Going Japanese

My February 27 didn't begin with the daily tug of war between my sleep and will to get out of bed. I don't know how it began at all, I didn't sleep the whole night finishing a powerpoint presentation due the night before. Blame the chronic crammer in me, procrastinating has always been a favorite past time. And I couldn't thank this sweet friend of mine enough for accompanying me the whole night until I managed to finish the presentation with barely a wink of rest on our eyes.

Despite having half a brain left functioning for me that day, I went to the photo shoot I promised Jon, yes the same Jon Zuniga who took my first ever cosplay photos. I acknowledge that I am by no means any good in being model, in fact I've never really believed that photogénie ever worked on me. With Jon's permission, I invited my other friends who are more accustomed to the camera than I can ever be.

We agreed to do two themes for the shoot, a boho theme and a Japanese/ Korean student theme. Grysh sent me these pegs - (A) and (B), so I can have an idea what to wear and how to act. Honestly, my mind goes blank when I am asked to strike a pose - I'll always end up with the peace sign, which has become the universal pose for people who have no idea what to do in a photograph.

Anyway, enough self-bashing, let me introduce my friends, together with their photos..
Location: DPI Photo Center, Mandaluyong City

Grysh is no stranger to photography, whether it is being in front or behind the camera, she has been exposed to the art enough. A ramp model, an art inspiration, a cosplayer - she already has a following. With this in mind, I trust that she wouldn't mind being in another photo shoot (with us, noobs).





Grysh brought her sister, Michelle to the shoot. It was Michelle's first shoot, but with her sister's guidance and support, she managed to fight off her diffidence and strike a couple of unabashed poses. To help, Jon took a couple of photos of the sisters together.



I also invited Stephanie Obiles, a bubbly and enthusiastic girl who seems to be on Red Bull 24/7. Her energy level is beyond words and beyond what my sedentary and lethargic ways could ever achieve. She admitted to having dreams in front of the camera, and with that, makes her a perfect candidate for the shoot (to keep any attention away from me, hehe). She was so alive that it seemed that she wanted to strike a new pose every other millisecond. I was generally awed by her snappiness and quick thinking, she really did her homework.




Lastly, my photos. I decided to just throw in my boho shots, which are not really boho, but just vanity shots of myself. My Japanese student look is posted below though. To be honest, I'm not particularly confident with myself, and just tried to do whatever I could in that 5 minute interval under the light. To add, with my lack of sleep, I was pessimistic throughout the whole shoot. I'm sure for a real photographer, they might as well say that I didn't stick to the theme, but honestly, I don't know how to act or appear bohemian - I just got whatever I thought was apt in my closet and stuck it into my duffle bag.




With my sister's guidance, I was able to put together a Japanese student look. Most of what I was wearing for that part was borrowed. The vest is Michelle's, the wig is Stephanie's, the wayfarers are Grysh's and the skirt and socks were my younger sister's. Thank you guys. I should have gotten the boots too. Oh well. Anyway, here are our group shots in Japanese school girl garb.




It was fun playing dress up with these girls. Now I miss having someone to play dress up with. Kind of makes me look forward to Halloween when it's mostly acceptable to be wearing the weirdest stuff you don't get to parade around in on normal days.