ES-Sense Photography & Videography Journal

NEW BLOG!

2008-10-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Our new blog is up at:

SEE YOU THERE!

Coming Soon! :-D

2008-10-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's coming soon!!!! I'm reallllly realllllllllly realllllllllllllllllllly excited! Ryan has been working on a new design for our blog which means photos posted on my blog will be bigger than what I am able to post now! Ryan has been working on the blog design for the past week now, sleeping past 12:30 am... Sometimes I really have to pull him away from working on it so that we can both get some sleep... (I can't sleep well when I know he's working late at night...)

At first I looked at having someone else design it for us... but Ryan was determined to do it himself :-D. This is what I mean when I say, Ryan is my EVERYTHING :-D. He is my IT guy, my video editor, my blog site developer, my website creator, my 2nd photographer, my music composer, my music arranger, my solist, my pianist, my music tutor, my best friend, and most of all my husband… I would be lost without him and life would be a big blah... Hopefully, the next time I need to post on the blog, it'll be on the new one!

THANK YOU RYAN! ILYMYSM! ;-D

Passionately Pink - Sarah Lynn

2008-10-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail today from a friend and INC sister, Sarah Lynn. It was to help support her cause to find a cure for breast cancer. I know so many friends, relatives, loved ones who have gone through fighting all sorts of cancers, so it wasn't hard at all for me to decide that I wanted to help out somehow.. I thought it would be a good idea to post this blog up.

She is celebrating her birthday on October 22, 2008 as well as donating to a worthy cause at the Pat & Oscars Restaurant in Carmel Mountain Ranch in San Diego, CA. Just by wearing pink and having dinner with your friends or your family that night at the restaurant, you'll be making a difference in the lives of millions.

If you aren't able to attend but you'd like to help, you can contribute online. In return for your contribution, you'll get a pink ribbon pin and the satisfaction of helping to move us closer to a world free of breast cancer.

Please contact Sarah Lynn if you have any questions. To view her personal website for this cause, please click on the website below.

Steve & Lauralee's Wedding Slideshow

2008-10-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a REALLY crazy past two months, not just for me, but my family too so my blogging is lagging... But Ryan and I managed to get a slideshow done!!! WOOHOO!

We met Steve and Lauralee one Friday night at their home in Cypress. Lauralee had found my website, contacted me. A week after meeting with them, Lauralee and Steve informed us that they wanted to hire us to cover their wedding not just photography but videography as well!

Ryan and I were SO excited to have gotten this opportunity from Steve and Lauralee! We started as complete strangers to them, but now they have become really awesome people who Ryan and I consider as friends! They not only flew us to Seattle for their engagement shoot, but Ryan and I met both sides of their families and that's very special!

Steve and Lauralee: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!! I miss the moments Ryan and I had shared with you both and I hope we'll get to see you both again after all our work is done with your wedding photos/video.

Without further delay, please click on their photo below to start a slideshow of just SOME of their photos.

Christian Family Organization Night

2008-10-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd Annual CFO Night was awesome! For those of you who took photos at the HOLLYWOOD backdrop, please check the locale Buklod Bulletin board and email me your request for your photo. Unfortunately, I do not have the photos from the CFO NIGHT backdrop. However, when I get those files, I'll be sure to let you know.

Here are photos of me and my family at CFO Night... in Long Beach.. Long Beach... Long Beach ;)

Just us..

2008-10-02T00:19:00.001-07:00

The last wedding we worked on had a rented a photo booth. The kind where you take funny photos and wait a couple of minutes to get a printed copy of your shots. Here are a couple of photos of me, Ryan, my brother and cousin. They help me out so much with weddings and events, I wouldn't know what to do without them. Just a little thank you to them for all their support! I owe you guys dinner one of these days... maybe after our upcoming CFO Night. You guys are THE GREATEST! I enjoy working with you a lot and I hope we'll get to work together more this coming year.

I'll be posting up pictures of Lauralee and Steve's wedding before the end of the week! After a crazy busy 3 weeks, I just needed a couple of days...to stop and take a breather...

Ryan and I taking another opportunity to be photographed!

Happy Birthday Johnson!

2008-09-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Siblings: L-R: Ryan, me, Johnson, Janice and Jordan (Missing In Action = Benson)

My brother Johnson celebrated his birthday today, Sept 29th working on the Area 3 movie poster for the upcoming CFO Night. It took him 5 hours to complete because he was using such an old laptop. The laptop was a hand-me-down... it came from me when Ryan arrived from PI bringing along with him a faster computer.

Today, Ryan and I decided to buy him the computer he's been hoping for. After work, we drove down to Best Buys in Downey, CA and got him a computer, a flat screen monitor, and a printer. We drove home and left it in front of his bedroom door. I told mom, papa, and jordan not to say anything to him because I wanted it to be a surprise :-D We were all going to the Area 3 taping that Johnson would be directing and editing.

During the taping, Johnson was working hard as director. Afterwards, he planned to go home and rest because his feet were hurting and he was tired. I kept agreeing that he should so he can ;). When he got home and saw the new computer, his sleepiness went away and so did his weariness... He's at his room getting his computer all set up. I guess you can say that he loves his birthday gift :-D

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Johnson. You're a cool brother..... irritating at times... but you're cool. You better enjoy the compliment, because you know me, I'm not good at giving them to you. I know I'm hard on you at times, but know it's for your own good. I know you'll be successful in life so you need to believe in yourself and most of all our Almighty God.

Seriously, you have so much talent... sometimes I think you don't know what to focus on because you have so much talent! But stay focus and you can accomplish anything you want. I'm thankful to have you as a brother and I hope and pray that your wishes in life come true as long as it is not against God's will. Keep active always in the faith because you know that it is the only treasure, the only true wealth we have on earth. ALWAYS, ALWAYS believe in what God can do for you... He is the only reason why we are still alive... and like what your Kuya Ryan told me... EVERY SINGLE BREATH is a GIFT from GOD.

Happy Birthday again! Oh and I need you to finish editing the video in a month please! ;-D

Love Ate Joan and Kuya Ryan

Dawson Family Photoshoot

2008-09-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Karen had emailed me a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to get family photos taken as a birthday gift to themselves since she, her husband and daughter have birthdays in September. We decided to take photos at Seal Beach, CA because it was one of the closest beach around and a favorite weekend beach location of the family.

We met at a party the day before the photo shoot because she knows Kuya Richard. Her family is so nice! Her daughter is sooooo cute and I love her personality. Everything seemed to amuse her from running around on the beach with her parents, finding a big chunk of seaweed and then throwing parts of it back into the ocean, to playing with her toys creating sea creatures with sand and then balancing on the railroad tracks. I'll never see tire tracks on sand the same ever again. She called them "WAFFLE PATTERNS" on the sand. I enjoyed photographing them and I hope they enjoy the slideshow and the photos.

Special big THANK YOU to Kuya Richard for the referral! ;-D I appreciate it A LOT kuya!

Please click on the photo to get the slideshow started.

We'll Miss You Ka Romy!

2008-09-28T08:27:00.001-07:00

(photo taken during the Santos-Balbuena wedding)

Yesterday, we received sad news again about Bro Romy Flores passing away. He was a pioneering INC member not just for Long Beach locale, but the district of Southern California. On the way home from the wedding yesterday we had worked in Irvine, Ryan and I were talking about our memories with Bro Romy.

Ryan said that Bro Romy was the one who admonished him to come early during our Buklod Meetings in order to have enough time to prepare and play the organ. From then on, Ryan was never late... There was a way Bro Romy would speak to the brethren when he would give advice. He did so in a gentle way that made you understand it was for the better and I will miss that about him.

CFO Night this year was planned because he had requested it to happen. Who could say no to his request? Although it was a tough job planning for the previous CFO Night and we didn't want to do another one until 2010, he requested it in a way that made us realize that we needed to have the program not to give us another tough job to prepare for, but it was for the brethren and their edification.

During an appreciation night for the elders of our locale, Ryan and I were about to sing a song we wrote called, "We Will Carry On". Ryan made a short introduction and said something like, the song was dedicated for the elders in the church who are still strong in their faith despite their age and years being members in the church. He continued saying that the song we were to sing was dedicated to them. Bro Romy was sitting in the front and after Ryan said that they are our inspiration, Bro Romy said, "Thank you po". -- Ryan and I are the ones who are thankful...

