Celebrating Mother's Day 2009

mothers and their children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren on a beautiful spring day having a bbq at home. 

1. the food: the filipino finger foods. lumpia, bbq, sweet corn, chicken, lechon kawali + various fruits and appetizers

From Mother's Day 2009

2. pancit: rice noodle dish with veggies and protein, in this case, chicken

From Mother's Day 2009

3. sweet plantains. delicious!

From Mother's Day 2009

4. fruit salad: watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple, blackberries, and strawberries

From Mother's Day 2009

5. chicken salad + pasta: slightly tart to freshen the palette

From Mother's Day 2009

6. who knew there were papayas?! those strawberries are uber ripe..

From Mother's Day 2009

7. upon seeing the big lens on the camera, my dear niece begins her modeling career. HAHA. kids are so cute.

From Mother's Day 2009

8. new summer flavor: peaches, berries and cream...

From Mother's Day 2009

7. proper way to eat finger foods. ^___^

From Mother's Day 2009

8. matching cousin and little brother

From Mother's Day 2009

9. bbq in the front yard / patio

From Mother's Day 2009

10. flowers

From Mother's Day 2009

11. the boys ganging up on their uncle

From Mother's Day 2009

12. i need a break..

From Mother's Day 2009

13. stop chasing me!! 

From Mother's Day 2009

14. brotherly love... awww.. 

From Mother's Day 2009

15. boys will be boys.

From Mother's Day 2009

16. got you!

From Mother's Day 2009

i realized that as far as my skills go, manual mode isn't do-able when such ephemeral moments like these need to be captured. when i want to be artistic with "still-life" i will do manual mode. otherwise, it's full out automatic with pre-set modes. Learning to effectively switch lenses fast and composing a shot is another story HAHAHA.

• canon Rebel XTi
  
• canon 50mm f/1.4 with B+W UV filter
  
• canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L with B+W UV filter
  
• canon 580EX E-TTL flash
  
• canon BG-E3 battery grip
  
• magic, skills, and most likely luck...
  

conclusion: i need more practice for the wedding..

what's next: learn to use a video camera. i abandoned that hobby because equipment was overwhelming for me. canon GL-2 to be exact. stacks of mini-dv tapes and editing them gave me a headache. i'll practice some more and see what's in store for me..