Making Things Happen

Boy it's been a while since this blog's been used. Reason for that is that there are a lot of changes that have been happening over the course of the past months. I've been juggling 3 jobs + getting photography gigs on the side, which I'm really not too stressed about. I'm blessed to have jobs that don't need me to be present 8 hours a day in a week. So even if I'm literally working everyday, I don't feel overworked at all.

I'm also quite happy to announce that I will finally be moving out of my parents' house and into a cute flat down south. I was going through my posts and saw this entry about apartment hunting and realized it was exactly a year ago when I decided I would put my efforts into finding a new place to live in. I love how events were orchestrated without me having a clue it was actually going to happen! One of the reasons why I wanted to move out aside from the tedious journey from the north to the south everyday, is that I wanted to push myself to work harder and earn more. I don't want to be too comfortable earning X amount of money and feeling content having everything handed to me on a silver platter at home. I want to be able to work for it. And I think at the age of 25, it's about time that I did that.

Speaking of big changes, I'm still contemplating whether or not I should keep this blog or just keep photoblogging. I mean I've been blogging for 9 years now, maybe it's time to change it up a bit and start something new.

This second-half of the year is getting pretty exciting!

Photos and Words 11: Soul of a Journey

I love how life can surprise you. You make a timeline for yourself and your priorities change in a snap! I'm not saying it's a bad thing, these surprises can actually do you some good!

That photo up there is a reminder for me to work towards being 'location-independent' when it comes to work. Meaning, a goal of mine is to be anywhere around the world, and still get some work done. I want to be able to live on the beach for months and still rake in money online. Photography will always be a passion of mine, but there are things that I also want to delve into (which I will reveal very soon) Who says you can only have one passion?

Photos and Words 10: Your Reality

Thanks to some NLP (Neuro-Linguistics Program) training that happened this week, I got to get to know myself better in terms of my personality and how to deal with people who are different from me. It was a good reminder that no matter how different a person is, there are always ways to have healthy conversations with them.

Aside from that, I was also reminded that I'm very blessed to be able to work at a photography studio that allows me to do other personal and professional projects.

When we were asked why we go to work everyday, most people answered, "Because I have to pay the bills/ help my family/ make rent" - these answers were all driven by FEAR. It seems that fear tends to become our drive to do accomplish things nowadays.

As we grow older and realize the many responsibilities adults have, we become more cynical and negative. We lose our childish spirits and just become completely jaded. We think to ourselves, "THIS is reality. If something good happens, it'll just happen. But this is it."

Why can't we be driven by our LOVE for our passions instead? We've forgotten that we choose to create our realities. We choose the jobs we get, the kind of work we do. Everything is a choice.

The facilitator asked us to make a list of what we Love, Hate, Like and Dislike and asked us if what we're doing now allows us to be surrounded by the things we Love and gives us time for the things we Like. I'm pretty happy to say that my job allows me to do exactly that. It also helps me get rid of the negative baggages that I used to carry around.

Destiny doesn't dictate what happens in your life, you do. Now go kick ass and create your own reality! 

Picket Lines

You have no idea how excited I am to tell you that "Picket Lines" (Dialogues Between Eves, Among Eves and For Eves) is now available on iTunes and Store.buqo.ph!

We did this project over a year and a half ago. I was lucky enough to have been invited to shoot more than 25 of 100 women for this book alongside amazing photographers.

This was also the time when I was just starting as a full-time photographer, experimenting on lights and fiddling with different angles, learning along the way. I must admit, looking at the photos now, I know I could have done better. But it's also fun to see the progress I've made!

So awesome being able to work with amazing women!

Here are some of my shots from the book. Be sure to buy your copies!
Proceeds will go to Women's Crisis Center.

Photographer Photographed

I have to be honest, I've never really modeled for a studio shoot before. I'm a tad camera shy (when I'm sober) and I hate posing for the camera. I don't know if that's common among photographers, but I'm really horrible at "projecting".

So here is a very rare moment of me being photographed by Jessie Pastor, a very talented photographer and cinematographer. They needed a 'non-model' model for a small project.

I'd have to be the worst subject ever, but I'm happy he got to make me look good in pictures!