We thank God for giving us the chance to know Bro Romy. He is an inspiration and will forever be one for as long as we live...

Jewel and Micah Wedding Video Summary

2008-09-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

Kudos to Johnson and Gerard for being the videographers for this wedding. Gerard completed editing the video for Ka Jewel and Micah this evening! He did an awesome job editing! To view video, please click on the image below. Please be patient while video loads. It's worth it! :-D . For slower connections, please visit: http://www.vimeo.com/1806556 for the low res version.

Happy Birthday Jodick!

2008-09-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

My cousin Jodick celebrated his 27th birthday on Sunday, so a group of us Endique cousins decided to eat out at Shin Sen Gumi to get some Ramen. I'm really not a soup person, but the Ramen is really good! On the way to the restaurant, Ryan, Johnson, Jordan, ate Virmz and I passed by Baskin Robbins and got a birthday cake and candles for him. Good thing they were still open! It was really fun hanging out with the cousins again. It's been awhile and I miss them. HOpefully we'll get to plan a cousin trip again soon. Maybe to AZ. Last night, they were talking about camping again... maybe next year... we'll see... probably a different place than Mammoth this time... but we'll see...

Anyways, I wanted to greet Jodick a happy birthday!!! You're still my most favorite Math Tutor ever! May all your prayers come true and may you have success in the years to come!

Who's Engaged!?

2008-09-20T22:38:00.001-07:00

HE'S ENGAGED!?

I had heard through the grapevine that Kuya Richard De Castro got engaged but I didn't believe until I got an evite to an engagement party from him...It was hard to believe because Kuya Richard is always kidding around! Sometimes I don't know if he's telling the truth! So when I finally met his bride to be, it hit me! HE'S ENGAGED!!

L-R: Me, Mimi, Kuya Rich, Ate Yolleta, and Karen

Mimi and Kuya Rich are wonderful together! They met through a friend he had visited in North Carolina. I was asking Mimi so many questions, that I started to feel bad because it was as if I was giving her a job interview... Sorry Mimi! I just wanted to know all the details... how they met, how he proposed, when the wedding would be, where the wedding would be, the color theme for their wedding... but she was sooooo nice and answered all my questions...

I found out that Kuya Rich had set it up to propose to her during her birthday. He gathered friends and coworkers to meet at her parents house. When Kuya Rich and Mimi arrived to her parents house, she thought it was some sort of surprise birthday party. When they started singing the happy birthday song, he brought out a cake for her. However instead of the cake having the usual Happy Birthday greeting, it read, Will You Marry Me? It was sweeeet! ;)

This evening while we were watching the video, Kuya Mel and Ate Leni were asking Mimi to come over to the kitchen. There was another cake! Mimi came out of the kitchen and she started to sing Happy Birthday... she brought the cake out to Kuya Rich.

The delicious cake from Kuya Mel and Ate Leni

They are so cute together!!!

You two are so right together! Congratulations! I can't wait till your wedding day!

Welcome To The World Little One!!

2008-09-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Myke and Vanessa! Maia Angeli Caasi was born on August 23, 2008. She is so adorable! Every time I see her, I just want to eat her up! She's so tiny and did I mention adorable!?

Myke and Van: You two are going to be awesome parents! We're so happy for you both!

Maia: Welcome to the world! I pray you grow up to be an active member of the church! When you grow up and happen to read this post, I hope you see how much your mom and dad loves you through the photos you will see below... oh and don't forget your aunties and uncles as well who were so excited to meet you! ;D

Here are some photos taken a day after she was born.

Poem Time: The Reason We Endure

2008-09-19T17:12:00.001-07:00

I haven't written a poem in such a long time. I think the last time I wrote one was about 6 years ago.. I've written lyrics to songs with Ryan adding the magical effect with his music... and I guess that may count as poetry.. but it seems like it's been so long since I've sat down and have written poetry about my day to day life experiences...the kind without music attached.. ;-D

I've decided to write at least a poem ONCE a month... hopefully it'll help me get back into what I've enjoyed since my elementary years...

"The Reason We Endure" poem was written in the year 1998. I remember writing it at work when I used to work in Aerol Co., Inc. For some reason, I had the urge to pick up a pen and paper.. I just started to write... like I couldn't stop. Every word I wrote kept flowing freely like I had a purpose in writing it. It took about an hour to complete but hopefully it'll last for years to come for everyone to enjoy!

So I hope whoever reads this poem enjoys it and will find some inspiration and strength from it.

The Reason We Endure

Are you seeking for happiness

In a world that's full of pain?

In this place so many trials,

Hardships, sorrows still remain.

For every day that passes,

Your tears so easy to shed

For worries and troubles of this world

Are what's inside your head.

At times you even think

Of giving up this difficult race

Since sadness is always there

Right in front of your weary face.

Then you wonder how

You are able to endure.

You wonder what it is

That makes your life so sure.

You close your weary eyes

In prayer to God above

And there you feel his presence

As He embraces you with love.

A love that's everlasting

A comfort so secure

Now you've found the reason

Why you are able to endure.

In your heart you hear Him saying

"I will never leave your side.

I will give you strength that you will need,

For you are my loving child.

There's no reason to be frightened.

Why from Me should you ever hide?

I will always help you.

I will always be your guide."

Do you still seek for happiness?

Look real hard and you will find

It will truly be found only in

Our Father who is kind.

His love is everlasting.

His comfort is secure.

He is the only reason

Why we are able to endure.

Updated Blog - Free 2009 Mini-Calendars ALL GONE

2008-09-18T11:03:00.001-07:00

Regarding my blog below... - CALENDARS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.. It's been reserved for the first 40 who responded.

Thank you and sorry if you didn't get one. :( Next year again :-D

------

I'm giving away 40 of these 2009 Calendars! They usually retail for more than $7 at stores! First 40 people to email me at joan.solitario@es-sense.com will get it.

It's cool because it's small enough to carry around, it has a pen with it that can be tucked into the back of the calendar, and there's lots of room to write your appointments. Let me know if you're interested in getting one!

One per person only! If someone you know is interested, please have them also email me. It won't be fair for others if I save 2 or more for anyone since it is first come first serve basis.

Please e-mail me your name and address in case I need to send it to you.

Perfecto Family Photo Shoot

2008-09-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

The day Ryan and I were suppose to return to Long Beach, CA from New York City, I received a text from my friend Apple. She asked if I could take their family portraits because relatives from Canada were visiting. Who am I to say no?? Of course I would love to take their family photos!

I remember during my sister's wedding, the girls in the family practiced the songs the band were to play during my sisters wedding reception. The night before the wedding, they went to the hotel late at night, set up their instruments (drums, guitars, keyboard, mics, etc..) with kuya Rouel and were making sure the sound system sounded just right! They stayed their pretty late practicing their numbers. They are soooo awesome and so very talented! I am forever grateful to them for helping out Janice and Benson on their special day.

It was an honor to have been asked to take their photos! They were one of my first clients when I started this photography business taking photos of the Grand Opening of their dental office and until now, they continue to support me :-D. So I would just like to thank them and let them know that I appreciate their faith in me.

I hope you enjoy this slide show po. Please click on the photo below.

Driving behind me...

2008-09-15T17:58:00.001-07:00

I just needed to blog this to remember how Ryan shows his sweetness to me. First of all, although the things he would say makes me roll my eyes because of corniness, I have to admit that it does make me smile and laugh in the outside and makes my heart happy as well..

On the way home from work last week, I decided to drive. Not sure what day it was, but its really rare that I drive home from work. Ryan usually does all the driving while I get to rest and nap from a long day at work... So while I was driving, I kept encountering drivers who just wouldn't let me get through the next lane.. some would speed up, or other cars from the other lanes would change to the lane that I needed to be on without signaling so of course if I was not the careful driver, they would have hit me!=P (Note To All: ALWAYS LOOK BEFORE CHANGING LANES - ALWAYS SIGNAL)

I was getting really frustrated with those drivers and so I started to vent out to Ryan... After venting out and a couple of minutes of silence, he says to me, "I wish I could always drive behind you." I didn't understand what that meant, so I was like, "Huh? What are you talking about?" Then he repeated it again and explained, "I wish I could drive behind you, so I can always let you get through to the next lane."

