Romance According To Rajo: Business Mirror, Life

My photos graced today's (09/15/2008) edition of Business Mirror in the "Life" section entitled "Romance According To Rajo" by C. Mendez Legaspi. I received an SMS from the author (C. Mendez Legaspi) about the article. I'm still waiting for my copy and check the photos in print myself.
During the Rajo Red! fashion show, I finally got the chance to meet the fabulous C. Mendez Legaspi. However brief, I was happy to finally put a face to a colleague who help me published some of my photos in newspaper. Much to my surprise he's also from Mindanao (Cagayan De Oro)! Small world indeed. Daghang salamat jud kaayo sa imoha. Thanks also to sir Dong Omaga-Diaz for introducing me to him.
Below is the article (click here for the link):

By C. Mendez Legaspi

‘I live for fashion! It is like air or water for me,” Rajo Laurel says with palpable passion. “Without fashion, I would cease to exist! I study it very closely. It is already part of me.” This assertion by the prolific designer was proven in an astonishing show at the Makati Shangri-La when he celebrated 15 fruitful years in fashion in a gala called Rajo Red! The fund-raising event, spearheaded by Laurel’s sister Venisse and his best friend and muse Tessa Prieto-Valdes, was for the benefit of the Makati Chapter of the Philippine National Red Cross. Directed by Robby Carmona, the show was presented by Globe Platinum, Sony Ericsson and the Makati Shang. Laurel’s 65-piece collection, varied and vainglorious, were heavily inspired by his archived journals painstakingly kept all these years. Romance and luxury—his avowed aesthetic—are the keywords that informed his accomplished collection, with exquisite fabrics like Italian silk, crepe de Chine, Bisque taffeta, beaded tulle, silk organza, silk gazaar all adorning his creations. “I have always been a disciple of Cristobal Balenciaga. Ever since I was a young designer, I was already in awe of his work. I have also been influenced by the great designing minds such as Geoffrey Beene, Azzedine Alaia, Gianfranco Ferre and Valentino,” Laurel says of his fashion heroes that he paid tribute to in his show. “I am also influenced by architects like Geoffrey Bawa and Tadao Ando.” To help him raise the needed funds for disaster management, Laurel selected 25 women special to him. Those that particularly inspire him? “I have always been attracted to women with character. I would have to say that Mrs. Imelda Cojuangco’s style is a big influence on me. My friends have a big impact in my designs as well, like Leica Carpo, Tina Maristela-Ocampo and Mandy Santos. However, it is my sisters that test-drive the designs and give me honest and grounded feedback with the work that I do.” The gentle designer demurs when asked how much was raised during the glittering evening. “Tessa and Venisse are in charge of the funds. I only did the show,” he says with a laugh. “Why so few red dresses? I did not want the show to be too literal! I wanted to tell a story, and I thought that I did not have to inundate everyone with red dresses. That would have been trivial and expected.” What lessons and insights has he learned after 15 years in a cutthroat business? “Humility and perseverance are very important in this line of work. I am blessed with a good team and this has taught me to take care of my people. Discipline is also a very important factor, as it is not always about art but a balance between art and commerce.” Besides his well-entrenched name among the country’s most sought-after designers, what is he most proud of? “I think winning the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. It’s a very prestigious award!” “I want to be in Vogue!” Laurel says with wishful glee. “I want the world to know how extremely talented we are in the Philippines! It is about time that they see more of our work. There is still so much that I want to do, and everyday I feel as if it is the first day of a fantastic voyage into fashion!” To keep his ideas fresh, current and modern, he “travels a lot, and I read a lot of books! I also recently discovered the computer and its powers, and this has been really occupying my time. I am a guest blogger in stylebible.ph. My blog is in the ‘Insider’s Fashion’ section. The Internet is really amazing!” So what’s next for the “phenomenal designer,” as he is introduced as a judge in Project Runway Philippines? “I really want to rest first; I feel like I did a fashion marathon, with the Fashion Watch Quartet show and the Red Ribbon cakes , followed by a collection for Plains and Prints, then Project Runway, then the Rajo Red! gala. I need to take a breather. Just like an athlete, I need to recharge and rest.” And what the fashion world can do is wait with bated breath.

