I was at Megamall the whole day today, shooting for the mall's in-house magazine, Shopmag. Which is well, last year's winner of an Asean award for innovative in-house publication or something of that sort. The shoot started at 10am and ended at 8:30pm. Rest time could have been 1.5 hours. So that means, I've practically photographed my heart out today. And to top it all off, I'd slept for only 3 hours! Isabelle was happy awake until the wee hours. I had survived on reserve-battery mode and I'm pretty dead tired. My feet are killing me. I've probably walked more than the last Disneyland trip! The 16 gig had 10 raw shots left.

While I was about to start another complaint-marathon about my aching feet, I regressed. It was 9 years ago, I was at a mall, at Podium to be exact. There was an event and there were three photographers buzzing about, documenting the whole thing. Back then, I was still managing our company's cargo forwarding firm then, readying myself to be some big-shot logistics person. But while I was salivating on how they were capturing the event, I was thinking, "How can I be like them?" I wanted to shoot and make a living out of my camera! I wanted, more than anything, to be like them! I was even contemplating on introducing myself and asking them how they got those gigs because 9 years ago, there weren't many photographers, no schools to teach photography, no stuff on photography on the internet. In other words, access was close to nil. 

So fast forward, I'm back to my senses. My feet still hurt but my heart, happy and ecstatic. It's been such a journey and a thrill to now realizing how blessed I am that I'm in the mall, shooting. Not working on the issues and finances of the cargo firm. Here I am, actually doing what I thought was impossible some 9 years ago. What an overwhelming thought!

The thing about being a photographer is that work usually comes on weekends: Weddings on weekends, events on weekends, more clients on weekends. But we all know that weekends, especially Sundays, in every Filipino's watch, is family time and for Catholics, time to hear mass and pray. 

So when I started Portraits by Heidi and workshops by Camera Cart, the assumption was of course that weekends would take center-stage of my work time. Last year, Melvene the husband and I went full blast. Working our asses off on weekdays and weekends. In other words, we were on 24/7. Yes, like the HBO documentary for a pre-Pacquiao fight. But this was our fight. And last 2012, we found ourselves too tired for words. I mean, really dead-tired, not knowing when a week starts has taken a heavy toll on me. I was stressed and tired. So I've been harboring guilt feelings also for not having Isabelle time, time for church, me time, and wife-husband time. I've lost my bearings. I was all work, work, work. 

But we took a 2-week vacation at the end of December (because if I wouldn't, I'd end up depleted) and I realized that I've built my business backwards. What I've been doing for the past years is that I made the business take center stage, and the things/people that matter most fit into my schedule. What I should have done was to prioritize the things/people that matter first, then the business will have to revolve around it so that I get to have purpose with every stride. So everything in my life have more meaning. 

I'm currently reading Why Entrepreneurs should Eat Bananas by Simon Tupman, a gift from my sister Hazel last Christmas. And he says:

Long quote but definitely worth the read. And I say "Amen" to that!

For those who've started their own businesses and especially those who love what they do, I think you'd agree that it's so hard to stop working. I love working with Camera Cart and doing portrait work. It's who I am. It's so my passion. That I literally sleep and breathe thinking all about my businesses! I am really grateful that I've been given the opportunity to do what I love to do. The problem is when to stop.

So anyway, I'm still working on Saturdays, but I've decided I'll try my hardest to declare Sunday as family day. And for the first Sunday of 2013, I have chosen not to book any meetings, shoot any client. I have chosen to let the yaya take a break and have a Sunday off so I can spend time with my dearest Isabelle and my loving husband. We had lunch, made Isabelle tumble at the Gymboree, and had coffee when we were all exhausted. And it was perfect. 

Hello guys! 

When you were young, your parents would hang your artwork. They seem so proud! Wow, anak! You did that? Ang galing! You then feel proud. You feel like there's potential somewhere in your happy head. Then you grow up and your parents tell you, "Ano? You want to become an artist? Walang pera doon. Mag-doktor ka na lang o mag-abogado ka. (There's no money there. Be a doctor or a lawyer.) To escape your folks' pressuring, you marry, unfortunately, a left-brained person telling you, "How will I eat with your art? How will we send the kids to school with your art?" So you force yourself to be left-brained to avoid the confrontation and the drama. Very typical for anyone who needs to put food on the table. But what a very unfortunate trade-off - you.

Before we head to the theatre today, we thought of writing some sort of tribute to the caped crusader as we bid farewell to the trilogy!

Here's Life's compilation of old Batman photos from the TV series, when the Dark Knight's suit was purple, when his mobile didn't know how to fly, and when things were wholesome - not as, errr...dark. 

Here's the article. And now, to the bat cave!