Fast (Food) and the Furious

Welcome to the Fast (Food) and the Furious blog post, which was supposed to be called "Cute Chicks and Fast Food" because I'm a cheeky brat who wanted to be straightforward, but the current title of this shoot was more fitting because one: obviously, this involves fast food. Two: the word for that afternoon was 'enggry', which is basically angry. No, we weren't mad. We just have a lot of feelings so we manifest those feelings in consuming food like everyone else.

You may or may not be able to tell, because that may depend on your K-pop knowledge, but this shoot was inspired by EXO's XOXO album shoot. The part with food. Because K-pop has taken over even this aspect of my life. To be honest there really is nothing special about this shoot because just how many photographs are there of chicks eating food with flash photography? Nothing unique about it, but it was still fun to do. I've done several shoots with this kind of lighting though, so there still just a tiiiiny bit of me innit (not that I'm reputable for this kind of lighting in particular, nor am I reputable for anything, nor do I even have a reputation to begin with), except the concept was obviously inspired by XOXO. So I guess this is the Camanina take on that part of the XOXO album shoot.

In short, this short made me hungry because I've been craving sweets really bad, donuts especially. And chocolate, but just sweets in general. Enjoy.

Thank you Camille for shooting with me twice that day, and thank you Ana for consuming pastries even if they weren't going to help you with your then-predicament. I love you both!

Street Smart (Outtakes)

Just some spare shots from the Street Smart shoot that I wanted to share that were either too redundant (like the blue wall shot) or were so out of concept (you will see in the grass shots) that they just didn't belong in the set. Also, I will talk about the shoot in general.

We shot around Fort Bonifacio High Street area, which, I know, is probably much overdone, but we had to work around each other's schedules. Camille and her family were there for some stuff and since I lived nearby it was an ideal location. Camille's appointment there was in the morning which was also ideal because BHS is notorious for not letting any photoshoots in, so the guerilla shoot went smoothly without any hiccups.

It was hot. We melted. One of the reasons why we were so wiped out after shooting - and I think we shot for maybe just 2 or 3 hours - was because it was so hot out. The heat really takes a lot out of you, and by the time we were done I didn't even want to move anymore. (That would not do though because we still had a second shoot in the afternoon.)

I was really excited to take Camille to this spot with grass innit, except before I knew it we were completely out of theme and it just wasn't going to work. I was head/desking when I reviewed the pictures, but we did get a few gems out of it despite going out of concept.

LIKE THIS SHOT. It is my absolute favorite from this set, except wtf how is this anyway near the street culture or ~*~thug life~*~ or anything akin to that. No. No. No. But I had to post this, because I absolutely LOVE this shot, and I am so glad the 'THUG LIFE' print on the tank top I had Camille wear is blocked out or else it would be so contradictory to the overall image. (So contradictory that it would be hilarious though. Epic hipster Tumblr time.)

So that wraps up this shoot, which means we get to move on to the next shoot we had that day! That's for a separate post, obvs. Thank you again Camille for being so game and WEARING A BLAZER IN THE HEAT (??!!?) and oh man I hope we get to shoot again in the near future! (Maybe in SG next time... omg would that be magic...)

Street Smart

Let me tell you something about my friend Camille. We first met at an anime convention, back when I'd still actually attend such conventions (the reason for my absence was mostly because of school) and my convention blog was still alive. She cosplayed Luffy from One Piece and while I'm not a fan of One Piece, I liked how she looked anyway and photographed her. After that she found my Tumblr(s) and a pseudo-online romance spouted from there.

The next time we met was at another convention. By then we knew a bit about each other (though not by much really) and she even handed me a small drawing (which I think I have now misplaced... sob) which made me really happy because I have always loved her art style. She also gave me some Lip Smackers lol. I still remember which flavor I kept.

Since then we had always wanted to have a shoot together, but it never happened because of schedules and availability, location-wise. I mean it's already strict enough to shoot at casual locations here, add to the fact that Camille comes in and out of the area because of school. And it wasn't even just for a shoot; for some reason our plans to simply hang out always fell through.

Then one day, with Camille in town, we saw each other at random, completely unplanned and all. I was ecstatic because we finally got to at least hang out, even if it wasn't for long. I mean, before this accidental meeting, we had only met face to face for a total of two times, and both were at conventions so it's not like we could completely bask in each other's company.

A week following that pleasant surprise, we talked a lot more. She gave me these two Korean songs that were up my alley because of my current music tastes ("I don't know why but I'm so into hiphop THUG STUFF THUG THUG WHAT IS HAPPENING") and they were her tastes too so that's cool. And I'm the type of person who doesn't expand their music collection unless a recommendation comes up, which is why I had never given K-pop a chance (save for a select few) despite having always seen it from afar. (I was always more into the Japanese really.)

So you may know Camille as The Girl That (Unknowingly) Got Me Into K-Pop. Since then we've been talking much, much more and have inevitably grown exponentially closer. (So close that I have even shared some of my insecurities with her- insecurities that not even some of my closest friends know, only because they're the kind of issues that can only be understood when in the same situation. I'm only glad Camille's in the same boat as I am because we can cry our feels together.)

Three years down the road of that fateful cosplay and convention, and here we are. I've ~*~graduated~*~, Camille's off to ~*~university~*~, I'm a K-pop fangirl now (though still very selective with my choices), we choke each other with our feels.

Oh, and we managed to get a shoot in before she leaves for school again.

