Portraits: Revisted

The challenge to return to the essence of our craft is game-changing. Inasmuch as mastering our craft entails coming home to the fundamentals of the art we pursue with the lenses we’ve developed throughout our creative journey, the pursuit of our passion constantly calls us back to the heart behind the art. But more often than not, the creative life is discouraging. The photographs we take are hazy portraits of reality, the screen is occupied by nothing more than a blinking cursor, and the artist is uninspired and exhausted. See, artists aren't wizards who wave their hands around to instantaneously produce art. They are patient and persevering collaborators of fleeting Inspiration, constantly finding balance between passion and necessity. The creative life isn't as magical as it seems, but that's why we need to go back to the essence of our craft.

After months of mindless creation, I've found joy in creating once again. What I've realized is that humans are natural storytellers and the pursuit of the creative life may simply be our reconciliation with that part of who we are. The moments I capture in photographs and the ideas I breathe to life with words are glimpses into the life I live and the experiences I’ve had. Maybe, that’s why I love marrying the two. Photography and writing are two different expressions of the same passion — storytelling. In the busyness of our pursuit, we can easily be discouraged and lose sight of that passion. But there is no greater encouragement to keep living creatively than to remember why you’re doing it in the first place. Coming home to the heart behind my art, I find myself renewed and eager to tell stories once again.

Photography by Luis Abesamis

Modeling by Monica Horca, Troy Angeles, Paola Menguito, and Jae Kim

Collaborate with me! Send me an email at 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Portraits Vol. 8

Pursuing my passions has been difficult lately. Having exhausted all my creative juices on all things academic and ministry, my passion projects have been left to collect dust while I recover from the demands of the past few months. For awhile, I thought I would never bounce back from this creative block. But God is gracious and faithful.

He sends people who find joy in our passions and speaks through them. He restores us with  encouragement from those around us. He creates opportunities for us to return to creation and as it is with salvation, reconnecting with one's creative nature is a beautiful, transformative process. My fears of being unable to create like I used to was pacified by the revelation that I don't need to create like I used to because I can create differently but still beautifully and purposefully. Because of that, I find myself renewed and ready to begin creating once again.

Thank you, Ian, for being one of the people who continually support my passions. This collaboration has been a blessing and working with you has been nothing short of fun. Until next time!

Modeling by Ian Lao

Photography by Luis Abesamis

Collaborate with me! Send me an email at 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Portraits Vol. 7

Sean and I have known each other for around six years now and since meeting him back in our first year of high school, our friendship has grown into something that has gone beyond timezones. He and I got to know each other in our third year of high school, talking about fitness and our support for each other's endeavors -- his racing and my blogging.

Since Sean began studying in the United Kingdom, meeting up whenever he came home became a tradition for us. Although he and I regularly talk online, there's nothing like seeing your friend face to face. Our conversations are always fun and interesting, but never without it being inspiring and encouraging. If you know Sean, you'll know how passionate and invested he can be with his hobbies. Talking to him about his passions has always been inspiring, reminding me that my passions are worth pursuing.

Thanks for letting me take your portraits, Sean. You were an absolute joy to shoot! I am beyond grateful for the incredible blessing of calling you a friend. Let's do this again some time!

Modeling by Sean Smith
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

Collaborate with me! Drop me an email at: 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Portraits: Reunited

Nearly halfway through the semester, I am grateful that only now do I feel burnt out. Only by grace have I gone this far without fully breaking down into a confusing state of emotional distress. For awhile, I have wondered what has changed in my situation that has resulted in this unforeseen endurance for the challenging chapter in my life called college.

I am brought back to the beginning of this year. Only two days after the new year dawned on us, I found myself amongst high school friends. Our reunion brought back joy that my heart had not experienced in quite some time. But it is in the unexpected grace that followed our reunion that I might find the answer behind the changed in my situation.

Their presence in my life has always been a source of joy and strength. Though the chapter in our lives have made it difficult to be as involved in each others' lives as we were back in high school, I am grateful that there has been grace in my situation.

Since the reunion, there has not been a week that has passed that I had not spent a significant amount of time around any of my high school friends. On days where our responsibilities as students have kept us from seeing each other face to face, social media has allowed us to continue to cultivate our relationships with one another. Through them, God changed my situation and brought to life new hope and enduring courage to face each week and the challenges it had along with it. 

No amount of words can truly articulate the gratitude I have for the people I am blessed enough to call friends. Thankfully, I am a photographer who finds joy in taking portraits which is why today, I am sharing a few portraits I took during my batch's reunion.

Portraits Vol. 6

There's nothing like making new friends in old acquaintances. We've all had someone in our lives who we've known for quite some time but never really had the chance to get to know on a personal level. Though Camille and I are more than just acquainted with one another, she and I only grew closer these past few months.

Camille and I were never in classmates in high school having only interacted with one another because we had the same circle of friends and attended the same church. But it's incredible what a couple of conversations can do. I've found that Camille's the kind of person you could easily be comfortable with and her jolly character is one that doesn't go unnoticed.

Framed closely to capture the finer details, the portraits ironically depict a different Camille from the one I've gotten to know. With barely any facial expressions, Camille is suddenly serious and reserved -- completely opposite of her usual outgoing and bright personality. Her stare is not intimidating, but engaging, giving you a glimpse of who she really is.