Like I said before... first I rolled my eyes.. so he starts laughing cause he saw I finally got what he was trying to say... and then I suddenly realize... this is my Ryan being romantically sweet to me! So I joined him in laughing, but had to throw in a, "you're so retarded"... =P

Ryan is like my stress reliever.. He does so much for me that sometimes I wouldn't know what I'd do without him... He's truly a gift... a blessing from God that at times I don't know how I could have been so lucky to have him as my husband...

Anyways... enough of the mushiness from me... I just wanted to record this moment because I think it would be nice to remember these "simple joys" that God gives me in my life...

Cahigagan 15th Anniversary & Family Photo Shoot

2008-09-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met with Bro Asbel and Sis Beth from the locale of Henderson, NV. They plan to do their renewal of vows after 15 years of being married to one another. Ryan and I found out that they’re related to the Pamintuan/Dayrit/Arceo family here in Long Beach so that was cool to know brethren I know will be attending their renewal of vows on October 25 in Montclair locale. Thanks Jennalyn for the referral! :-D

Special thanks to Juliet Lozano (http://www.makeupbyjuliet.com/) for doing Sis Beth's make up! She looked beautiful!

We drove to Averille Park in San Pedro, CA to take their photos for their guestbook and to display on at the reception site. Here’s the slideshow! Please click on the photo below.

Bro. Asbel and Sis. Beth! We'll see you on October! Thank you for choosing us :-D

Jewel and Micah Wedding Slideshow

2008-09-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ka Jewel and Micah, thank you very much for letting me, Ryan, Johnson, and Gerard capture your wedding day. It was so touching that I couldn't help but cry during the ceremony... I got really into the ceremony that I had to remind myself that I needed to start clicking :). The locale of Long Beach and National City miss you both a lot and can't wait to see you again here in Southern California when you get the chance to visit during CFO Night!!!!

We hope you enjoy this slideshow of your wedding with your requested song to be used to show them off... ;) We hope to post up your Wedding Video Summary soon as well!

Please click on the photo below to view your slideshow.

Isaac & Jane's Wedding Video Summary

2008-09-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue!! So, I'd like to personally apologize to Isaac and Jane for the long wait. We completed their wedding video and are excited to hand deliver the copies on Saturday to them :-D. However, that's still 2 days more of waiting.. so for now, here's the wedding video summary of their special day.

Thank you both for your kindness and understanding! You both are so sweet together! May God bless you and your families always!!

To view the video, please click on the photo below. :) (Please be patient while the video loads)

God Will Provide For Her Absence

2008-09-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we laid our beloved aunty vivian to rest at Cypress Forest Lawn. It has been one of the most hardest two weeks ever... and I know it'll always be hard no matter how many days, months, or years pass...

It will be hard not seeing my aunty vivian.

It will be hard seeing her family without her.

It will be hard having family parties without her and her specialty dishes...

It will be hard... but like I told Joy this evening.. it'll get hard.. but it'll just make us stronger. It's when we are weak that we are strong because God is all the more closer to us. My uncle Jojo emailed me a short message that keeps popping up in my mind and would like to post up on this blog... It was the last sentence in his message that read, "God will provide for her absence".

I thought that was one of the most perfect thing that anyone could have said in a situation like this... God will provide like what He always does for His children... so Joy, Fred, Jodick, Tasha, and uncle Willy, I pray that with God you will find the strength you need to go on because God will provide you with the comfort you and the rest of our families are needing at this moment in our lives... Everything will be "okay" we just have to "always pray" because He will never give us anything that we can't handle...

This song is dedicated to your family as well as all our loved ones who are still grieving...

Aunty Vi: We miss you so much!

This was the last photo I took of my aunty vi. Taken on August 24, 2008. She passed away on Wednesday, August 27, 2008... :(....... We'll see you again one day....

Aunty V

2008-08-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

I'll miss her greatly... my aunty vivian or what we call her as "aunty V". She was always positive about everything and nothing could keep her from being in a good mood. Even when she was in pain... everything is always "okay".

I'm going to miss you a lot aunty v. How can we ever have another camping trip? You were always the cook! I don't think I'll be able to plan one.... for a very long time.... a very very very long time. It would hurt to go to Mammoth without her there...

Even when I was getting married in the Philippines... she was excited to go!! When I first told her that I wanted their family to be at my wedding, I remember her saying, "Of course!" without any hesitation. She was even more excited when Fred and Natasha got married 18 days ago in New Jersey... Now here I am looking through the photos during the wedding... searching for my aunty V.

She definitely lived a full and happy life... raising three successful/faithful/active children that I am proud to say are my cousins... and through them, I'll see a part of her always...

I miss you aunty and I am grateful to God for giving me an aunt like you... Until we see each other again... and yes, I'll be sure to take care of Joy ;-D as well as Jodick, Fred, and Uncle Willy too.

I got a Shootsac!!!!!

2008-08-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today, I got to work and totally forgot that I had a package coming... when I got in, I already had a ton of things to do, so when Brad came by and handed this package to me, it made my day!

Here's my shootsac! I love it already! I tried it on and I can't believe I didn't get one of these a long time ago... it really does conform to your body unlike the typical camera bags out there. Plus what's cool is that the cover can be changed too!! I need to get one for Ryan :-D.

So, if any of you would like to give me a gift for whatever reason... a gift certificate from shootsac.com would be soooo awesome! *hint hint* :-D

Last Day In NY

2008-08-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the chance to blog about our last day in NY, so here it is!

We got to ate Peachy's home around 9pm on Saturday after Fred's wedding. Before we got home though, ate Peachy wanted to take us to a Thai Restaurant to get some dinner, especially since Ryan and I didn't really get to eat during the wedding. Sorry, but I forgot the name of the restaurant... something with "Thai" in the name.. Ryan says it was called, "Thai Food" (go figure)... Here are photos of our meal :-D We got some sort of salmon dish, a papaya salad dish, and of course, the ever popular pad thai dish :-D

The next day, before worship service, Ryan and I ate breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. It's all over the place, but I never really tried their donuts until now. Gosh, I just realized how much food we've eaten throughout the trip... okay back on my diet tomorrow! =P. Sparkpeople... here I come ;-D

We attended worship service the next day at Bellmore Locale (formerly known as Long Beach, NY locale). The lesson was really nice and inspirational.. as we remember it, it was about trusting in what God can do for us... and not specifically the instruments He uses... :-D Here's a photo of me and Ryan outside the chapel after the worship service.

We hung out with some brethren. Actually I met them a long time ago at a chat room known as INC mIRC. They are my old mIRCer friends from long ago!! Here are some pictures of them :-D Oh and happy birthday KAT!
I also got shot of Ricci and Carlo (old IRC friends) and their adorable Riley! (I hope I spelled his name right!) He is the cutest CWS Bellmore baby ever that I know! ;) I just realized that the couples shown on this blog are products of INC IRC :-D.

Well, Ryan and I had to book a hotel room for Sunday evening at the Sheraton because our flight back home was canceled. Before going to the hotel, ate Peachy, Ryan and I passed by Jones Beach to take some photos. We then headed off to Jordan's Lobster Bar for lunner (lunch-dinner)...

Fred & Natasha - Wedding Slideshow

2008-08-14T23:48:00.001-07:00

After months of preparations, the day finally arrived! Fred & Natasha were wed on a beautiful Saturday morning in a quiet little town called Sicklerville, New Jersey. These two must have been one of the most "in love" couples I've ever witnessed! Just by looking at Fred, you can see how much he loves her... and how much she loves him too. I thought it was so much fun that after the wedding, Fred treated a lot of us out to get some Italian Ice at Rita's Italian ice... This definitely was one of the most fun weddings I've attended with their Hawaiian themed reception!

Fred and Natasha are currently driving across the country during their honeymoon. How cool is that?!? So I wanted to get this slideshow up so that it'll be ready when they get to California.

For those of you who were not able to attend, I hope you enjoy this slideshow as well! Please click on their photo below to get the slideshow started!

