Above is Lauren changing shoes--the last piece to her outfit in preparation for our shoot.
Here's a pic of Diane taking various shots of Lauren as JuJu makes adjustments for Lauren.
It wouldn't be a shoot if everyone didn't have fun. While Diane took majority of the pictures, that left me making Lauren laugh to get some real nice natural shots.
Location wise, this was set at Pacifica's Rockaway Beach. Diane and I met at Nick's Restaurant (although i was the only one who ate breakfast haha) Despite it being foggy (actually a photographer's preferred shooting conditions) and windy (which made JuJu work harder) we had a good session.
Here's the group pic (left to right): Diane, JuJu, Lauren, and I before we parted ways.
Thanks again to everyone for a great session!
Tag: Posterous
To start it off, I had a mini "studio" session with Pat and Mel. You can't tell from this picture, but both are wearing his custom shirt that reads "indie" which represents Pat's role as an independent filmaker. There's also a nifty story to the vintage video camera he's holding and it was great to learn how it worked back in the day. Oh the advances we've made!
We headed to San Francisco's Embarcadero where we strolled along the pier. If you read the BTS post on this shoot, they wanted to be pictured with their food loves The Coffee Bean and Tuttimelon.
This shot is from the "scene" Pat had in mind to be photographed in. Basically, Pat and Mel spent a lot of time on the road promoting on the Filipino-American movie The Debut. And when they say long time on the road, it really was a long time driving to different cities promoting the film several years ago. And so for this scene, he wanted to recreate the scene of them in their Honda Civic wearing the shirts and tags driving on the road. I loved how both were really into it despite already going to different locations and dress changes--yes we had wardrobe changes like on a film set! haha
For the last location, Pat wanted to go to the location that is very dear to him. This location in Daly City is where he shot his 1st trilogy when he was a teenager and then also revisited it for a scene in his premiere movie Lumpia that was toured across the nation. While Pat and Mel live in LA currently, both are natives of Daly City and I was glad to use my hometown as well as part of their engagement session.
ADLs: "Music Man"
After my session with Louie and Bern, I had a mini break before heading out to my next engagement shoot with Pat and Mel.
Knowing Pat, he previsualized his very own engagement session and so I was there to help accomplish his vision as well as chime in with my very own direction.
I ain't gonna lie: directing an actual director is daunting haha But remembering Pat and Mel as friends made the whole shoot smooth.
Pictured above is Pat's brother Darriel while Pat gets a really old video camera prepped for the shoot. In the back, Mel is getting ready with make up.
I have Pat and Mel review the pics we shot in their director's chairs before we proceed to the next location.
Before we took our pics at Embarcadero, they wanted to be pictured with their favs Coffee Bean and Tuttimelon frozen yogurt. They were nice enough to grab Nicole and I some too to beat the weather!
Just noticed in the above picture that we all seem to be pointing with some concerned looks haha I believe this is where I'm talking to them and letting them know where we'll head soon afterward.
Where we were pointing at is where we are now.. at one of the piers with the Bay Bridge in the background.
One of the last locations was at Hillside Park in Daly City. This certain location Pat has used couple of times in his featured videos like his 1st trilogy Kid Heroes and Lumpia.
Again showing them a preview of the shots I took to ensure everything's A-ok!
Per tradition, I take a group photo with everyone involved in the shoot: here's a pic with Dar.
And then my assistant and I...
..and as always, the Funny Face pic!
Pictured left to right: Nicole (Assistant), Francis (Video), Ryan (Video), Bern and Louie, myself (Photographer), and cousin of Bern, Ian.
Here's Ryan and I waiting for Bern and Louie to arrive as we also make some final adjustments to our equipment.
During this shoot, we definitely hit two birds with one stone as in between locations, Ryan would interview the couple and answer a few questions about who they are and how they meet for example. Professional audio and video were taken so you can imagine how this scene looked like in such a public [and beautiful] spot.
While it may look like this as I'm photographing them...
It looked like this from afar haha
Francis and I battling it out to get "the shot."
Next spot was taken at a place where they actually met: Jefferson High School in Daly City. Glad that the gates were open despite it being a Sunday.
We took a few shots around the school and was glad that they chose a spot that had special meaning to them both.
While I showed them how they can possibly pose, I joked about the poster that hung right next to me haha
This was one of the last shots I took before calling it wrap. Francis [pictured at left] was taking some BTS video that he and Ryan will incorporate in the couple's love story video.
For old times sake, Bern and I took a photo and reminisced real quick on our years at Thomas R. Pollicita where I got to know Bern from 7th and 8th grade. Good times!
My girlfriend happily walks to the San Francisco Food Festival. After a long day at work for her, she's ready to eat...
...for me, I'm happy to be here where I know I can eat to my heart's content in which I only brought $20.
While the lines were long [averaging about 15-20 min] it was definitely worth it. While you had to be selective, most of our eats were really good.
1st stop was Los Cilantros' corn that has been spread with mayo and then sprinkled with salt and spices.
And yes it was goood. It happened to my girlfriend Cher's favorite.
Quick story: the whole corn is $8 while half of it is only $3. We figure we'd be ok if we just got the smaller corn and when we paid a total of $6, the cashier forget what we ordered and the guy fulfilling the orders just gave us two whole corns. We quietly and quickly...walked away... haha
On to my favorite.. the fried chicken from Aziza! I love their organization: the girl took the orders, wrote your name on a Post-It and then went through them in order.
The primary reason why it was my favorite: just look at that fried spicy goodness!
Here's Cher enjoying [another] corn.
While waiting in line for our fried chicken, I figure a quick sweet bite would be nice and here's Neococoa's bittersweet chocolate truffle brownies.
If I had cold cold milk with this considering it was a nice and sunny day, it would've been so much better.
Cher and I agree: the major flop was these Korean Tacos [and I won't say from where to save some embarrassment if they ever come across this]. I will say they're near the Ferry Building in SF though... First off, it happens to be a "taco" because the seaweed isn't rolled... hmm ok. But worse is when you bite it--you can't! The seaweed is already chewy due to the heated meat meaning this isn't bite-food. The solution? Cher and I stuffed the entire thing in our mouths and then it resembled what it was: a sushi. haha It tasted good, but execution was quite bad.
Now bang for the buck, this wins: $3 Bacon-Wrapped Hotdogs =) from Lucero's Hot Dogs.
That's the base but I added a bit of mayo and some ketchup, mustard, and some jalepeños.
Cher wanted the spice so she added a whole lot of jalepeños!
Lastly, to top off our full stomachs, we got a $5 pint of Cookies and Cream from Three Twins Organic Ice Cream. Delish!
My high school friend Lauren [pictured on the right] was able to make it through and brought along a friend to enjoy the food.