The theme we took was something that pretty much brought us together, which was the thug life. We didn't choose it, because it chose us. That's the way we thugs roll. We're fly. We got swag. Don't hate us 'cause you ain't us. Yo.

HAHAHAHA I'M JOKING but yeah, the idea was going along with a more street vibe. We both like street style, and street art, and just the culture in general, so why not take that into our first ever shoot together? Well, that, and because we really wanted to shoot in a parking lot. Actually, this shoot came to be because this was shot during Camille's last weekend before leaving for school, and she was going to be in the area for stuff so I was like LEZDODEEZ since it was near my place and it was going to be in the morning which was perf because said area is notorious for not allowing any ~*~shoots~*~. Unless you're me and pull a guerilla often.

This was the first shoot I've done since thesis, and my last thesis shoot was early in January! That's half a year of a gap, so I hope I wasn't too rusty. The unofficial hiatus just happened because I wrapped up with school then did some traveling after graduation, which was always a luxury to me that was unattainable until recently.

TL;DR: I MET THIS CHICK AT A CON THREE YEARS AGO, SHE GOT ME INTO K-POP, WE HAD A SHOOT TOGETHER, HASHTAGTHUGLIFE

I'll blog about the outtakes and other in-betweens in a separate post, because as much as I like some of the other photos, they simply took a turn for the hipster when we reached patches of grass and they hardly fit with the theme. I wanted to kick myself.

I hope you like the photos! Thanks so much Camille for being such a sport and have a safe trip back okay? UNNIE LOVES YOU!!!

Akahome + FOTD

Hello! I will blog about my relatively new hair because I like keeping a record of my hair transitions on the internet.

Blue hair! I actually had this pot of dye set aside when I went pink and pretty much had it planned for this month. To be honest I was actually a little on the fence with the pink because it looked horrible with my roots. The dark roots just looked a lot less awful with the blonde I had, so when I transitioned to pink I was like, "OH COOL but uhm BUT HEY IT'S COOL but uhm........." With this blue though my roots sort of transition seamlessly. It's great. What's not great is how much this blue stains. It stains so much that I've been wearing a lot of dark colors lately, but it's natsu bad.

One of my friends said that it's Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2) hair, which I think is pretty spot on, not just with the shade but also with the cut (Akane has short hair too but not really as similar as what I have.) Another friend called it Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi) hair WHICH WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER AND IT WAS PERFECT. Therefore, Akane + Tamahome = Akahome.

I've been really liking colored cut-crease looks lately, although for this look I did blend it out a little bit. A little unrelated to this look, but I once tried matching my brow color to my hair color and it didn't work out because I didn't have the right shade of blue. Also, I've seen the beginnings of how this blue will transition out, and I'm excited. With the pink it went from a bright pink, to a normal pink (normal???), then peach, then blonde peach, until the pink was practically gone and I was a warm-toned blonde. But anyway, this blue is awesome. Mostly because I don't hafta deal with my stupid roots being so prominent anymore. Thumbs up.

EWWS FOODS

More backlog because I never blog on time anymore! So Camille and I attended the EWWS FOODS exhibit opening, and it was great. Magical. Basking in the artistic presence of artistic people is always cool, and it almost makes you cool by association. Almost. A very small almost.

Dearest blog, allow me to introduce to you the culprit who unknowingly converted me into the K-pop world. It all started with a simple recommendation of two songs... and then I was converted overnight. You have this wonderful lady to blame.

The ever so fierce Jujiin and Paulo. I always make it a point to photograph Jujiin every chance I get. I remember photographing him when we saw each other at the EWWS Ayala exhibit, too.

Anina reunited!

Also there is this video that documents what I wore plus some clips of the actual event. Celebration because I updated CS and I am still horrible at posting on schedule. (Schedule what schedule)

One does not simply attend an EWWS shindig and not have a picture with the magical duo. I love them so much and they're such an inspiration to me. ;__; They're definitely my favorite local photography team and I just... AGH also these two were on Preview's Best Dressed list this month and I am just ecstatic??? CONGRATS AGAIN EWWS!!!!!!

FOTD: Siriusly

I have further delayed this post in order to further ~*~revere~*~ my B.A.P LOE HK feels post. Really. Because it felt like by making another post it would mean like I had already moved on from the concert. I haven't. I never will. However, a week after that, B.A.P came out with a new MV and I kind of just died a little (read: scream at my laptop screen while choking on my lunch.) And now, two weeks after the concert, I am obsessing over another K-pop group, all because of another group. (I am vague. I will explain someday.)

Of course a post with my face was the one deemed worthy enough to follow the LOE HK one, huh? (I just really needed to get this post out of the way once and for all.)

Anyway, this was the makeup I wore for this post and this video. Terry and I wanted to do Harry Potter-inspired meiku, and my character that day was Sirius Black. Instead of just doing the regular yellow-lid-black-crease (it might come off as Hufflepuff-ish) I just went with something subtler. The yellow in the inner corners was for the grim's ~*~glowing~*~ eyes, and instead of black I just went with gray on the top crease as a sort of softer approach. Sort of. (I achully don't remember the reason behind the gray anymore HAHA but I know there was a reason for it and I'm pretty sure this was it?)

Instead of on the eyes, I put some black on my lips instead!

And that is all. I like making makeup looks inspired by stuff. They're just as fun as making inspired by- outfits, and... idk, doing both just seems to bring the entire look together? It's just fun. It's a nice way to explore your ~*~creativity~*~ and ~*~individuality~*~ too. Okay. Happy July everyone!