Portraits: Beauty Queen Maggie Wilson

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I had the chance to take some shots of beauty queen Maggie Wilson a few weeks ago during the13th Annual Balloon festival a few weeks ago,. which I blogged about here. She was having a shoot with another photographer and from the looks of it, was for a fashion or glamour piece.
More of this story (and photos) after the jump.
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Maggie is this month's cover for FHM Philippines which you can find here.
It was 2pm and the blazing sun was burning my forehead. The balloons were replaced by kites as the heat of the sun could damage the balloons. Nothing really interesting, except for an exhibit from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, showcasing their guns, tanks, jets, missiles etc. I turned the corner outside teh exhibit building to check out the old military jeeps on exhibit when I saw Maggie sitting on top of one of the jeeps! Wow what a bonus. All of a sudden the sun wasn't a problem and I couldn't care less for my now sun burnt forehead. This was a chance that I wouldn't give up. She was nice enough to give me and some other photographers a few poses even if we were not really her actual photographer. She was very beautiful and a really good model too.


Some of the marines joined the action. A few good (and lucky) men indeed.

These are best seen larger. Click on the photos above to get a better view. This set is also part of my portfolio which hopefully will be up soon.

Update: for some reason, the pics above could not be clicked to enlarge. Sorry for that. You will still be able to see this set once the portfolio is up. Thanks.

Rates and Pricing: Why you should not Burn a Hole in your Pocket

I really think that you should only pay for two things: the physical output (photobooks, copy’s on cds, printed photos etc) and the photographer’s creativity. In my opinion, no one should pay more just because one is using ultra-expensive equipment. It’s not the camera, it’s the person behind it who dictates what he captures (okay a good camera and good lighting helps, but its still 95% photographer).
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Look at the photo below. I covered a Halloween Party last October. Aside from the camera, the only equipment I used was a business card taped to my camera's built-in flash to give the photo an even, 3D like lighting. Cost me almost nothing.

How about this photo of beauty queen Maggie Wilson? All I used was my camera and the sun and voila! Nicely shot fashion photo. Cost: next to nothing.

Right now I really don’t have any specific rates for any service. Just to give you a better idea on how much it will cost, I have prepared the following list. Nothing here is fixed, as the rate will depend really on your need. It could go higher or lower, (or who knows even for free). Better give me a call or shoot me an email so we can talk about it, as well as for details of the packages.

Events(Christmas, Corporate, birthdays, etc.) – php3000 for the first 4 hours

On Location shoot(Commercial, Fashion, Glamour, Portraits, etc.) – php5000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Products(for print ads, commercials, banners, etc) – php3000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Prenups – php3000/day (8hr shoot/day)

Weddings – shoot me an email

Portfolio(for models and aspiring models) – shoot me an email

Again all of these are not fixed. If you have any other specific need that does not fit those above, shoot me an email. If you have any interesting projects in mind, let me know.

Travel: 13th Annual Balloon Festival 2009

I recently went to see the 13th Annual Balloon Festival in Clark Pampanga (that's in the Philippines, for those readers from outside the Philippines) to take a break from my day job and relax a little. I went with my wife, who has dreamed of taking a ride in one of these balloons.

More after the jump.
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I inquired with one of the "pilots" (didn't if this was what they were called) and he said it'll cost us Php 8000/person (about USD$40). Not really a bad deal if you look at it. Then I learned that this does not include any insurance if the balloon ride turns into a thrill ride. I have seen a lot of vids from tv and the net showing balloons crashing, burning while in the air, and getting tangled into street electric cables.

I went back to my wife and told her the most believable excuse I could think of: that they don't allow people to join the flight unless they're properly trained. She believed me. I did tell her later on that I lied, and told her the risks involved.


I was surprised that she wasn't a little bit angry. She later told me that she would like to go bungee jumping instead (yikes).

It was a fun and relaxing day nevertheless. Plus, I got to see (and take some out takes) a photo shoot with model/actress/host/beauty queen Maggie Wilson. Did not know who the photographer was, but I'll post a separate piece on this and post the photogs pic as well as some more photos of Maggie.
As always you can click on the all the photos to get a bigger version for your viewing pleasure.