Adrian Tecson

We call him Aids, and not only because that is the abbreviation of his name but I'd like to think also because he is contagious. hahaha or at least his light yet fun demeanor (those show in the portrait he created for me below). Aids is a very good friend of mine from the Pipho Org. He is also the overall manager and part-owner of Underground Logic (a company that creates the most awesome video commercials) and his landscape photos are out of this world! =) Ann Francisco

Ann Margarette is half of the Francisco sisters to whom I have been great friends since my heydays with Intel. She was my insider contact in Canon while she was still there. hahaha =) Beng Francisco

Yes, that's was a giveaway. Amabelle Claire or Beng is the half that completes the Francisco sisters (don't they have such cool names?). Beng is one of my best friends from Intel and is probably one of the people that I have kept as good friends for a looong time. =) She's into photography but she loves dollying-up people more - where she's very good at. She did my make-up for Rommel's portraits about 20 photos below =) The best thing about this shoot? Her treat of delicious cupcakes from Sonja's. Carlo Nasol

He's the doctor of Pipho. And not just any doctor, a plastic surgeon. Can you imagine that? That's the closest I can get for a discounted liposuction of my bulging middle part (my stomach that is). Doc Carlo has his "A Bokeh a Day" project and of course this shot if me goes in there too. =) Dave Deluria

I like to call him the mastermind. More than his talent in photography (festivals are his favorites), he is the brain and the guiding light of all of us in Pipho. His version of portrait are more of the candid type as evident in this one that he had of me. Dino Lara

Sir Dino is the one, among all the 30, here that has the most significant impact in be being a wedding photographer. I have attended his workshop before when I was still a juvenile in photography and didn't know what to do or which path exactly to take. His simple yet unbelievably meaningful approach to wedding photography as both art and as a business is probably the inspiration to everything that I have done in my short career. His talent, generosity, and resolve puts him in my book as one of the best ever. Ed Pingol

Ed is a rockstar photographer in the Bay Area. He's so freakin' awesome and popular that almost everyone I talk to knows him. Wait till they discover that he's such a nice guy too! It's almost unbelievable that we got the chance to work together for a couple of weddings this year. And for those opportunities, where I was both pressured and star-strucked, Im very thankful. Edlin Roguel

There are a couple of things that Edlin taught me when I was starting photography that I will never forget. He taught me how to spot meter properly and he taught me how to the photoshop techniques of making the eyes sparkle. hahaha. This could be obvious in the photo he did for me where you can see how intense my eye are and how finely-built by body is. hahaha. Edlin occasionally shoots for metrophoto in our weddings. Erron Ocampo

Erron is one of the first people from the wedding industry that I got to know when I was starting out. He's a really nice and talented guy. For this shoot he and Jesy had to bother some people just for us to get that nice "CSI" look in the photo. Francis Yllana

Francis is part of the Metrophoto team. He's a vital piece in creating wonderful images during our wedding coverages. Ever since he joined the team for good early this year, we have upped the overall quality of our shots because of his talent and dedication. Not to mention he's a mother-of-the-bride or a bridesmaid favorite because of his boy-next-door looks. hahaha. Jo Avila

Sir Jo is a top-caliber photographer. I wasn't even sure that he'd say yes when I requested (well, more of pleaded) if he can take a portrait of me. I was stoked of course when he said yes, after all he is the "pinakamagaling". His quest of always being the best has always been a great inspiration for me. As he did in his shoot of me, he had me bring different things about myself and he asked me if I can burn all of them as the concept of "letting go". hahaha. I was like "are you kidding?" apparently, he wasn't. But since I was unsure, he had a alternative concept which is as good and is what you can see below. Johann Sy

Johann is like a teddy bear. Only, he's not brown nor sphere-eyed - he's more of like the Chinese version of it. =) He's a nice, lovable, huggable guy in Pipho that always happens to have all the best gears ad gadgets that's available. John Mateos Ong

I consider Sir Jong a tycoon when it comes to wedding photography. His influence is vast, his talent is great, and above all his faith is extraordinary. It's inspiring how he helps spread the word through photography and how he develops people that are also both rich in talent and in faith. Talking about faith, I had to use a lot during his shoot. I'm very much daunted by the idea of plugging and electricity, thus you can imagine how I must feeling being wrapped by china-made christmas lights. hahaha Jolan Antonio

If it were not for Jolan, I wouldn't have ventured into photography. Years ago, Jolan would bombard all his friends with emails of his gallery with photos of just about anything. And they were awesome - he was just using 3 megapixel camera but the images were awesome!. Awesome enough to inspire me to get into photography as well. Joseph Leh

Leh has grown to be one of my good buddies in Pipho. He and Ela are fun to talk to and it seems that we all tend to agree on certain things - business among many others. In this shot he used one of the flash transmitters that he sells to make me look like a superhero - and heck it works ;)