Taking Camille's portraits was incredibly fun. She's an easy model to shoot with and having her be a part of this passion project of mine is such a joy. Thanks for letting me take your portraits, Camille! I am beyond grateful!

Modeling by Camille Arcilla
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

Collaborate with me! Drop me an email at: 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Portraits Vol. 5

There's nothing like being with friends and my latest photoshoot with my friend Jeremiah Santos proved just that.

Since meeting Jeremiah five years ago, he and I have become really great friends. He's always been such a joy to be with and an incredibly easy person to work with. We did several productions together in high school and taking his potraits reminded me of all the fun that we had working together.

For this shoot, I didn't have any mood boards or themes in mind. All I had was my camera and at first, I was a little worried that I had no direction with the shoot, but after a couple of photos, I knew what kind of photos I wanted to take. I found myself drawn to fleeting moments such as the one in the last photo of the set. That photo was taken outside the Senate Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts. With just a bit of light coming through the overhead windows, it was really a photo just waiting to be taken.

I live for moments like that. There's a joy that comes from the unexpected but the beauty of moments like that is fleeting. Often times, one has to decide whether to capture those moments or to live in them. But this photoshoot with Jeremiah allowed me to do both and I am grateful beyond words.

Thanks Jeremiah for letting me take your portraits. I'm so happy and grateful I got to work with you on this. You're a great human being that I am beyond blessed to call my friend. Let's do this again some time!

Modeling by Jeremiah Santos
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

Collaborate with me! Drop me an email at: 📩 whatdoesluissay@gmail.com 📩

Portraits Vol. 4

Today's set of portraits features Elisa Aquino.

Ate Elisa asked me to take her photos for this project she was working on and of course, I said yes. I love taking portraits and to take the portraits of the person who inspired me to try portrait photography was a huge honor for me.

The shoot was fairly quick and easy. Ate Elisa styled herself and did her own makeup. She knew her best angles and how to model herself. She needed very little directing during the shoot. All I really had to do was take the photos. We projected her photos on a wall to get some color and drama in the shots. We played with two different photos -- one that was very dark and dramatic and another that was much more colorful but had a good contrast of light and dark colors as well.

In post-processing, I wanted to highlight the contrasts of colors and, of course, accentuate the shadows in the photographs. It was definitely fun sorting through all the photos, but these five are my favorite ones. I'm very proud with how they turned out and I was absolutely relieved when Ate Elisa told me she loved the photos.

Thanks for letting me collaborate with you on this, Ate E!

Makeup, Styling, and Modeling by Elisa Aquino
Photography and Post-processing by Luis Abesamis

For collaborations, you can contact me at: whatdoesluissay@gmail.com

Follow Ate Elisa on all of her socials!
Blog: shemakeshimknown.com
Facebook: @shemakeshimknown
Twitter: @elisabaquino
IG: @elisabaquino

Portraits Vol. 3

For this set of portraits, I had the privilege of having my friend, Ara Arellano, in front of the lens. Since publishing my last set of portraits, Ara contacted me wanting to collaborate on this little passion project of mine. I was surprised and honored that she contacted me to take her portraits especially since she was doing as her last project before her eighteenth birthday!

On the onset, I knew it would be a great idea to showcase Ara's theatricality because of her involvement in the theatre scene within the university. For her more emotional portraits, I decided to shoot with a plain background and make the photographs black and white because I wanted to really highlight the emotions in each shot. I've always loved black and white portraits because I felt they were even more impactful and effective in drawing the emotion from both the subject and the audience.

There's a window past our department's hallway that caught my eye that afternoon we were taking portraits. Because of the rain, the sky was gloomy but just the right amount that the shadows on the window made it the perfect scene for the next set of portraits. I wanted to focus more on Ara's vulnerability rather than her emotions for these shots and the lighting was really in our favor that day. I kept the color for most of these photographs because the colors were just too beautiful to turn into blacks and whites.

I'm so grateful to have been able to work with Ara for her birthday portraits. It was a delight and an absolute honor collaborating with her for this birthday project of hers. Thank you, Ara, for doing this with me. Until our next collaboration!

Makeup and Modeling by Ara Arellano
Photography by Luis Abesamis

For collaborations, you can contact me at: whatdoesluissay@gmail.com

Portraits Vol. 2

The rain was pouring that Saturday afternoon Nikita and I met up to take my next set of portraits. We found ourselves in Toby's Estate Ortigas, a coffee shop nearby the church she and I go to. It was like Nikita and I had our own little studio outside the shop that day. I've been inspiread lately by photographer Luke Fontana whose vulnerable and raw portraits of famous personalities I wanted to emulate in this set of portraits.

Nikita styled herself for this shoot as well as directed some of the shots. It was her idea to shoot in front of the yellow platform and the resulting photos turned out to be our favorites from the entire shoot. Taking her portraits was so easy and fun for me. She was absolutely game since the day I asked her to be a part of this passion project of mine and I am just so blessed to have been able to do this with her.

These portraits were really a collaboration between the two of us and so Nik, thank you. I am forever grateful. Here's to many more collaborations in the future!

Photography by Luis Abesamis
Styling and Modeling by Nikita Ligot