Falling for Randy Ortiz: Business Mirror, Life

I received an SMS from C. M. Legaspi (writer of Business Mirror) that the photos I took during the fashion show presented by Samsung and Metrowear for Mr. Randy Ortiz entitled "Aspirer" graces the pages of Business Mirror today (09/08/2008). Please grab a copy of Business Mirror today (09/08/2008). Though there was no credit on the web version, I was told that the paper version does have my name on in. I have yet to check it because I haven't got a copy yet.

BTW, below is the article (Falling for Randy Ortiz) where my photos are shown:

By C. Mendez Legaspi

TWO decades ago, a discerning fashionable few fell for the neoromantic aesthetic of Randy Ortiz. Since then, the soft-spoken designer has attracted a larger following and remains well-loved in an “industry” notorious for its catfights, copycats and charlatans. To celebrate 20 years of a still-burgeoning business, his name firmly entrenched in the company of the country’s most admired designers, Ortiz unleashed his Samsung Metrowear “Aspirer” holiday collection recently at the Edsa Shangri-La to rapturous applause, A-list attendance and some unforgettable falls, and even more graceful rise from the ramp. “I’m relieved. I’m very happy. It was the culmination of my dream. It was my first major gala after 12 years,” Ortiz said a day after his talked-about showing. His last one, “Uncovered,” was directed by former supermodel Annette Coronel because his best friend, the director Jackie Aquino, was in New York at that time. After that, it was a series of small shows and group outings for Ortiz. But Aquino was on hand for “Aspirer,” the concept of which—from the inspiration, music and staging—was the brainchild of Ortiz. “We know that a fashion show is the call of the designer. But Jackie embraced my concept,” and the best buddies of 30 years presented a seamless blending of ideas to produce a show that evoked a nostalgic feeling long before it was over. “Aspirer is Latin for ‘aspire,’ which means to want or to desire for something,” Ortiz explained. What he aspires for is for his clients to be like his idols in cinema, to approximate their glitz, glamour and elegance. “We are so awed by the beautiful men and women of cinema who have captured our hearts,” he said. “With the red carpet as the canvas for my collection, I then took my references from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.” Ortiz derived heavy inspiration from The Valley of the Dolls, Twiggy, Jackie O, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, and from modern-day, red-carpet divas Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. When conceptualizing his menswear, he brushed up on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Beatles and American Gigolo. The look was achieved by the Patrick Rosas Team for Makeup Forever and L’Oreal Professionel, with accessories by Arnel Papa, and shoes by Pedro and Nicolo Junsay. A recurring symbol of his clothes was the rosette. “My fascination for the neoromantic can be interpreted through a flower, and the rose expresses a lot of emotions and it captures the romantic in a person,” Ortiz said. On the bodice, on the skirt, on the stage backdrop, the rosette was everywhere. John Estrada and Richard Gomez, who both gained fame and acclaim at the same time as Ortiz, lent their leading-men presence on the runway as they donned the designer’s formal ensembles. As proof of his appeal to the younger set, upcoming actors Rayver Cruz and Bea Alonzo also worked the ramp. In a subtle entrance, Alonzo came as the bride, radiant in off-shoulder silk organdy, patterned rosette in silk and pleated organdy texturized with embroideries. Why her? “Well, Claudine Barretto is married already, and Bea is the next It Girl. She has the height and a beautiful face. All the elements are there. She is such a darling.” This touching quality also endeared her to Ortiz even more, when during the curtain call, Alonzo slipped onstage. Shocked and mortified, Ortiz can only manage to murmur, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” To which the gracious celluloid star replied: “Randy, this is for you.” If the ABS-CBN camera crew were there, that could make for fabulous footage for the star’s Betty La Fea show. Early on, the overly gleaming ramp claimed victims from even the fiercest catwalkers. When Jo Ann Bitagcol and Ria Bolivar, the reigning queens, couldn’t keep their strides in sync with the music for fear of sliding unceremoniously in front of a well-heeled crowd, everyone knew it was a matter of time before someone fell flat. Then the always resplendent Marina Benipayo (in fiery red serpentina with electro-pleating detail and bodice in rosette-pattern embroidery) came gliding like the glamourpuss that she is, the audience thought the unforgiving ramp was conquered. Annette Coronel nearly slipped, but regained her footing quite beautifully. When her contemporary, Suyen Chi, the queen of the catwalk at their prime, came in a V-neck plunging neckline serpentina, energy was at an all-time high. There’s nothing like a señora who can give justice to a couture creation, after all. Then what was feared the most happened. The magnificent Ms. Chi stumbled and fell in a heap of silk taffeta. On reflex, she recovered in a split second, laughed at herself, posed for the cameras and played to the gallery amid raucous cheers and shrieks of delight. “Suyen, she’s a trooper and a diva! She is the reincarnated Miriam Quiambao of the ramp! I never knew there was a fashionable way of falling and rising,” Ortiz said admiringly. “I watched the show live. I didn’t want to be near the models because that would only make me tense. I have the manang to dress the girls and [designer friends] Anthony Nocom and Vittorio Barba helped with the boys, so I was already kampante,” Ortiz related. “There was great momentum. Everyone tried to really emote. Palaban lahat. I told the models before the show, ‘We should all have our moment. Savor it. This is not just my night. This is also your evening.’” Somehow, Randy Ortiz’s words came true. Despite the falls, Ortiz remains unfazed. “It was a live show. Things happen. [The falls] didn’t bother me in a negative way. I think the show was close to perfection.”