John & Chas: Wedding Video Summary

2008-08-14T08:02:00.001-07:00

Click on the picture to play the video. Please be patient while the video loads.

East Coast Weather and Esguerra Wedding Preview

2008-08-11T21:54:00.001-07:00

The weather in the east coast was the reason our flight out yesterday was cancelled and the reason why we had a 6 hour take off delay going back home this morning! So for now, here's a preview of photos taken during Fred and Natasha's wedding. I'll try to get the slideshow out by tomorrow night because after 12 hours being inside a plane, I just want to crash... in bed that is...

For now, please enjoy these photos of the newlyweds!

Ate Peachy's Photoshoot (Just for fun :-D)

2008-08-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take photos of ate Peachy who is Ryan's cousin. We did this just for fun! Ate, thank you for your hospitality during our stay in the east coast as well as for driving us all over the place! Next time I visit, I hope to go during the fall!

A Day In Philly

2008-08-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Before starting off the rest of this blog... here are some "phlavors" from philly :-D

We started off eating breakfast in the Marriott Residence Inn (the hotel we stayed at during our stay in New Jersey - so yah, the breakfast photo is actually from NJ :). A group of us planned on going to Philadelphia to do the following: Eat a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, visit the Rocky steps, and check out the Liberty Bell.

We got our sandwiches at a place called Tony Lukes. They are popular for making delicious Philly Cheesesteaks. I really enjoyed my sandwich as well as the brownies pictured above. We then headed off to Rita's Water Ice and I ordered a Mango mixed with Vanilla flavored italian ice. It was soooo good! These places are a definite MUST when planning on going to the east coast!

Afterwards, we headed off to run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a.k.a. the Rocky Steps). Here's a picture of Ryan as well as some of us that got to the top first.

Here's my handsome Ryan :-D

Here are some of the others... Johnson I think is confused about which movie this place represented ;-P

We headed to check out the Liberty Bell as well as Independence Hall. A group shot of everyone is shown sitting on the grass in front of Independence Hall - the place where the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution of the US were signed.

Statue of Liberty to South New Jersey

2008-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Our morning started at about 5:30 am. Ryan, ate Peachy, and I were running really late! We were suppose to meet everyone at Battery Park by 7:30 a.m. but because of the traffic and overall craziness of NYC, we ended up meeting my brother, cousins, and friends from Long Beach, CA at around 8:45 a.m. They waited for us for over an hour so our apologies to you all and thank you for waiting for us as well as picking up our tickets!!

As soon as we got there and had our tickets in hand, we went directly to the ferry boat that takes us to the Statue of Liberty. This was our view from the boat.

Since we were all rushing in the morning and did not get a bite to eat, we decided to get some brunch at the refreshment area when we arrived at the Statue of Liberty island. Ryan, Johnson and I ended up sharing two orders of fish and chips! YUMMY!! Afterwards, we headed off to line up to go inside the statue... AND it took about an hour to an hour and a half!!

There are so much more photos from our trip to the Statue of Liberty, so to view them, please click HERE.

We were planning on eating some NY Pizza but we were running late and had to get to South New Jersey (SNJ) for the wedding rehearsal! So we ending up getting some fast foods at a service/rest area on the way...

Here is one photo of the couple during the rehearsal. They are so cute! I think...no... I know I'm going to get teary eyed when I see these two get married... I still CAN'T believe that my cousin is getting married! After years of seeing him grow up... I know I'm going to get emotional... Good thing I have the camera in front of my face... I can hide it ;)

Everyone from the rehearsal left for Natasha's house where food was prepared. It was really nice to have met some of the brethren in SNJ. They're soooo friendly! It's really a blessing to be members of the INC! No matter how far we live from each other.. whenever we meet, it's like we've known one another for a long time.. because we share the same faith :-D

ANYWAYS... Natasha and Fred surprised me and Ryan with beautiful personalized/engraved gifts! Fred and Natasha, thank you for everything! We are sooooo happy for the two of you!

Applebees! Finally!

2008-08-06T22:27:00.001-07:00

After worship service this evening, ate Peachy, Ryan and I went to Applebees to get some dinner. This is the FIRST TIME Ryan and I tried the restaurant so it's a big deal and should be blogged about! ;-D. Here's a picture of Ryan and Ate Peachy (two of the Arellano cousins - represent!).

We ordered 2 appetizers, the spinach artichoke dip and buffalo wings. I got an apple walnut chicken salad as well. I think ate peachy got a California something salad and Ryan got a Chop Steak with a baked potato. The food was deliciouso! (or what they say in tagalog: ANG SARAP TALAGA!!) We will definitely go back to an Applebees in California! Sorry if my pictures aren't large enough to view the food.... I didn't want any of you to get hungry and start salivating on your computer screens heheh ;-D

Okay goodnight/goodmorning! It's now 1:16 a.m. and I have jetlag!

We have to wake up in 3 hours to visit the Statue of Liberty!

We're In NY!

2008-08-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

We landed at the JFK Airport at around 5:40 am today. Ate Peachy picked us up and took us to this really cool restaurant called "Maureen's Kitchen" in Smithtown, New York. I was looking for a website but could not find any. Just do a google search and it'll pop up reviews. Inside the restaurant looks like a herd of cows exploded because there are black and white cow patterns all over the place and cow figurines everywhere! Really cute! Here's a picture of the signage outside:

Regarding the food....All I can say is, DELICIOUS! When ate Peachy says she has found a really cool place to try, I believe her to the fullest! The staff was really friendly and the food was yummy! Ate Peachy told me to try the French Toast Croissant with Cream Cheese stuffed with a kind of Rasberry Jam, so I did. I'm going to use this blog as a means to spread the word on this place because I would definitely come again and try that french toast!

We're still a bit jet lag. It's 12:36 PM east coast time which means it's only 9:36 AM west coast time. Ryan is still napping and I'm just relaxing :-D We'll be attending worship service today at the locale of Bellmore, NY. Tomorrow we'll be meeting up with my brother, cousins, and friends to visit the Statue of Liberty! Ryan and I didn't get to see it the last time we visited NYC (which was 2 years ago) so we definitely have it as a TO DO this time!

I'm actually enjoying the day doing nothing but just relaxing here at ate's home. She has a cool collection of magnets from places she's been to. I think my favorite one is the "good friends" magnet. It reads: "good friends are like stars, you don't always see them, but you know they're always there." And of course, I need to focus on the Statue of Liberty magnet cause we're in NY!

Here are some photos I took here at ate peachy's home :-D. I need more stock photos for my use... I intend to take more during this trip!

More pictures to come! Signing off, unless I find something awesome to blog about again!

Congrats Grads!

2008-08-04T07:13:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year, a friend of mine contacted me and asked if I would be willing to take her graduation photos as well as 9 of her classmates. I accepted :-D.

After work on Friday, Ryan and I drove to Cecile's classmates home. A couple of the grads were already there, ready to be photographed. They were really nice!! I thought it was really cute how close they all were. They studied together and now they are graduating together. From what Cecile had told me, the graduation ceremony the next day was just for the 10 of them. Like an intimate graduation ceremony...

I'm so happy for all of them, especially Cecile! Congratulations!

The graduates

The graduates having a fun moment

Cecile

INC 94th/40th Anniversary Celebration

2008-08-03T10:01:00.001-07:00

Ten years ago, during our 30th Year Anniversary for the INC in San Jose, CA... I walked around alone thinking how it would be so cool to one day have Ryan in the US to celebrate the church's anniversary. I thought to myself and prayed silently that one day, he and I will have an opportunity to help the church to work on a big celebration.. It was always a dream... a prayer of mine that I kept to myself. It "WAS" just between me and HIM above.

When I found out that we were going to have a joint celebration with the District of Northern California, I was so EXCITED! All the more I kept asking, "please...please...please... I really want Ryan and I to be a part of it... somehow.. some way.. in any way.... HE definitely heard my prayers...

- - -

It surely is a weekend to remember. After all our efforts in practicing, all the meetings, emails, phone calls, sleepless nights, as well as the last minute request to compose the Parade of Flags song and orchestrate it as well as orchestrate the Voice of a Child song composed by sis Kate it was definitely worth it! The day finally arrived! It was finally time to celebrate the INC Anniversary!

