While others hit the beach, traveled out of town, or made their own reflections and confessions during the Holy Week, I, on the other hand, did the 7 deadly sins. I SHOT the 7 deadly sins, that is.
Since I was on a staycation in Manila and didn’t have any plans for the long weekend, I became busy brainstorming concepts for Zone V's contest this April and convincing my friends to model for me. Oh, I didn’t have to convince them. They were more than willing to do it for me. “Wish our jobs were like this, ‘no? We just have to sit, let the make-up artist put our make-ups on, iron our hair, and pose for the camera, that’s it!” said one of my friends while we were shooting. It was like I was the one giving them a favor—allowing them to do what they love to do, while I was also doing what I love to do.
It was my first studio shoot ever and I never thought I would enjoy it so much since I’ve usually done travel photography all this time. Argent Dulce, with his wife Chi Dulce, let us rent their White Box Photography Rental studio in Binondo, Manila where we did the shoot that Good Friday. Chi did a great job with the make-up of the girls and she even did re-touches and make-up changes in between sets. Argent and his assistant also gladly assisted me in setting up the lights, props, IR trigger. He made it easier also for me by telling me the camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, aperture). (Argent, by the way, is also a photographer). Their 80-square meter facility is actually quite complete: strobe lights, standard reflectors, light railings (ceiling rack), and other modifiers, plus a make-up room. This time, it’s a controlled environment without waiting for the sun to set or a perfect moment to arrive. Everything was under my control.
Since I couldn’t make up my mind which of the seven sins to shoot in particular, I decided to do ALL and just chose my favorite shots. I did Sloth, Envy, Vanity, Anger, Gluttony, Greed and Lust. The girls and I brought props and clothes and I already had like a storyboard or pegs for each sin which I emailed to Argent and Chi prior to the shoot. I knew I had to come up with unique ideas for each. I made ready our poker set and real money for Greed, and Yellow Cab pizza, chocolates, and chips for Gluttony (which we happily finished all!). Our last set was Lust and we almost didn’t do it since we were quite drained already that afternoon. My friends also had a special request not to post those set on Facebook (they knew it would cause some controversy for their part). Nevertheless, I still decided to go for it while agreeing to keep them for our own eyes—and for Zone V’s—only. We were giggling our heads off! My two STRAIGHT friends were trying hard to contain their laughter in those photos.
I didn’t realize it would be harder for me to choose photos since I had to sift through a couple of hundred shots. I finally came up with my top choices for my entries with the help of some comments of my friends in my Facebook album: Gluttony (a girl seated on the floor devouring pizza and chips) and Greed (a girl betting in poker). But my gut feel was telling me to submit Lust instead of Gluttony. After a long debate with some friends and with myself, I gave my Greed and Lust entries.
I never imagined my Lust entry would make it on the Top 5 entries! (And I heard my Greed was on the Members’ Cup). Sometimes it’s just really the choice of your photo entries. I went with my gut feel. Yeah, you should go for what your heart tells you. That won’t hurt.
It was a whole different adventure that Good Friday for me. At least we weren’t exactly sinning… We were just shooting. And who would have thought I was shooting winning shots? It was a good Friday indeed.
PS. Wondering what my Lust shot entry? It was two girls about to kiss each other... (Sorry, can't post it here...)
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WHITE BOX STUDIO
Unit 1004, World Trade Exchange Building
Call 871-1659 or text 0917-5721004 for more details
Title: The Scenic Boracay Sunset
Title: The Next New Wonder of Nature 
