Last January 28 of 2013, my family experienced our very first photo shoot. It wasn’t just an ordinary photo shoot, it was customized and planned.
This shoot was made possible by a close friend from college, Roc, who sent us a Christmas Voucher for a family photo shoot with one of the best photographers in the Metro. The voucher was inclusive of the pre-shoot consultation, make-over and the photo session (which was worth P2,200 during that time) plus a P1,500 for the products or prints. We’re so glad that Roc chose us to have the voucher. I owe this whole experience to her.
We were quite busy during the Holidays so we decided that we’ll make use of the voucher by January of 2013. I exchanged text messages with the photographer until we decided on the date to meet up for the pre-shoot consultation.
January 18, we finally met Heidi Aquende (a Lasallian) together with her husband Melvene at Starbucks SM Marikina. We easily got comfortable with her and discussed about the themes that we could probably work on during the shoot. We decided to let my friend Roc, who by the way is also a stylist, to come and join us so she could also put our clothes together and make us look…you know good in front of the camera. We’re given about 2 weeks to prepare for it. I started gathering our clothes that would go with the theme. Heidi also suggested that I bring a dress (oh no!) and clothes that would define my body (bigger oh no!).
For two weeks, I started brainstorming on the clothes that we’ll bring for the shoot. Lucas’ was the easiest, he’s got more clothes than I do. I had a difficulty with Brio too, because he’s not the fashionista type as well. He’s all shirt, jeans and rubber shoes. I actually ended up buying some clothes for him. Mine’s the hardest. I got lots of tops more on t-shirts less on blouses. Good thing I previously bought great stuff from a friend who makes a really nice clothing line (NITA).
I communicated our theme and clothes we have to my friend Roc who agreed to style us on the day of the shoot. Thanks again to her great talent, she got these “dream come true” ideas for us. The night before the shoot, Heidi sent me a text message and gave me some reminders of what I need to bring.
The photo session day came. I decided to go to the studio earlier than Brio and Lucas because the little boy is still asleep (he’ll get really grumpy if he doesn’t get the right amount of his sleep and we don’t want that for the shoot). When I arrived at the studio, Roc came in next and she’s with the make-up artist. There I met Cai De Leon (who is also a Lasallian…yey! An Animo shoot day!..haha!). Then Heidi and Melvene followed.
Roc started browsing through the clothes and shoes I brought then Cai started with my make-over. We had chit chats in between and I would say the session started right. Then Brio and Lucas came in and I’m so glad that the little one was in the mood. While I was still being made-up, Heidi started taking photos of him as topless (as I requested).
believe it or not that’s me
Then when I was done, Heidi asked me to change into one of my “body defining” clothes because she wanted to take some solo photos of me. I was really nervous because it is my first time to do a “glamourous” photo shoot (and I’m so glad I did it as it is an item in my bucket list). Roc made me wear her 6-inch size 9 black pumps which made it even more challenging. Heidi gave me tips on how to look 10 pounds thinner in front of the camera without photo editing. Haha!
Then in between my wardrobe change, Heidi took shots of Brio and Lucas as they play around the studio.
We finally got into the “Rock Star” theme wherein we wore band shirts or band artist shirts. I wore a Rolling Stones Magazine cover white shirt with Madonna on it. Brio wore a John Lennon shirt while Lucas’ was an ACDC shirt. This theme actually depicted my love for music and my appreciation of the different genre of the artists we wore created. 
Then one of our most favorite was the “Mickey Mouse” theme. Brio and Lucas wore Mickey Mouse shirts and I wore a Minnie Mouse shirt plus a Minnie Mouse ear head band provided by Heidi. It was so much fun since Lucas is a Mickey fanatic (a character that really makes him smile…even laugh).
Then while waiting for our lunch (care of Jollibee), we continued with the “Haciendero/Haciendera” outdoor theme (we had it in the garden right below the studio). It was really sunny and hot but we pulled off some great photos.
When our delivery came, Lucas gained back some of his energy again. So while he has it, Heidi continued to take photos of us even when we’re having our break.
Lastly, we’ll do our another outdoor shoot together with Brio’s black 1968 Volkswagen Beetle that we also used during our pre-nuptial shoot 4 years ago. We thought of this theme because my husband’s car has so much sentimental value. This is also his passion and depicts our appreciation for vintage. Our favorite color black also came in to the scene. To make this theme work, we drove to one of UP Diliman’s grounds. I really loved the rusty steel sheets in our background.
Lucas was really getting tired at this time. He started to whine and be a normal 2-year old who’s feeling the heat as well. Good thing Heidi still captured great photos.
Then, it was a wrap.
We really had a great time doing this photo shoot. It’s really important that you’re comfortable with the people you are working with. I can’t thank enough the people who made this possible. It’s an experience that we will cherish for a lifetime.
Please check out Portraits by Heidi Aquende if you want to experience this kind of photo session we had and also her blog – Camera Mom.
If you liked my hair and make-up check out Cai de Leon Hair and Make Up Artistry.
And of course, if you need a good stylist I highly recommend my friend Rochelle Rafon.
teachernanay 