I'll miss EVERYONE that I had the honor to work with. From the CWS Children to my fellow District Officers. They are an inspiration and I can't wait to work with them again on our upcoming district activities! It's a blessing to be part of this District of Southern California. I'm so proud of us all for doing an AWESOME job! Above all, I'm so thankful to God for giving me and Ryan an opportunity...... an experience of a lifetime!

Click on picture to view larger version :-D. When I get Socal's CWS Choral Group Photo, I plan on adding it on to this blog as well! :-D For now, this is all I have...

A picture of me and Ryan with our Staff Shirts and Badges ;-D

P.S. Another prayer answered...

Fred & Natasha's Wedding Guestbook

2008-07-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

I received Fred and Natasha's Guestbook today! I asked Fred if he could pass by the house, but it was too late so I told them that I would take a couple of photos of it to show them. It contains images taken during their engagement session from May. So here it is Fred and Natasha! I hope you both like it! Oh and it came with 2 pens too! How cool is that?!? I ordered another one as my "sample" to show to potential clients!

ECouponsHawaii.com

2008-07-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be traveling to Hawaii, check out this website! Jen, a friend of mine, created it! They offer coupons to so many services in Hawaii! I thought it was pretty cool to post up and share with the world! Click on the website image and enjoy the savings!!

Vanessa - Maternity

2008-07-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

My very first materinity photos were taken of my friend/sister Vanessa :). All I can say is that it was an "interesting" shoot. Myke and Vanessa had reserved a room at the Marriot Hotel in Torrance and we did the photoshoot there. I can't post the photos taken because it's only for their eyes, but here's one that isn't so bad to share. She wanted somewhat of a silhouette shot, but I wanted to be able to show her face too, so we came up with this.

I got this idea from Sarah K Chen Photography. I just added the hands creating hearts.

I can't wait to meet baby Maia. I'm sooo excited! She's definitely going to be one of my favorite babies to photograph! Thank you Vanessa for being a great friend and sister to me. I'm so happy for you and Myke! Ryan and I had a fun time hanging out and eating dinner last night with you both. We gotta do that again soon!!

Erika's Debut Video Intro

2008-07-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Yay! I have a new video to post up. This is a video intro for Erika's debutante party we documented in April.. Johnson did the editing :-D. The DVD has more coverage, so I decided just to post up the intro :-D

Erika is one of the most sweetest/nicest/coolest/kindest girls I know! Recently she won tickets on Kost 103.5 for Knotts Berry Farm!! How cool is that? Here's her video! Click on the image below.

Isaac & Jane's Wedding

2008-07-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ryan, Jodick, Gerard and I traveled to the locale of Santa Maria to photograph and videotape Isaac and Jane's wedding. I think Isaac finally started to warm up to my camera, but he was still shy he he he. Jane you were a beautiful bride! Thank you both for giving us the opportunity to document your special day :-D I'll be sending your video and pictures in a couple of weeks! :-D For now, please click on the picture below to view the slideshow.

Jewel & Micah - Engagement Shoot - Long Beach, CA

2008-07-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after our church's 40th Anniversary Celebration practice in Anaheim, Ryan and I took engagement photos (Part 2) of Ka Jewel and Micah in downtown Long Beach. They are one of the most nicest couples ever! It really is a blessing to have been chosen to take their photos during their special day and I can't wait till their wedding in August! I'm really excited :-D! Here's a slideshow presentation of some of their photos from yesterday.

Please click on their photo below to start the slideshow. Enjoy!

Steve & Lauralee's Engagement Photos

2008-06-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

They met one another in Seattle, Washington, so it made sense for them to take their engagement photos there! I think my favorite part of the trip was meeting Lauralee's family and eating dinner with them too.

While traveling to their lake house, Lauralee mentioned how she used to sit across the lake, looking at a specific house. She couldn't believe that people actually lived in such beautiful surroundings... Little did she know, she would be meeting the man living in that house and later being engaged to him..

Lauralee and Steve you both are just too awesome! I'm so thankful to know you both and your families as well!

Please click on the photo below to view their slideshow.

Jewel & Micah's Engagement Photos

2008-06-24T14:34:00.001-07:00

It was a lot of fun visiting San Diego, CA and photographing good friends like these two! It was a bit sunny that day at Balboa Park, but we made the best of our lighting conditions. We plan to have another session in Long Beach, CA this coming July and as soon as I'm done, I'll post up those photos as well.

To view their photo slideshow, please click on the photo below.

Welcome to the Family!

2008-06-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, during my photoshoot with Fred and Natasha, I did the unthinkable... I dropped my camera!! (AHHHH)...

My lens broke, but the camera (thankfully) is still working...

I was so depressed though for the past couple of days! Why was I so clumsy! =P I was seriously stressed... until now...

Ryan bought me a D300! I wanted a D3.. but this is fine for now :-D

So, to my D300, welcome to the familia! ;-D.

Fred & Natasha

2008-06-01T14:49:00.001-07:00

Although miles separated them, nothing could stop the destiny of these two souls from meeting. Fred had seen Natasha on the church's GEM-Net program on television called "My Life". Natasha also happened to view Fred's profile on the "My Life" program as well. What started off as two separate stories of their individual lives has now become a story of ONE LOVE...

I'm so blessed to have my wonderful family and relatives in my life! Fred, my cousin, is one of them :). He, along with his family, traveled to the Philippines to witness (and was one of my groomsmen for) my wedding... so when he and Natasha asked me to take their photos, I humbly accepted their request. It really is an honor! Fred and Natasha are so cute together! I can really see in my cousins eyes just how much Natasha means to him. I know Natasha will take good care of Fred as well! She's PERFECT and they're both lucky to have one another!

Yesterday we hurried down to Santa Monica Pier and tried our bestest to make the most of the available light the sky had to offer us... however, we were a bit too late... the water was crazy cold... but these two were just wonderful for getting their feet and clothes wet! I had to make it up to them so we continued the engagement session this morning at Belmont Shores, CA as well as the CSULB Japanese Garden :-D.

To view the slide show, please click on the image below.

Fred and Natasha, I'm soooo excited to capture your wedding on August! We're excited to go to New Jersey and meet the other half of the family! It's going to be soo much fun! Thank you both and you know we'll be here for you both! Love love and hugs hugs!

Ate Joan & Ninong Ryan hehehehe :-D

Brother Roque Blanco

2008-05-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

I've known him since childhood. I've grown up seeing him as one of the leaders in our locale. I can't believe it's true... but friends have already confirmed of the news that he has finished his race...

Although Ka Roque will not get to read this, I'm going to continue anyways for his loved ones to read.. to know.. how much I appreciate his care, support he has given not just to me, but to the locale of Long Beach.

I know that we'll see him again, but I hurt not for him, but for the family he leaves behind... I pray that our Father will give you all the strength you need, most of all the faith that we will all see him again...

You will sorely be missed po Ka Roque.. so very much!!

Like Vapor

2008-05-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am looking at a photograph of my cousin and I. It was taken this past January during our short family get-together in the Philippines. I'm sad because I didn't get to converse with him as much as I could have... I can't tell him how much I appreciate him traveling just to be with the family... now, I won't be able to encourage him to return to the church... it's just too late...

Life really is like a puff of smoke... like vapor.. that appears for a short time and then vanishes... I don't think I'll ever be prepared for death... whether it be of a family member, a relative, or a friend... Until now, I still remember those who have passed and I think of them often.. how they've finished their course... how I'm happy because they've kept the faith. They've become an inspiration for me...

But what about those I know who have not? How do I feel?? I'm beyond sad... I'm afraid...

I'm going to miss my cousin... the only thing I have left are the memories I had seeing him and the picture that was taken of us together...

----------------------------

14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

James 4:14 NKJV

----------------------------

INC Brotherhood

2008-05-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

There really is something special about the church that I belong to: Iglesia Ni Cristo(INC) - (Church of Christ). This past Memorial Day weekend I enjoyed seeing and being with brethren not just in my locale but from all over the Southern California District! Some of them were also visiting from the Philippines (a break from their ministerial classes) and I realized how much I missed going to district activities! It has definitely been awhile... Although each locale was competing against one another (friendly competition that is..) everyone cheered for all the participants whether they were part of their locale or not. Brotherhood was truly felt throughout the whole day and I am so glad to have been a part of it!

