The Yellow Roadtrip: SAVE THE DATE! by Maloy Ardieta Photography

One of the things we are so blessed about is that we are surrounded with so many talented friends!

Joseph Marlon Ardieta (aka Maloy) is a famous photographer from Iligan City. You may ask how come we know him if both D and I are from Luzon. Maloyski is an old boss. Waaa not old as in literally old (well if we consider the state of his hair, maybe! :P). He was D's boss from our previous work. He is also a great friend of ours. He taught us many things during our stay in Laguna - professionally and emotionally! haha

Considering how he has been a part of who we are now as a couple, we got him and his wife to be our principal sponsors. And good thing we did because he offered to do our engagement session! Yey! But since we have our official photographer, we opt to use his photos for our Save-the-Date.

We initially planned to go to Iligan, but after Sendong, we decided to postpone it. But whew God is so good that he gave Maloy lots of projects here in Manila! He contacted us right away so we got ourselves ready to be Maloy's supermodels!

Come February 13, we travelled all the way to Los Banos Laguna (Maloy's home town). The rain almost stopped our plans, but we were persistent. So off we go to UPLB campus. We were initially eyeing on a bus stop setting (sort of like waiting for a bus to our roadtrip), but we cannot find a decent bus stop in the area, so we utilized Maloy's and our artistic instinct to search for another option.

Maloy (who have known UP since his younger years) took us to a very intimate chapel inside the UP forest. We were awed by the greens we saw. It was magnified to the greenest of the greens due to the rain. Since some part of the chapel is covered, we have successfully finished some shots there.

Next stop, National Arts Center - it looked like an amphitheater to me, well i guess it is :). Maloy said it is a building that Marcos funded to build. We took cover under its roof because it started to rain hard, but we never wasted our time to capture the foggy ambiance! As soon as the rain stopped and we thought we (I mean the camera!) can handle the drizzle, we put ourselves to work!

Dapat daw may emo picture eh...

On our way up, D noticed a road that is worth the camera's click. And hell yeah! It's our desired 'long and winding road'! We asked for a bit of sun so we can shoot, and our prayers were granted! Yay! I wasn't able to bring my sunglasses, imagine how hard it is to look at the sun. aww

And because of the perfect facade and to satisfy our desire to capture the road at its best, we agreed to 'trash the dress'. The sun did come out, but the road was still wet. Wapakels na!

The experience was totally liberating! But it was worth every single hardship. And we have learned a lot of things:
1. Even if you just plan to have one particular setting in mind, always bring extra set of costume.
You'll never know when you'll see a perfect place. Sometimes it happens when you already finished a certain location. so imagine your dismay when you have to use the same clothes on a different location. eeww
2. Always bring a source of refreshment - fan, tissue, food and water!
Modelling is a total workout! You will use every muscle to make that couture pose!
3. It is always good to practice your poses and your smile.
We played the raw pictures after the shot, and I noticed that my poses were almost the same! waaa
4. As much as you can, make friends with your photographer before the shoot.
We never had a hard time posing because we were comfortable with our photographer friend. The case will not be the same if you hardly knew your shooter. Awkward? I'm guessing more.
5. Your ideas and suggestions matter.
It is your wedding, so naturally your wishes should come true. Always say what you like and give comments if you want. Photographers, just like normal people, also experience artists' block. So help them.
But don't overdo it, let them still have their artistic freedom. After all, we hired them because we like their style, right? So let them do it their way.
6. Always show Love! Love! Love!
Our photographer admitted that he watches wedding pix by Metrophoto before every wedding gig to make him inspired, so I guess it is just right to spend some time with your honey before the shoot and feel the love.
Make sure to look into his eyes also! It will not be called 'the window of the soul' for no reason, right? So go indulge yourself with the love from your lover's eyes. You will be surprised with the captured moments. :)