Isay Berroya

For someone who loves taking pictures, I come from a family who wouldn't sit still long enough to have their pictures taken. I guess that goes with the mentality that having the service provider at your disposal anytime means not having the need to have your portraits done unless its an emergency (like they need an I.D. picture for a document or something - or its a birthday or a family occassion). So imagine how thrilled I was when my youngest sister Isay, FINALLY agreed to pose for me!

I fashioned her into a chinese doll since she is the only one in our family who got my mother's chinky eyes. I enjoy doing this since I know these pictures will be cherished for years.

This portrait now sits on our wall going up the stairs, printed in humongous proportions for everyone to see and Isay (though she vehemently denies it) loves it.

Vanessa Ramiscal-Dulalia

Vanessa and I go way back. We've been friends since the start of grad school. It's a joke we share when someone asks how long we've been friends, we look at each other and laugh. Because we're reminded that we've been trying to finish our Master's degree for years now and slugging it through finishing the thesis - the last and final frontier. Vanessa finished hers last year, now she's my cheerleader, egging me on to finish mine.

Van and her husband Jek, have been wanting a child for some time now. So it was such great news, when Van found out that she was pregnant. I drove all the way to Bulacan to celebrate the wonderful news! And the 2 month old pregnant mommy already wanted to have her maternity picture taken. Ha! Big question: how do you do a maternity portrait without a bulging tummy? So we compromised and I took her portrait instead, along with her puppy and finally with Jek.

Can't wait for the time she starts showing.