Headshots of David...at last

Finally, I was able to convince David it's time for me to make pictures of him (with a little bribery) and yesterday was D-Day. I just waited for the right time when the afternoon light was soft and diffused. But first, one very important thing that needs to be done is to have some gel on his hair so we can make the look more pleasant. The gel...he hates that a lot, that's why his hairdo is always so 'oriental' looking but he doesn't really care. Typical boys his age. Second, I kind of have to teach him how to smile without making his two front teeth too prominent and it was kind of hard at first since David would just burst out laughing once I point my camera at him. When Missy saw him, she said it was too 'Bugs Bunny'.

I shot in open shade, no flash and just a small white reflector to fill-in the shadows. Actually my favorite way to shoot portraits outdoors. Nothing fancy about the surroundings as I intended to make only headshots and shoot using a very shallow depth of field (thanks to a fast lens) so we just went to the backyard and BAM!

Here are some from the shoot.

So Proud of the Kids

On Tuesday, Ophine and I went to David and Missy's school for the Kindergarten Award Ceremonies. We went to the cafeteria and settled ourselves among probably a hundred parents. They first had a 'slide showing' of photos taken year round that involved the Kindergartners. Among easily 500 photos that was included in the show, Missy was in some maybe 4 or 5.

Then they gave a medal for all the students who had perfect attendance. Well, due to Missy's not so seldom bouts with allergy, cough and colds and fever altogether, obviously she didn't get one. After that, they give a trophy for Character Education Award to the student that exemplify the student with the best 'character' if you know what I mean. There were six sections and six students got a trophy. Missy was somewhat unhappy, she didn't get one. Although we know, she's doing good in school, it's just not meant to be.

After the show, we all went to the kids' respective classrooms for the class awarding. Ms. Hicks, Missy's teacher gave a certificate each to the parents for being a part also of our kids' education. Then she started handing out special awards to each student. Missy got a 'Kitkat' Award for always being there to help the teachers. A real Kitkat chocolate bar went with it.

It was fun as their teacher hands out the awards, from the best comedian to the friendliest and we really admire the teacher's creativity in thinking of these special awards for all the kids. Each student got a treat just like Missy. Here are some photos from the event.

Video clips:










And now today, April 17, it was David's turn for the 2nd graders' Award Ceremony. It was done in their respective classrooms. Last year, David received a medal for being a consistent honor student while in 1st grade. Only 3 kids from their class received medals and one of those is another Filipino, a Filipina girl to be exact.

Well, David is still a consistent honor student so were were expecting he'll get a medal just the same.

The 2nd grade team somewhat varied the awards. Unlike last year, all honor students were given a medal by the principal in a special ceremony. This year, the medal available was for perfect attendance and David was the only one in class who had an unblemished attendance record. Quite unexpected. Then he was also given a trophy just like what the Kindergartners had during their award ceremony. He also received a certificate for being an honor student and another one for being the friendliest and this was based on the votes done in class, then a few more certificates for excellence in Reading, Social Studies and Computers. We were thinking of Science and Math since these were his favorite subjects but the outcome was a little strange but of course it was okay. David is normally a shy kid (outside the house) but we were so happy that he got the trophy and the other awards as well.

Hopefully, David will continue to do well in school. Missy was a little bit envious but she's very happy for his 'kuya'. She is really a very sweet and very unselfish little girl. She'll finish kindergarten very soon and as she gets better in reading, the more it will be likely for her to garner awards like David, that is of course when she becomes more focused in her schoolwork.

David's teacher, Ms. Downey

David receiving his awards.

David with his best friend in school, Ramiro.




With classmates Josh and Eric.

video clips:

David receiving his awards. You can really see how happy he was.

Pros and Cons of a Free Model

From this...





to this...





in just a few minutes.



What can I say? Having an 'on demand' model that is free has it's pros and cons definitely. Obviously aside from small bribes that sometimes work, having your own daughter as your model has it's disadvantages too. I have barely started when just like Florida summer weather, the temperament changed as one can see from the photos above. She only wanted two shots and of course I was more eager to snap more than two. Too much familiarity I guess. If I weren't a photographer and I hired one to do this and my kids start acting up...and I still need to pay up, you can just imagine. Anyway, as the saying goes, "better luck next time".

Filipino Boxers Did Well in the Undercard of the De la Hoya vs. Mayweather Bout

Last Saturday night, May 5 we attended the birthday party of our friends Homer and Chit Freitag's twin daughters' birthday party. After that we continued to watch the HBO-PPV of 'The World Awaits' boxing match between de la Hoya and Mayweather at the MGM Grand of Las Vegas. Forget the main event, if it was not for de la Hoya's more aggressive stance, it was a pretty boring fight. Mayweather may be the pound for pound king, religiously maintaining his unbeaten record by avoiding the real contenders but his style of fighting is completely unexciting compared to Manny Pacquiao. It's time for Manny Pacquiao to take the throne although that's another story and a big question mark especially that's he's running for congressman.

Anyway, among the bouts on PPV, it was 20 year old Filipino boxer Rey 'Boom Boom' Bautista vs. Sergio Medina of Argentina who made the PPV worthwhile. Boom Boom was all heart, despite suffering a knockdown and standing 8-count in round 7, he managed to recover and maintain his aggressiveness. It was after all his toughest fight so far, fighting a 28-0 fighter (but not anymore). At the end, after knocking down Medina twice, he unanimously won the bout.
His record stands at 23-0.



Also in one of the undercards but not on PPV was another Filipino boxer by the name of AJ 'Bazooka' Banal who made the country proud. This was his US debut and according to the news he won convincingly over another tough Mexican by the name of Juan Alberto Rosas in another unanimous victory decision. He's only 18 years old but I've seen some of his fights on youtube.com and he's a very skilled boxer. At the moment, he is 13-0.

These two boxers are the cream of the crop right now of Philippine boxing, still maintaining their unbeaten records and hopefully in the near future will be world champions and keep their belts for a long time. They do deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work.

Greatest NBA Comeback Video

I saw this game on TV a few years back and inadvertently saw it again on youtube. This I believe is the greatest comeback in NBA history, a game between the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets played on Dec. 9, 2004. The video clip starts when the Spurs were ahead by ten points in less than 1 minute of regulation play. Tracy McGrady or T-Mac scored the last 13 points for his team in about 35 seconds. Not even Michael Jordan was able to do something like this. Just incredible! Watch the video and believe.