There is a story someone shared with me. A brother in our locale has competed and is part of the school's track team. So I could only imagine how many medals he must own from all the competitions he's been a part of. Well, he won first place for one of the races and he got his gold medal. One of the children who attended was admiring his medal. "That is so cool!" the child had exclaimed and so the brother decided to give him the gold medal instead of keeping it for himself! How awesome is that? Another comment that made me smile that day was when after a child runner finished competiting.. and although did not win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place... still blurted out to his friends, "That was so much fun! I want to run again!". One last comment I want to share that I heard about that made my spirits even high was when another brother had mentioned to his friends that it's definitely worth hanging out with church brethren because we know how to have "good, christian fun!".

Our Track & Field was truly successful! I admit that during the closing prayer I was in tears because I was soooo happy! For the wonderful events I experienced this past weekend.. I give all glory and honor to HIM above. I am so thankful to HIM for letting me be a part of this strong brotherhood inside the Church of Christ! I really want to be a part of as much church activities as I can possibly go to, which is why I'll be working around church schedules before booking any photography/videography work... Church comes first always, family and then work... ;-)

Successful Day!

2008-05-25T10:13:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful Saturday yesterday! I attended our Track & Field event and saw a lot of old friends that I haven't seen for ages!!! There was rain in the morning, but towards the afternoon and up to the end of the event, it was just a beautiful day! Thank God for answering our prayers for good weather! Congratulations to ALL the participants... to ALL of us who joined the activity as well! Everyone - E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E - did a wonderful job!

While I was busy helping to keep track of the awards for each locale as well as the long jump event, my most wonderful husband Ryan took photos throughout the WHOLE DAY! We got over 2,000 photos! But these long jump shots are my favorites.. and of course the group shots!

Thanks Ryan!!!! =D

You Rock!

2008-05-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I opened up my email today and guess what I found!?!? An e-mail from Jasmine Star! At first I couldn't believe it…especially since I’m a nobody in the photography industry.. but it was there in my inbox and within the FROM column it read: "JASMINE STAR". I know I know.. She emailed me before, but even now I get excited getting a response from her! SHE actually checked out my recently created wedding slideshow and this is what she had to say:

"you go girl!! it looked awesome and once you start using it regularly, you'll realize how easy and second-nature it'll become. you rocked it out!! :)xoxo...j*"

Don't you love her “j*” signature! It’s so cute! But this totally made my day! Thank you Jasmine for taking time to view the slideshow and emailing me back! You rock! ;-D

Photographers I look up to..

2008-05-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

I joined the yearbook staff during my last year in Carnegie Jr High School, Carson, CA and I always had a camera in hand. I remember taking photos of people and how excited I got when most of my shots made it to the final layout on the yearbook. Looking back at those years, I realized how much I enjoyed photography... it's just too bad that once the yearbook was done my camera went into hiding... until now...

There have been a number of photographers that have caught my eye and rekindled my interest in picking up the camera again. I have even started my own photography business... So this blog post is dedicated to them for inspiring me. Hopefully I'll be able to meet them all one day... I just wanted to share a couple of photographers who have given me a reason to pursue my dream!

Jasmine Star is so awesome! I love her blog site and I visit it EVERY DAY! She gives a lot of advice and has written lots of articles for photographers that I've read over and over again. I discovered her site just about 2 months ago! I emailed her a couple of times and it was sooo cool to have gotten an email back from her too!

Mike Colon is another photographer I admire. He was one of the first photographers that I was introduced to when meeting with the wedding album vendor: White Glove. Mike's name came about when I was discussing my pricing and the guy asked me why I was charging so low to do weddings! He then said, "Have you heard of Mike Colon?" When I got home, I checked out his website and I was in AWE because I wanted to take pictures like MIKE!

Richwell Correa was the one who started my interest in photography again! The photos he posts up on his myspace just grabs my attention! He's a really nice guy and a brother in the faith as well!

Last but not least, Sarah Chen is another one who inspires me too! I love her shots! I love how the colors in her photos just pop out at you! She's another photographer I hope to meet one day... but for now, I'll just continue to visit her website!

Thank you all for your inspiration! More success to you all and if any of you do get to read this humble blog of mine... I hope to meet you one of these days and I hope to get as good as all of you!!

Farrell & Tallulah's Wedding Recap Slideshow

2008-05-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here's the slideshow for Farrell and Tallulah's wedding! Please click on the image below to start the slideshow.

Thank you Farrell and Tallulah for giving us the opportunity to capture your wedding day!

Steve and Lauralee - Fun Shots!

2008-05-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Ryan and I met with Steve and Lauralee. They hired us to photograph their engagement photos and their wedding on September this year! They have such an awesome idea as table numbers and don't want to spoil their surprise so I'll keep it to myself... However, I just wanted to thank them for trusting in us and giving us this opportunity!

They are the first couple that booked us without any referrals... Lauralee found ES-Sense through an online search, called me one day, and we set up a meeting time for them to view our work. We met at their house where I was introduced to Steve and his mom, Linda. Oh and also to their baby, Lola, who had 6 puppies.

They're another blessing from God :). I'm so glad Ryan and I met them and can't wait to start shooting their photos! Here's a shot I took of them yesterday during our photoshoot. They wanted a photo for their invitations... :) THANK YOU LAURALEE and STEVE for your trust in us!

Farrell and Tallulah

2008-05-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had the honor of photographing Farrell and Tallulah's wedding on Saturday, May 10, 2008. It was so beautiful! The bride, the groom, everything! Not only that, but what we loved most about the wedding is how the family welcomed us. They are such the nicest people that we've worked with and we did not meet the family until the wedding day. It was a blessing to have worked for this family. I'll post a slideshow of the wedding photos later, but for now, here are a couple of teaser photos from Saturday.

Temecula Wedding

2008-05-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

Ryan, Johnson, and I attended a beautiful wedding today in Temecula, California at the South Coast Winery Resort. Actually we were hired as the videographers for the couple. John is a police officer in the city of New York, NY. Chas is a flight attendant. There was a funny story that the matron of honor, Vanessa, had shared with all the guests. She said that the first time these two had met, Chas told Vanessa that John was a fireman! Well, policeman or fireman... it didn't matter to Chas and today they are official husband and wife.

Although I was not hired as the photographer... I just had to take some shots... even some details at least... it was just too beautiful there not to! Plus I wanted to respect the camera men there as well! Here are the shots I got to take before I retired my photo camera for the day and picked up my video camera. I'll post up the video summary as soon as it's ready!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2008-04-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I celebrated his 31st birthday today. We just came home from watching the musical Wicked and it was so awesome! Of all the musicals I've seen, this is by far the best and would highly recommend you see it if you haven't! I'm not going to elaborate on the story because I do not want to ruin it for the rest of you who haven't seen it... just trust me when I say, you need to see it!!!! Kudos to all the actors/actresses who performed this evening!

Afterwards, we went straight home. Ryan blew his candle and we ate the cake while recalling the events.. Happy Birthday Ryan! ILYVM!

Registered Trademark!

2008-04-28T16:42:00.001-07:00

So lately I've been reading a lot of materials about small businesses. There are soooo many things to figure out such as what to consider my family/friends who help me out during photo/video gigs. Are they considered employees? independent contractors? seasonal employees? I still have no idea but need to figure things out asap! I'm keeping track of everything until I do...

Today I applied to get the es-sense logo/trademark registered through http://www.uspto.gov/. I don't know about you, but for some reason, I enjoy reading government forms and instructions.. I know... I'm weird like that. But really i do! :P Anyways... I applied for the trademark registration and at the end it says it could take months to get it approved!?!! Hopefully I answered everything right and it'll get approved sooner rather than later...

Anyways, another thing that I'm looking into, is getting some sort of diploma/certificate of completion for photography. I'm also looking to taking some courses on photoshop for photography as well. There's just so much to learn but its so much fun! A friend of mine asked me how I could do this part time while I have a full time day job and church and family responsibilities too. I guess I just like that fact that I can help people capture special moments in their lives! Also I get to meet new people that I would never have met if I didn't do photography/videography part time.

