I was worried about Hagupit/Ruby ruining our shoot. But the weather turned out great, and I had a blast photographing Gian and Chesa's two month old cutie, Hugo, at their home.

Here are some of my favorites from my morning with Hugo, Gian and Chesa.

Thank you so much, Gian, Chesa and Hugo, for letting me into your home and allowing me to capture your growing family!

During my maternity leave, in between nursing and making decorations for Nate's christening, I would take pictures of our newborn. There was a duality in that setup. I was the photographer, but being the mother of the newborn, I was also the client. The photographer sees the shot as an artwork, and rarely has a connection with the subject. But the mother sees the shot as a documentary--a way to freeze the moment and immortalize her memories of her child. It was then, under that duality, that I slowly began to figure out the style of photography that I want to pursue:

Portraits with a photojournalistic approach. Pictures that reflect the lifestyle and personality of the baby/child/family. Shots that document the moments that the parents wish to remember forever. Images that are as natural as possible. Lifestyle portraiture under natural lighting.

These are the kind of pictures that I want to have of my own growing family. These are the kind of photos that I would frame or make an album of. Not the Photoshop-ed baby with perfect skin and zero blotches. Not the postcard perfect family that I would not even recognize was my own.

I started by taking pictures of Nate. Now that I am also doing photo shoots of other families, I thought it would be apt to share the pictures that I took of Nate when he was just weeks old. Here is my set on the classic "sleeping naked covered by a textured blanket." I no longer removed the baby pimples and the molting skin because I wanted to remember him exactly the way he was when these pictures were taken.

Here is hoping there are other parents out there who also appreciate the kind of niche photography that I want to pursue, and maybe they would let me take photos of their family.

My fifth and last submission to the 5-day black and white challenge. I finished the challenge! Yey!

Incidentally, happy birthday to my uber cutie nephew, Cobiaski! We love you!!!

My fourth submission to the 5-day black and white challenge:

My third submission to the 5-day black and white challenge:

Second submission to the 5-day black and white challenge:

I got a Fujifilm X-E1, which I have nicknamed "Ewan," specifically to take nice pictures of my growing family with shallow DOF. But when it came to choosing which camera to lend to the hospital staff who will document my baby's delivery, I figured that Fiji (my trusty Fuji X10) would still be the better camera, since Fiji’s EXR mode is absolutely awesome. It turned out to be a good move! This my tender moment with Nate captured by the hospital staff.

I am his first kiss!

IP Shot: Who owns the copyright over this photo? Here, the general rule applies: the author owns the work. So the hospital staff who took the photo owns the copyright over the photo. Why do I have the right to use it? If not implied consent, then I would argue fair use. :)

Fiji has a lot of fun "Advance" features, like the "Pro Focus" feature. This is pretty tricky because of the "fringing" effect. Because of that, it is really just a "toy" feature. But I like the softness it added to this shot of my nephew, Chibi DyDy.

At the Kota Kinabalu airport while waiting for our flight back to Manila. As usual, our Cebu Pacific flight was super late and my little friend here was not too pleased.

"Padyak All The Way" or "PATW" is a biking jargon in the Philippine bike scene which means to pedal ("padyak") all the way from your house to your trail destination, as opposed to loading your bike on a car rack and driving from your house until the trail head.

This is my mom with my nephew, trying to catch some early morning sunshine. She is now a grandmother to six cuties, my son included. She and my late dad absolutely loved hanging out with the kiddies--an activity they called "APOstolate" ("apo" means grandchild in Filipino).

Taken at the Maxwell Food Centre near Chinatown, Singapore. I love how comfy they are while dining, chatting and chilling.