The search for the Metrofied 4 Life couple that will willingly carry that Metrophoto brand all their lives has finally happened. And it is with much pride that we share to everyone the behind-the-scenes of our little journey to have our Metrofied 4 Life couple carry our brand and share their lives and a long-lasting friendship that was built throughout this journey.

After announcing the details of the contest where we asked couples to have the Metrophoto Logo tattooed on any part of their bodies in exchange for being Metrofied for free on their wedding days, we were overwhelmed with the response. And as much as we would love to have everyone win and carry our brand, we could only choose two pairs. Our chosen winners, Anne and Jerome and Marielle and Emil, had their Metrophoto Tattoos engraved last month inside the Wild Ones Tattoo shop in Paranaque. Present were Jason Magbanua to create the video of the process while Eric and his team, Mark “Batas” and Arvin, went on to create the art. Karen and Bryan from the Make-up Studio of Madge Landrito-Lejano made sure that the couples looked fab.

We have a lot of photos from that day so let’s cut to the chase and enjoy the experience. Scroll down to the end to see the awesome video made by Jason just for this contest.

To know more about the Metrofied4life contest. Click here.

We met up with our Metrofied 4 Life couples at Chili’s Rockwell to have lunch and finalize what are plans were for the day.

It is with awesome pride that we present to you our Metrofied 4 Life couples: L – Marielle and Emil, R – Anne and Jerome

After our lunch, we headed to The Make Up Studio of Madge Lejano to have our couples dolled up. :)

We thank The Make Up Studio Team – Karen and Brian for making our couples looking fab that day! :)

Then off we go to the Paranaque City where Wild Ones Tattoo is located to have our much awaited tattooing of Metrophoto’s logo. Below is shop manager Eric Hotchkiss – yes, that’s his name.

The Metroman teams up with Jason Magbanua for the documentation of the whole tattooing process.

Upon arrival to the Wild Ones Tattoo shop, we discussed with Eric about the last few details before the tattooing process began. Well, of course, I had to make sure we all understand what exactly and where we’re all going to put it – this is one thing where mistakes can’t happen.

And now, all is set. We’re ready to have them inked on the couple’s bodies.

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! 

Mark “Batas” Rodriguez was the artist assigned to Marielle and Emil.

Meanwhile it was Arvin dela Cruz who inked both Anne and Jerome on the side of their bellies.

It was Marielle and Emil’s first time to get a tattoo and there were a bit of a tense moment because of the fear of the pain.

But have no fear, because the Batas is here. lol.

It was the third time for Jerome and the second time for Anne thus they were more eager to have it done :)

… and there you go! Marielle is metrofied for life :)

Short interviews after for the video and to make sure that no force or coercion was done in making this happen. hahaha.

Jerome and Anne’s tattoos took a little longer to create because of the location they had it put on but it looked awesome as well.

MERTOFIED for LIFE, L-R: Arvin, Anne, Jerome, Eric, Me, Marielle, Emil, Jason, Mark.

Finally, the cat is out of the bag. The ultimate wedding photo giveaway contest is here. Read-on on how to take part in this years Metrophoto wedding giveway.

The Metrophoto brand have defied odds to be one of the most recognizable and sought-after in the wedding industry. And now it is time to take it to the ultimate level and permanently ink that brand obsession.

Putting a twist to our traditional giving back, we’re upping the commitment, the exposure, and the stakes. The winning couple must agree to have the Metrophoto logo to be tattooed in any part of their body and literally be Metrofied for life. A renown tattoo artist we do the honor of creating the artwork. And none other than Jason Magbanua will come with the feature video of the selection and tattooing process :)

To join, please email us or even send us a video on why you deserve to win and which part of your bodies you will want to have the tattoos inked. The most unique and interesting submission will be chosen and will win the P250,000 worth of prizes.

The winning couple will win the following items worth P250,000.
- Complete wedding coverage by Oly Ruiz and the Metrophoto Team
- A 12×12 60-page Artisan Album
- A 10×10 60-page Velvet Collection Album
- An on-location engagement session by Oly Ruiz
- A 10×10 40-page E-session Album
- A 3D/2N honeymoon package in Thunderbird Resorts in Poro Point

Plus! feature video of the selection and inking process (including interviews) will be crafted by non-other than Jason Magbanua and will be featured all throughout different websites and publications.