I've met really awesome people who still keep in touch with me and continue to refer our services to their friends... For this reason, I really want to do my best in giving them the best. Learning new things as well as doing things right will help me achieve these goals... with God's help of course :D

It's All About Presentation...

2008-04-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

I remember working for an accountant 5 years ago during tax season as a temp. He had a small office and worked for himself. The only time he would get someone to help him out was during tax season so yes, he had a really small business. He was very meticulous about everything! He was meticulous about how papers should be stapled, how the forms should be arranged, even about how center the type on the cover should be... I'm telling you... he would measure everything!

Then talking to him one day, he explained why he made sure things were done his way. He taught me something that I will never forget. He explained that his clients are the reason why he is still in business today. His clients could go to any other CPA but because they continue to go to him for his services, it was important that everything he does for them is presentable. His exact words were, "It's all about presentation, Joan".

Since then, I've kept that in my head... everything we do in life, people look/judge us at how we present ourselves. Yes, we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but no matter how much we hear this... and no matter how much we try not to judge people that way... we still tend to judge people by their "cover". I'm taking to heart what my former employer has taught me. I believe that God makes us meet people and makes us experience things for a reason... and His reason for introducing me to this CPA was to help me out one day with how I present es-sense!

Today I found a nice lady who was willing to help me get our es-sense logo embroidered on our black polo shirts. I love it!! Our shirts makes us look more professional and presentable to clients and that is what we want to portray. We are professionals and we intend to look like it in all our upcoming photography-videography jobs! Plus, it shows how we are UNITED as well!

Here are two shots of what it looks like:

Anyways... I'll post up a picture of the crew with our new embroidered uniforms!

Oh and if you're wondering who this CPA is... his name is Sean Jonas, CPA who has an office in Torrance, California. He's really cool! So if you're looking for a good CPA.. just tell him Joan Solitario sent you heheh.. hopefully he remembers me... cause I don't think I'll ever forget working for him!

Santa Monica

2008-04-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

After a busy Saturday morning going to Olvera Street for Jordan's GATE field trip and meeting with our client who just booked us to do photography and videography for their wedding, some of my cousins and close friends and my siblings decided to go with me and Ryan to Santa Monica, CA to walk around the pier and 3rd St. Promenade. We brought our cameras with us of course and decided to take photos of each other just for fun... Since Ryan's birthday is this tuesday (4/29), we celebrated by eating dinner at this Thai Restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd and Ocean. It was a fun afternoon/evening and the weather was perfect! Here are some photos from today.

Riding the Carousel at Santa Monica Pier.

Ryan reminding us that his birthday is on 4/29

My pretty cousin Joy

Janice doing her sexy pose heheh

Isaac and Jane

2008-04-19T23:54:00.001-07:00

Ryan and I woke up at 3:00 am this morning to drive to San Diego for an engagement shoot I scheduled at 6:30 am. We were really sleepy, but once we started shooting with Jane and Isaac, we forgot how tired we were! Isaac and Jane were sooo cute! They were the shyest clients I've ever had to photograph! It took awhile for them to get used to me and Ryan and they kept on laughing that we couldn't help but laugh a long with them!

Here is a photo from today's shoot! To view more, please click on the picture!

Erika's Debut

2008-04-19T04:26:00.000-07:00

Yay! Here are some photos of Erika's debut! More photos to be posted up soon, but Ryan and I are heading off to San Diego for a Engagement Photoshoot!

Our New Video Jingle!!

2008-04-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

Okay... I know I posted earlier... and it's about 12:45 a.m. but I'm excited to share our new video jingle! Here it is... low quality.. but it looks better as high res... just imagine it heheh :)

Busy Weekend!

2008-04-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'll be attending a special occasion of a dear friend, a sister in faith, Erika!! Not just attending but I've been entrusted to photograph her 18th birthday celebration! I'm so honored to have this opportunity and I pray I do an awesome job for her!

ES-Sense will also be unveiling the new video introduction clip that we show before every photo montage we create or video we edit. Ryan is actually still working on it and hopefully it'll be done soon so we can insert it on Erika's photo montage presentation for tomorrow night! He's done with the logo animation... now he tells me he's going to do some sort of remix with the old jingle... ??? hmm.... we'll see how it sounds.. but I have full trust in his ability to make it awesome!

Ryan is soooo talented! I'm not just saying that because he's my husband... but seriously.. he really is talented! He was the one who composed the song for our es-sense jingle... arranged the music... and now creating a new video intro to sync with the song... I'm sooo proud of him for learning all these things on his own! I'm really blessed to have him in my life...

Okay enough of the mushy stuff... I get carried away every time I think of him and start talking/writing about him....

This weekend is going to be quite busy... after Erika's 18th birthday celebration on Friday night, we'll be waking up early to do an engagement photo shoot in San Diego for our clients, Jane and Isaac who is getting married in June! Afterwards, we'll try drive back to Long Beach to make it to our cousin's new business office grand opening and take some photos of their celebration there. Afterwards, we both have a dentist appointment!! How fun!!!!! :D

Hopefully everything we'll go smoothly this weekend and we get all our tasks accomplished with God's help!

New Logo!

2008-04-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

We finally have a new-hip-modern logo for es-sense! Ryan and I designed it last night at 1130pm-1230am and we love it! We were going for a simple look and I think we accomplished it! From now on, we're going to put this on all our marketing materials and more importantly it'll be on all our work! Here it is!

Taxes...

2008-04-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I finally got our taxes done! Just need to pick it up and send it off! We pretty much broke even... kinda... We're getting something back from the federal portion, but also having to give it back to the govt cause we owed at the state portion of the return - all thanks to the bonus I got from work last year... =P. Oh well... Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”.

We had Ate Sherry do our taxes this year and she did our last year too! She's fast! :) Here is her information in case you need help with your taxes :). She works with her dad at his office at SC Pangan Tax Service: 2529 Santa Fe Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90810. Their phone number is: (562) 989-4334. Her dad has been doing this for years!!!

Thank you ate Sherry for all your help!!!! I appreciate it a lot especially since I kept lagging in getting all the papers in to you.

Happy Birthday Sis. Debbie! :)

2008-04-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I photographed a 50th birthday celebration today. Sis. Debbie asked us to take photos of her party at Hokkaido Seafood Buffet. She's such a nice person and her family helped us out during our very first CFO Night!

Here are some photos taken today at her party.

Sis. Debbie with her family

Sis. Debbie with her Sisters.

Free Rice!

2008-04-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

I knew the title would grab some the attention of you rice lovers! Well, I was just surfing on the internet and found this really cool website:

http://www.freerice.com/

This website is about donating 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.

I realized I needed to expand my vocabulary a lot more! I think I donated about a cup... then realized it's dinner time =P

Music & Lyrics

2008-04-04T19:50:00.001-07:00

Today, I remembered a song that I've been wanting! It's from the movie, "Music & Lyrics" with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I'll put a sample of the movie on this post for you to check out.

This movie definitely reminds me of Ryan and myself! It reminds me how Ryan would arrange music and when we finally have to record our voices, Ryan always tells me to "sing a little louder". I started laughing when Drew started to sing and it was really soft... that's what I do! Seriously, I don't like wearing those earphones! I can't hear myself sing.. and when I hear myself sing, it's so loud, so I don't want to sing loud...

Usually I write the lyrics to the songs and Ryan adds the music. Even though he says he's not a lyricist, I think he creates beautiful music without my help! If you check out how Hugh starts to arrange the music, that's what Ryan does too! He uses all these different instrumental sounds with his computer program and his old keyboard to create a wonderful arrangement! It makes me proud to be the wife of a very talented musician! Ryan is a blessing from God to me and I always pray that we can spend more years writing beautiful music together for God's glory!

Well, here's a clip of the movie that I found on YouTube. If you haven't seen it and want to see a chick flick, this is a good one to rent and watch with your better half or on your own :-D.

Engagement Photo Shoot: Farrell & Tallulah

2008-04-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 30th, Ryan and I met up with Tallulah and Farrell for their engagement shoot. They are perfect for one another and so easy to take photos of too!! We met at Playa Del Rey to shoot some beach shots and at a park nearby. Then we headed off to the Central Library in Los Angeles and decided to take more shots there!

