walk this way

Rhett is in charge of finding the photographer, since he is the photographer. He chose Studio Wedding Story, run by David Sung who did his sister and friend's wedding. Mr. Sung looked younger than the last time. Then again, our memory may be going, that was 5 years ago since last we saw him.

His English isn't very good, but he demonstrates how he wants you to turn your head, angle your body by doing it himself and having you mimic him. Plus he looks for the slightest details, the touch of the angle and adjusting us til we pose just right before taking the picture.

I learned a great deal about posing. Many of my poses were actually very off balance: angled body, standing on one leg, leaning in while keep my back straight. Chin down so it makes me look up. Looking up ensures my eyes are really open, plus it diminishes the bags under the eyes. Some poses felt like yoga moves, sit with my feet one way, twist behind me, turn my neck, chin down, then smile.

I had to keep my elbows away from my body. When there's a gap between my arm and body, it makes the body look thinner, which is why Julie Andrews looks so thin when she stands there with her elbows up. My other arm would be arched back a bit to keep my shoulder from rolling in and slouching. You ever see those old Philippine photos that have a group of women dressed in traditional wear and they are kind of sitting on one leg, slightly turned their arm arched slightly behind them? That is the pose! I never understood how or why they pose like that. The older generation of Philippine women pose like that naturally. It's like instinct for them.

Unfortunately my hair was parted in a way that it kept crossing in front of my eyes and I had to keep moving it out of the way. Glad I'm getting an up do for the wedding.

When doing the hand on the face to have that day dream pose, you're not actually holding your face in your hand. It's just slightly grazing. Fingers too must always be cupped together like the beauty queen waves because separated fingers don't look good in photos.

In the couples photos, we had to lean our bodies to keep our heads close, many where we had to stare at each other nose to nose. Rhett had to take off his glasses so most of the time he couldn't see the instructions Mr. Sung was giving him, so I had to cue him in.

We did a couple of hours in the studio. One where Rhett is wearing Barong Tagalog and me in a gown, relatively monotone and beige. Then another where we are both wearing malongs full of bright blues, purples and reds. Then we travelled to Santa Monica to the 3rd street promenade to take advantage of the large sunflower photo next to Papyrus and various other settings like the street vendor blowing bubbles, and the metal cafe tables. But 3rd Street is a tourist spot so we had to hold poses and wait while tourists just meandered in and out of the frame. They seemed to walk and wander with dazed looks on their faces overly stimulated by LA. Good thing we didn't care about the people watching.

The photos should be done in a week. They'll send us proofs then. I can't wait for the package to arrive. 66 days to go.