Karl de Leon

Karl is the K in M+K. They are the couple that produces captivating wedding images and are one of the most sought-after in the industry. As fellow iskos, we decided to shoot in UP for my portraits. Can you guess where this one was taken? =) I bet you who frequent UP would know. Karl Orteza

Arguably the most popular person in our online forum, www.pinoyphotography.org/forum. KNJO is the Adam Sandler of the Philippines and will never run out of things to say or talk about - which is both good and bad. hahaha =) He is also a shooter for metrophoto when I'm in desperate need for a photographer. hahaha. I'm kidding. He's a fun guy and a good photographer =) Ken Go

Sir Ken is my lighting master. Almost everything that I know about lighting in photography, I learned from his workshops. His approach is straightforward and downright effective. It's a plus that he tends to be funny too! hahaha. Madge Lejano

Madge Lejano the photographer is different from Madge Lejano the superstar make-up artist. The latter is awesome but the former is awesomer. hahaha. Im kidding of course. What's true is that Madge also knows how to take beautiful photos and will and can serve as a potent back-up in emergency situations. What's more is that she's also taking styling for shoots to another level. =) Madge did the styling and make-up for her shot below (yeah, that's me really soaking in a bathtub) plus the shoots of Dino Lara and John Ong. Mark Bustmante

Mark or Squiggly is also one of my friends from Pipho. When I put him up to the challenge of being one of the 30 photographers, all he needed was 2 minutes and probably 3 shots to make this possible ;) Mimi Abesamis-de Leon

Mimi is the M in M+K, also known as Mimi and Karl and also known as Fotogra. Mimi just delivered a bouncing baby girl, Katy, last week and she was at the height of her pregancy during this shoot. But what the heck, she had a great hot of me =) Nelwin Uy

Nelwin is one of the premiere destination wedding photographers in the country. He's a nice and very talented guy who great to hang out with.... well, if you get the chance - he's as busy as the PAL hotline. =) hehehe. I had to really squeeze into his schedule for my portrait shoot because he was leaving again for Hawaii. The reason the shot has a square cropped is because Nelwin used a medium format film camera to shoot it. It also made me look 10 years younger. hahaha =) Orlee Ninon

Orlee is one of the seniors in Pipho and one of the mainstays when it comes to winners in photo contests. I love tagging along when I can with him and Willie whenever they have their photo sessions of whatever subjects in UP. =) Pat Dy

Pat is a rockstar. That's both literally and figuratively. He's a rockstar photographer that graces the top magazines in the Philippines and also a real rockstar whenever he performs with his band. His long shiny hair all the more rub it in. hahaha =) I ambushed Pat in his studio for this shoot and all he needed was a few shots and a few poses and viola, a photo of me fit for a magazine cover. Raffy Yllana

Raffy is my business partner and Francis' dad. For some parts he is also somehow a 'dad' to me too (hahaha, I meant that in a good way). He's passionate and smart with the things that he do and he's also very easy to work with and get along with. He gave me one of the best speeches in his toast during the I-M-30 party, which I'm very grateful for. The concept for his shoot below is me being on top of a building - a metaphor with me reaching the top. cool =) Randall Dagooc

Randall is a slice of the famous Mangored brothers. What they did and what they are doing with the art of wedding photography is unprecedented. They did not just take wedding photography to another level, they took it, painted it red and made it revolve in an entire new planet. Similar to what he did for my shoot below, stripped me, painted me red and made me look awesomely different in a cool work of art. =) Regie Fernando

Boss Regie is the owner of the forum pinoyphotography.org/forum. Between him and that site, they have probably contributed half to the boom of the photography industry in the country and has made thousands of us photographers. The success of both Regie and the forum should be attributed to their generosity and passion, something rarely seen nowadays. =) Regie's minimalist approach to taing photographds has made him successful for years, as seen in the style of the portrait he had of me below. Rommel Patulot

Chax is an integral part of Metrophoto, he has been my partner since the very beginning when times were tough and bookings we're pathetic. He's nice, sensitive, supportive, and hardworking and part of the success of metrophoto has been because of those. =) Needless to say, no matter how I seem to oppose the idea of me dressing-up as a clown and going inside a carnival, I knew I had to do it because that's what he wanted. hahaha. Loved how it turned out though. Thanks also to Beng for doing my clown make-up for this shoot =) Ryan Dagooc

Ryan is the other slice of the delicious Mangored brothers. =) His photo below is like a dream... all wrapped in stripes with my pillow under the rain. Willie de Vera

Sir willie is the only Nikonian that I allow to shoot with us during weddings because he is that good. hahaha. Also one of the seniors in Pipho, he's very talented and his passion for photography is almost unparalleled.