Here are some photos we took of the couple. We'll be photographing their wedding on Saturday, May 10th!

Central Libray, Los Angeles, CA

2008-03-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I joined Jordan in a school field trip today for the Gifted And Talented Education (GATE) Program. Jordan is a GATE student :). It was an awesome experience for all three of us since we've never been to this library until today! This will definitely be one of my "places to go while we have free time" destinations.

Here are some photos taken from today's GATE trip. Please note that Jordan took most of these shots! We'll be visiting other popular LA Historical sites in the coming months with the GATE kids.

The GATE children with some of the teachers.

At the Tom Bradley wing of the library.

A picture of Jordan taking a photo of himself.

A water fountain sculpture at the library.

Ryan took this picture of me and Jordan in front of the library.

A Day With Ryan

2008-03-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

A day spent with my husband Ryan in Pasadena, California. He came with me to attend a seminar for women entrepreneurs. It was an opportunity to network with other people, however, we didn't bring enough business cards, so we couldn't network much.. (lessoned learned = bring lots of business cards!)

After the seminar, we headed off for lunch at Panda Inn Restaurant. The servers were nice and that's one thing I always look for... We took our time eating because we had 2 hours to kill before a client meeting at 2pm.

We headed to Best Buy afterwards and bought me a new SD Card Reader because I lost the one I've been using. I also bought a 4GB SD card as well :). Then we went to the Starbucks located in the same center to meet with a bride who hired us to do their wedding photography! I'm so excited to take their engagement photos this March 30th!

After our meeting, Ryan and I decided to go to Huntington Botanical Gardens again since we were close to the area and we finally got our membership card! The only gardens we were able to view were the Children's Garden, Chinese Garden, and the Japanese Garden again because we only had 2 hours left before it was to close. It started to rain too! Here's a picture of the new Chinese Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens

The Solitario's 10th Year Anniversary

2008-03-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today, Ryan and I celebrated our 10th Year Anniversary as a couple. However, before we got to celebrate, we attended a seminar for small businesses about Taxes, Payroll, etc... The government has a lot of free seminars and resources for small business and we plan to use them. :) You can go to http://www.boe.gov/ to get more information in case anyone is interested.

Afterwards we picked up my brother and headed off to a historical site in Long Beach, CA. A small little ranch close to CSULB. To view the photos I took today, please click on the image below which are also available for purchase as well on the website. Just click on the "Order Prints" link and the gallery's name is "The Essence of Nature".

After doing all that, we celebrated our anniversary by going to Best Buy! Ryan and I got the Dance, Dance, Revolution dance pad and game today! I plan on being the best at it, although right now it seems like Ryan has all the moves he he he.. =P. That's all folks!

30 Years in the Making....

2008-03-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

I celebrated my 30th Birthday today! Yes, I'm the big 3-0 now!

What did I do?

1. Attended VP for HS
2. Ate with my family at Hokaido (Japanese Buffet Restaurant)
3. Final Practice for HS
4. Moved our stuff from the apartment to the house.
5. Ate my birthday cake. The cake was really small and it would not hold up 30 candles so... I decided to just use my fingers to represent my age...

Not much, but I'm happy! :) God has blessed me with another year in my life... what more could I ask for?

Shey & Ed's Wedding Video Summary

2008-02-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

Johnson was able to complete the music video that I've been wanting to show Shey and Kuya Ed! Here it is so enjoy!

Thank you Johnson and Gerard for your hard work in taking footages during their wedding day!

To view their wedding video summary, please click here. It'll take a while to download so please be patient.

Song Choice: "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat

A Day at the Huntington Botanical Gardens

2008-02-23T23:14:00.001-08:00

Ryan and I spent the day at Huntington Botanical Garden with a couple of friends today. We had fun taking photos of Erika who will be celebrating her birthday really soon! Since Ryan and I became annual members of Huntington Botanical Garden , we decided to take her and her parents there to take some shots. Her make-up was done by Juliet Lozano. We were even lucky to view a short Chinese Dragon Show. Here's a picture of Erika with the dragon in the background.

Spelling Bee

2008-02-12T23:26:00.001-08:00

After work today, Ryan and I headed off to Cerritos High School where we photographed the Spelling Bee competition for the ABC Unified School District. It was pretty cool! The kids were really cute too. Some of the words they had to spell were pretty difficult that I didn't even know how to spell them =P. All that spelling got us hungry so Ryan and I decided to eat dinner at no other place but "JOLLIBEE". Thank you ate Cuwi for giving us this opportunity! We had a really good time! Here are two photos from this evening's event.

The contestants waiting for the competition to begin

The final two contestants.

Baby Karlo

2008-02-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

Kuya Rouel and Ate Loida brought Baby Karlo to our apartment today for a photo session. He's such a cutie too. We spoke about how each of their children have such different personalities and how interesting it is to actually see each child's personality develop. Here's a couple of photos from today.

Taking a nap before the photo shoot.

Posing for the camera

Karlo with his proud parents.

Baby Face

2008-02-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful baby girl today. Baby Kahli was such an adorable baby! I've taken photos of babies before, but not as young as her. She was my first "close to being a newborn" baby that I had the honor to photograph. I realize that it is more difficult to take pictures of babies at an age younger than one. You have to get them at the right moment before they start to cry for their mommies or before they fall off the table they are positioned on... One thing's for sure, it was a great learning experience for me!

Here's a photo of the little angel.

Thank you Judeth for giving me the opportunity to photograph your precious Kahli!

Ed & Shey's Wedding

2008-01-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

Kuya Ed, a good friend of mine got married on Friday, January 25, 2008. FINALLY! hehehe. His bride, Shey, was such a beautiful bride! Here is a photo I shot of them before they went down to their wedding reception at the Lakewood Country Club, Lakewood, California.

Thank you both for letting me take your photos! It was such an honor :)

For more photos from their wedding, click on their photo above.

Philippines

2008-01-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

Our trip to the Philippines was just so awesome! We spent most of the time with Ryan's family. We pretty much stayed in Manila and didn't travel far except to visit Ryan's lolo (grandfather) and lola (grandmother) in Baliuag, Bulakan.

What I really wanted to do most was see Central Temple during our 5th Year Anniversary and see our Ninongs and Ninangs who live there, which we did! We also did A LOT of shopping (mostly for Ryan), eating, and sleeping..

It took me 2 weeks to get use to the time difference, but by then, it was time for us to go back to California! Gosh, I really miss everyone there; my relatives, my in laws, and our ninongs and ninangs. Hopefully in 2 years we'll be able to see them all again!

For now, we'll continue to recall our memories with everyone in PI, call them on the phone, and look at pictures like these...

Villanueva Family Reunion at McDonalds
Solitario Family Photo

Celebrating our 5th Year Wedding Anniversary
at the chapel we were wed.

Grand Central

2007-12-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

There's this new service online acquired by google: GrandCentral.com. Read more about this new way to use all your phones by using just one number.

We're able to connect our number from our website as well as our blogsite. Try by just clicking on the "CALL ME" button.

The Puckett Family

2007-12-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

After work I had an appointment to meet with Marinda to photographer her daughter Malia. Here's a picture taken of Marinda and her family :)

We're on Google!

2007-10-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

So ES-Sense Photography - Videography is now on GOOGLE! How awesome! :)

Saturday Weddings on September!

2007-09-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from my weddings on September 2007

Photo Montage Price Change in 2008! Take Advantage Now!

2007-08-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Many has been asking our price to create photo montages, so here it is:

$300 for a 10 - 15 minute photo montage contain 150 photos. Additional photos are charged at $2.00 each. It's up to you if you want to send us your original hard copy photos or scan them yourselves... but the price remains either way. In January 2008, it will increase to $350 so please take advantage of our prices now! :)

We also offer flash animation to accompany your photo montage and the cost for that is $85/minute of flash animation. This will increase in January 2008 to $100/minute of flash animation especially since it is a customized flash animation.

I will start putting up samples of our flash animations and photo montages soon! Please check in later!

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@es-sense.com or at 310.739.8622.

Thanks for all your support!

Joan Solitario

My first post on my new blog site!

2007-03-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

Testing this out and see how easy it is to post blogs and photos!

This is pretty cool!