pictures tell stories, they are carefully and meticulously composed. They go beyond simply capturing something beautiful, but there are meanings behind them. They're meant to be viewed and understood to be appreciated. That, is still what I'm working towards even now.I remember this one wedding where the limo driver somehow was a no show, the bride was devastated and struggling to figure out what to do. We stepped in to diffuse the situation and simply asked the bridesmaids to drive themselves and we shuttered the bride and groom to the venue. It's the little things that we do the ensure the day goes smoothly so we capture a happy couple having the best day of their lives.

My journey to perfection never stops.

My work continues to give me joy and satisfaction. It makes me smile every single time I get client feedback like a handwritten thank you card or even a simple thank you email or an online review. 

I never relied on anything else besides my hard work and dedication to speak for myself. Social media to me is just a platform to convey myself, but not an outlet to go viral or garner attention. I continue to thrive on the good faith of my happy clients to help me spread the word. The continual support of my clients make the journey of my career all worthwhile.

2009

2013

2016

2021

2011

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2020

2024

2019

2018

I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to perfect several things - lighting, posing, composition. And at this point after 10 years of experience into photography, I've developed the mentality to always nail the shot in camera and only rely on fixing the images in post production when absolutely necessary. It's later proven to be invaluable in my perpetual quest to perfection. Most of the time, other than my subjects who experienced how I work with them, our post production work is almost never detected. I believe that subtlety goes a long way in how we achieve this very natural, organic look where everybody look like professional models.

At the 15th year of my career, I find myself having a much more defined style. I am still very much trying to polish my skills and continue striving to improve every single day. I no longer take my cameras out leisurely to take as many pictures as I like, but I am finding much joy working with new ways to take pictures - whether it is expanding our studio to photograph young dancers or flying drones to capture aerial pictures and videos. 

I'm also finding much joy in coaching younger photographers as they perfect their craft and find their own style. 

The year 2020 was supposed to be the year I expand the company with big plans in mind. But soon after signing for a new lease to a big space and getting to remodel, we're met with the COVID pandemic. Everything we had in the plans were derailed, and it was very difficult to get through. 

But thanks to all our friends in the industry and the persistence of the team, we managed to not only get by, but we thrived under those difficult circumstances and did the unimaginable. We even hosted 2 weddings inside our very own studio before the lockdown!

today

Before I know it, all the little things I worked on over the years began to really blend. I no longer think hard about composition, lighting, or all the things that I used to have to pay attention to as they had become second nature to me. But then again I didn't want to form habits that would restrict how I shoot. 

One thing doesn't really change thou, is my dedication to taking pictures with one goal in mind - to capture the beauty in things around me regardless of how hard it may be, and to document genuine moments that would make the audience smile and savor those precious moments.