Phoebe and I get our inspirations from almost any thing - animate and inanimate. We are also inspired by magazines, especially movies(!) and joining photography competitions worldwide. Last June 19, 1 hour before the deadline of Wedding & Portrait Photographers International ( WPPI ) 2009 First Half competition, we submitted few entries in different categories. Today, July 1st, 2009 WPPI informed us that Phoebe's entry in Glamour Category won 2nd Place and my entry in High School Senior Portrait category won 1st Place. Four of my entries also got Accolade of Excellence. What a blessing! We're inspired even more.. :)
1st Place - Sisters - Portrait/High School Senior category
2nd Place - Masquerade - Portrait/Glamour category
Fanny and Shang both studied at UC Berkeley, and it is just right to have their engagement session done in the campus to relive the old school days, where they first met and fell in love... and it all started when Shang borrowed an eraser from Fanny =). We had a lot of laughs during the photoshoot, we surely had a great time with this fun and easy-going couple. Here are some of their photos and don't forget to watch their cute slideshow at the end.
When writer Malou Liwanag-Aguilar told us, that the weekly Asian Journal (Northern California edition) would come out on May 29, 2009, we eagerly waited to get the first copy of the newspaper. We headed to the nearest Asian store and got a dozen (or so) =). We were blown-away when we saw the coverpage of the lifestyle section. There we are, our photos in full page glory, holding our cameras. We can hardly stop staring at it, ironically, us photographers have a few photos of ourselves on display, so we savor the sweet moment of being on the newspaper. =) Malou Aguilar writes, "...photographers could capture moments in a matter of seconds, and yet it would amount to a lifetime of memories. Marc and Phoebe Aviles, through their camera lens, continue to celebrate life in passion." A lot more of good stuff in there, and we're glad our clients are happy to see their photos on the newspaper as well. Read on...
Whenever I fly with Philippine Airlines(PAL), I always scan their in-flight magazine "Mabuhay", which has travel photography and articles worth staring at and worth reading. Last year, I had the chance to start working with PAL as a freelance photographer. I shoot assignments at SF, travel photos in Santa Cruz, and Monterey. It was like a dream came to reality when my photo of the Golden Gate Bridge made it to their Cover Page.
This time, in the month of June, the wedding season, I am glad that our studio got featured in Mabuhay. The magazine featureds cross-cultural weddings that we covered - Indian, Korean, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Chinese among a few.
One afternoon, I received a call from Marc, he can't contain his excitement, "Honey, ABS-CBN is going to feature us on tv! They are going to the studio today to have a short interview." I too was in panic, I checked my watch, just a couple of hours left, oh no, I have another bad hair day, no time for hair rescue, clothing change. What am I going to say? What are they going to ask? Restless. It's not everyday this happens, and we must be one of the most video-shy people in Bay area. Definitely we are not camera shy, but video?
ABS-CBN is a Philippine tv network, delivering news, entertainment and content from Manila and US through TFC (The Filipino Channel). The show which we would be on is called Pera Mo Pera Ko (Your Money My Money) and they feature new businesses in a 2-minute segment. Came the writer Mouse Munoz, who interviewed us and he immediately made us at ease. And the segment producer Sam Simbulan was as cool and nice. So here is the video that was aired, credits go to ABS-CBN's Sam and Mouse, for the wonderful edit =). Thank you guys, for this unusual opportunity. And for our good friend Sir Norman who brought our business to the producer's attention. (In the photo: left to right: Phoebe, Sam Simbulan, Mouse Munoz, Marc)