Out of Africa: Business Mirror, Life

Another set of the photos I took at the recently concluded Samsung Metrowear with the FDCP Trend Show were featured at the front page of the Life section of Business Mirror yesterday. I received a late SMS from the writer regarding the feature and went out to look for a copy. I've been sending SMS to my friends asking them if they've got a copy but to no avail. So I went out and look for one. I got my copy from a ministop in Aurora Blvd. (took me hours to get one because all copies were sold out already from other stores).

Again thanks to Sir Dong Omaga-Diaz for making this happen (thanks for the SMS too - informing me about it, even it's late you care to congratulate me). Thanks to God, my family, friends and colleagues.

The photos can also be seen online at the Business Mirror website. So if you fail to grab a copy just check it out online.

BTW, they give me credit for the photos this time. Below is the article:

By C. Mendez Legaspi

Photographed by Henry Anima II

Dong Omaga-Diaz feels like the morning calm. As the newly minted president of the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP), which counts among its members the most productive and influential creative minds in fashion design, he is basking in the successful staging of the group’s recent gala. “I’m elated with all the compliments I’ve been getting from friends and, most importantly, from the FDCP membership. This inspires me to continue weaving new dreams for the group,” Omaga-Diaz says. Much will truly be expected from him and the progressive group as last year its forecasts and inspired ideas were sorely missed on the runway. At the Jackie Aquino-directed Metrowear series show at the Rockwell Tent, with Bedouin-like tents placed distractingly in the middle of the runway, 24 FDCP members posited their “fashion innovations.” As is my practice, I pick only the 10 most interesting pieces from the pocket collections. To achieve a unified look, members worked on themes also reverberating across the globe today: Club Arab (think Casablanca, The English Patient,Morocco, Lawrence of Arabia, Queen Rania, Yasmine Aga Khan), Cold Africa (think Mogambo, Out of Africa, The African Queen, Ernest Hemingway, Charlize Theron) and Gaea, the goddess of the earth who bore and married Uranus, and became the mother of the Titans and the Cyclops (guess who the designers were thinking of when they crafted their clothes). But if you ask me, they could have worked on any of the assigned themes and we wouldn’t have been able to tell which was which. Ivar Aseron created for Bianca Valerio an oversized tweed jacket with gray pique top and pants. Vittorio Barba made a black hand-pintucked tulle sheath dress accessorized with stainless-steel bangles and red-patent gladiators, giving the fragile Grace Tagle a dominatrix edginess. Rocky Salumbides, fresh from signing up with the Ford Models agency, was a virile vision in Joey Samson’s gray wool and knit coverall with zipper details, utilitarian pockets and glove sleeves. The jacket gave a funky formal feel. I wondered where the showstoppers were—Dennis Lustico, Nono Palmos, Larry Espinosa. The three designers had resigned from the group. Still, the most theatrical of them all—Frederick Peralta—delivered the fabulous goods: silver sensations that Marlene Dietrich would have loved to be seen and photographed in. Gerry Katigbak dressed Lotus van Heddegem in two layers of silk chiffon in ecru and lilac, with emphasis on the kimona sleeves and geometric embroidery beaded bib, and brocade pants in beige. Randy Ortiz made Ria Bolivar a splendid peplum jacket with palazzo pants in plaid brown and taupe combination in linen wool with a detachable capelet. Two ravishing variations of the suit were created by Ramon Esteban (for the sizzling-hot Akihiro Sato) and PJ Aranador (for the half-Italian stallion Joe Ozbot). Inspired by the landscape and colors of the Sahara, Arcy Gayatin clothed Grace Tagle in a handpleated caramel jersey embellished with suede that she cut into honeycomb patterns with metal-watch components. It was fitting that Omaga-Diaz closed the gala on a high-flying note, with a fantastic safari-inspired tweed jacket paired with a lace ballskirt embellished with beads and feathers. After a rousing start, here’s hoping that the FDCP under Omaga-Diaz will regain its preeminence in the fashion front.