Here are the guidelines:
Submissions can be in the form of an e-mail, a photo, or a video or any combination of the three.
The wedding date and venue of the couple has already been set and is no later than December 30, 2012.
Metrophoto should be available and in the country on the couple’s wedding date.
The wedding coverage will not include travel fees if the wedding is not within Metro Manila
All submissions must be sent to metro.photos@gmail.com
There must be a photo of the couple attached to each email submission
To give some time to think this through we’ll accept submission until midnight of October 14, 2011
All current and previous metrophoto couples are open to join*

The minimum size of the tattooed logo is 1 (one) inch in width
We will allow a little enhancement to the tattoo but not that will obviously defeat the purpose
The tattoo can be placed anywhere, but it must also be where the couple is comfortable enough to be able to show it during the inking process and video and photo documentation features.

In exchange, the couple must be willing to allow us to post their entry, put the logo in their bodies, and document and share the entire process to the world.

Please check www.mymetrophoto.com/metrofied4life for updates and details.

Let’s. Get. It. On!

Check out the photos from lat year’s wedding giveaway winners, Pipo and Chaz. Click here for their e-session photos :)

Lana: Daddy, why are you so happy?
Me: Because it’s your birthday today and we’re here in Boracay having our vacation and the weather is great!
Lana: (with the prettiest frown) Me? I’m so bored.

hahaha! that’s Lana. She’s direct-to-the-point, ruthless, aggressive, courageous, and wonderfully charming, sweet, and adorable and yesterday she just turned 4! :)

I just came from the most grueling schedule of my life from all around the US the last two weeks and nothing makes all of those worth every ache, every sweat, and every mile apart than knowing that I’m doing it all for my family :)

So enjoy these photos of Lana Oasis from Boracay! We can’t wait for our next one on Lance’s 7th birthday aboard an Alaskan Cruise :)

Hi Kuya! Don’t be afraid of the water, it’s just water. :)

After about a year and half of aggressively collecting the Starbucks City Mug collection (the 2008 icon series), I thought I have enough to be happy about – well at least for the moment. Plus, since my current set of shelves is already fully stacked, I decided it would be nice to post and share the collection here – something that’s not entire about photography this time but still about a thing that I’m passionate about.

I love coffee. I’d like to believe that I drink it so much that the caffeine doesn’t affect by hormones anymore to make me sleepy. I remember that as early as high school, my mom would make a pitcher or iced-coffee while I study for exams (not exaclly to keep me awake but more of my reward in exchange for not watching TV and staying home all day just to study). It has since then become a habit (the coffee and not the studying) and the introduction of gourmet/high-end coffees just made that habit more interesting. Right now, my lovely wife prepares different iced espresso-based coffee everyday for breakfast and it really is life’s simple pleasures.

I probably am the last person you’d expect to collect something. I’m unorganized, I really lose things easily and I’m also the type who gets bored with things fast. But this love for coffee, my obvious passion for photography, and my desire to travel the world make collecting these mugs very fitting. I’ve always wanted something significant to remind me of my journeys aside from the photographs that I take, and these were perfect. :)

So again, I’m happy to share this collection of mugs to my blog visitors, it is something that like everything else that I desire, pursue with great pride ands success :) hehehe. It will be also be worth reading some facts about he collection and the Starbucks mugs themselves, in the pointers below :) So enjoy and until our next great destination :)

- There are currently 268 kinds of these 2008 Icon Series City Mugs. And while there had been several releases since Starbucks made city mugs, this is the only series that I collect simply because they are beautiful if they are of the same series.
- My current collection is 69 mugs. 5 not shown here are from places I haven’t been to and 4 others I just got yesterday.
- I only collect mugs from the countries that I’ve been to. I have some mugs that were given to me as a gift but if I haven’t been to that place, I don’t put it up there yet.
- There are 10 mugs from the Philippines and I only have 7. Bacolod I will get this October and then I still have no idea when I’ll get Naga and Cagayan de Oro.
- There are countries that I’ve been to that don’t have Starbucks (Italy and India) and there are countries that don’t have the mug even if they have a Starbucks there (Japan and just recently Qatar came up with their mug).
- If I visit the city/country for another time, I’d likely buy another mug. These are extras that I trade with sometimes or those that we actually use at home.
- My very first mug is Hawaii and then Pike Place Seattle was the second. I thought then that I got two of the more unique mugs that I may never get again so that very thing inspired me to start the collection.
- I only had I mug that was broken and was my Phoenix mug. Which since then I have replaced and actually now have a spare.
- To know more about Starbucks mug collection, visit fred orange and be overwhelmed.

After the Metrophoto’s 2010-2011 wedding surge, the Metrophoto family got their long awaited time-off in Hongkong. It was such a wonderful and fulfilling moment to be able to spend real quality time with the family after almost not feeling Christmas with the many weddings we had. =) Thus it’s a most-fitting Valentine’s day post for me =)

So here are the fun portraits of the metrophoto kids, Lance Ocean and Lana Oasis all around Honkong =) weee!