Me In Inquirer On my 6th Month As A Photographer

Today I celebrate my 6th month in photography and what a great gift to receive is to have the photos I took (at the recently concluded Samsung Metrowear with the FDCP Trend Show) gracing the pages of The Philippine Daily Inquirer (D4 section 07/11/2008 edition). It really made my day. Thanks to Sir Dong Omaga-Diaz for making this happen. Thanks to God, my family, friends and colleagues.

How To Multiply Thy Self

Eversince I posted that photo of multiple me, a lot have been asking how I did it. To answer all the questions all at once, here are the simple steps on how to do it:
1. Set your camera and lens to manual;
2. Take a couple of shots, placing yourself at different location. Make sure that the camera settings and location remains the same on all photos;
3. Open all photos in Photoshop;
4. Choose photo that would serve as your background;
5. Drag another photo (make sure you press shift key while dragging to align two photos together) to the first photo that would serve as the background;
6. Then after dragging the second photo into the first photo, the second photo should be on another layer on top of the first photo;
7. Add layer mask on the second photo;
8. Choose brush, choose color black (if your mask is white, otherwise if mask is black), paint on the second layer on the part where yourself is located on the backgroud photo;
9. Paint slowly and you'll notice that you can slowly see your photo appearing from the background photo even if you are painting on the second layer. Finish painting until you see two of you on the photo at different locations;
10. Click ctrl-E to merge the two photos;
11. Then drag the third photo and repeat the steps (from masking to merging);
12. Repeat steps to the rest of the photos. Finish.
Hope this workflow helps...

Headshot

After office I went directly to the gym then after 20 minutes on the thread mill I suddenly lost interest in working out. Maybe due to the very long day at the office and lack of sleep the night before. So I decided to eat two slices of chicken barbe-que, some fried noodles, half a cup of rice. Then I head home.
Since there's nothing much to do I decide to try my "do-it-yourself" soft box. I bought a flood light and put it inside a box and cover one end with tracing paper to soften the light that comes out of the flood light. And I think the output is ok. My skin seemed smoother and kind of flawless. Iba talaga pala ang nagagawa ng ilaw sa photo ano? No need to use clone and healing tools so I had more time concentrating on the kind of output I want to achieve ang worry less on blemishes.
Hehehe what do you think? Oks ba ang ilaw ko?

Nourish The Children

I was invited by Ruel Sarmiento of Nourish the Children program by NU Skin Enterprises to be the photographer of said activity at Bro. Macantog, Sityo Kutyo in Tanay Rizal, Philippines. This was one photos of the children I took who were given VitaMeal bags to address malnutrition. The experience was heartfelt and it opened my eyes that even in our own areas there are a lot of children who are suffering from malnutrition that most of us refuse to see and just ignore that fact. I am glad that I was able to help and I am hoping that through my photos I will create awareness of malnutrition and that we should do something about it. My photos clearly shows that these children are so enthusiastic and very happy despite their present situation. They easily welcome people who would like to help them. Next month, our team will be back to give more food and I hope I can bring some donations from people who would like to make a difference.

If you'd like to help and donate just try to contact me or Ruel to know where you could bring your donations. We are also planning to have an exhibit of the photos taken during our visit to create more awareness of the "Nourish The Children" program and we might sell copies of the photos and the proceeds will go the the said program. We are open to suggestions and tips on how to spread this program. Next month the team will be back to Bro. Macantog, Sityo Kutyo in Tanay Rizal to deliver more food and some donations that we will gather from you guys.

Hope a lot of you guys will respond. Tips and suggestions and of course donations are highly appreciated.

The team who went there last February 17, 2008 were Don Mebrano, Ruel Sarmiento, Pastor Jolly and sister Rose of Church of God the Living Stone, and I.