Week 19/52 : Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in someone else’s dream.
Quick picture Ezra took of me during our vacation last week in Bohol. We didn’t have time to do a shoot, but we did manage to get a few SP-worthy shots. This was taken during our first day there, as we explored the beach at our resort. We found this little wooden couch-like thing which Ezra dubbed “The Armadillo Chair“. The bottom picture is a shot of our resort from when we went glass-bottom boating on our 3rd day there.
The quote I used for my title came from the book Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead. I just finished reading her Georgina Kincaid series and I absolutely love it~
(EZRA) 19/52 : A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets
Our family went to Bohol last weekend to celebrate my parents’ 28th anniversary. They’ve both been to Bohol plenty of times before (they even had their honeymoon there) so they decided it’s about time Ezra and I visit the place. We stayed at the Panglao Blue Water Beach Resort, which was BEAUTIFUL! And all the people there were so nice. I wish we could have stayed longer.
Title from a quote by Gloria Stuart from the movie Titanic.
(EZRA) 18/52 : Being happy in your own skin that’s what it’s all about
*Kira kira*
Raffy and I decided to go to the derma clinic and get facials the other week, and we managed to convince Ezra to come with us. She’s never gotten it done before so she decided she should at least try it once. She said it was painful, but the results were worth it. She loved how shiny and healthy her skin looked afterwards 
(Title came from a quote by Koo Stark)
Week 18/52 : Little Dhampir
Another Vampire Academy inspired self portrait. I’m still obsessed with the books and I’m currently rereading the entire series
Anyway, those tattoos are photoshopped of course. They’re symbols that are often mentioned in the book. Dhampirs (half human – half vampires) often get tattoos on the back of their necks to mark their achievements. They call the “S” shaped tattoo a promise mark and it indicates that they have agreed to serve the Moroi (the good vampires) and protect them from Strigoi (the bad vampires). The little “X” marks are called molnija marks (which means “lighting” in Russian) and they represent how many Strigoi that dhampir has killed so far. The main character in the story has a lot of these, and she even has the star-shaped “zvezda” tattoo which indicates that she’s been in battle and has killed countless Strigoi.
My title came from the main character’s nickname, which was given to her by a Moroi who was in love with her. He was one of my favorite characters 
Week 17/52 : Shadow kissed
Recently I’ve been obsessed with this book series called Vampire Academy. I just finished reading the final book (Last Sacrifice) last week so I decided to make this vampire-inspired self portrait. I’m not really that pleased with how this turned out, but I’ve been editing it for the past two days and making itsy bitsy changes. I figured I should just upload it since I don’t think I’m ever going to be completely happy with it.
In the books, vampire bites give their victims a huge rush of endorphins, so people actually volunteer to give blood. When a human does it, they’re called feeders and are accepted by the Moroi (vampire) community. The Moroi only drink little amounts of blood each day so its safe for the humans (aside from the fact that it turns them into junkies). However, when a dhampir (half vampire, half human) offers their blood to a vampire, it’s considered kinky and erotic and society looks down on them for it. But some dhampirs still do it for the rush.
If you want to know more about the books, you can read my review on the series HERE. Although I must warn you that it contains a lot of spoilers so if you’re planning on reading the books, you might want to skip the section where I summarized each book and just read the intro (where I basically just tell you how much I loved the story ^__^).
Bite marks brushes came from HERE.
(EZRA) 17/52 : Happy graduation!
I call this her ridiculously expensive SP because this picture cost her more than she expected. She knew she wanted a picture wearing her academic gown for her 52-week project, so after her graduation was over she didn’t return it to the shop immediately. Once we got home she kept putting the shoot off because it’s really hot over here right now and she didn’t want to wear her toga, until my mom reminded her that she needed to return it. And even then it took us a few days before we got to shooting this. Because of that she ended up returning her toga 4 days after the deadline (which she didn’t know about). Unfortunately there’s a P100 daily fine so she wasn’t too happy about that when she found out. Especially since the toga had just been lying around the house for almost 3 weeks now. (It’s the same one I was wearing in this self portrait XD)
Anyway the graduation bear she’s holding in the picture was my present to her back when she graduated from high school. We thought it was cute that he’s wearing a yellow-lined toga as well so we decided to include him in the shot.
(EZRA) 16/52 : Do you believe in magic?
Ezra’s like 3 or 4 weeks behind in this project so we shot this quickly the other week. Uploading it just now because I kept putting off the editing. (It’s summer here so we’ve both been extremely lazy XD)
Anyway this was inspired by an old poster of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. We used to love that show when we were younger
Week 16/52 : Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten
-B.F. Skinner
Still in a celebratory mood after finally earning my Master’s Degree after 3 years You can’t really blame me though, it was such a happy moment for me. I’ve been looking forward to it for so long. I can’t believe I finally did it ^__^
This isn’t my official graduation photo, nor is it my graduation gown/toga. This was actually shot in my room. The university I graduated from required us to wear a white dress and the traditional university sablay. The graduation gown I’m wearing in this picture belongs to my sister, who also earned her Masters Degree this semester. Her graduation took place last weekend I figured I’d have some fun with her toga first before she has to return it XD
Here’s my official graduation photo taken by a professional photographer:
(If you want to see pictures of my actual graduation, you can view my earlier entry about it by clicking HERE)
(EZRA) 15/52 : Tea Time!
Taking some time to relax out in our garden. This was after she completed her clearance so she was able to get some free time and finally relax.
The dress she has on was the dress she wore for her graduation ball back in 2009.
Week 15/52 : Yin Yang
For TOTW : Yin Yang
I had to reshoot for this concept so many times that I almost gave up. I wanted to do something really fancy so I tried so many different poses and compositions, but I couldn’t find anything I liked. Finally I decided to just go for something simple. (But it was still a pain to edit in Photoshop because I couldn’t get the lighting right and I had a hard time merging the two images together.)
Anyway I’m happy with how it turned out, so it’s fine. It even made Flickr’s Explore – yay~
(EZRA) 14/52 : Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning
We’re very late on our projects, but we’re doing our best to catch up.
Those who have been my contact for a while might recognize the dress Ezra is wearing. My grandma made it for her years ago for a cosplay event she attended with Kurt back in 2009. We’ve worn it a few times before on past shoots. I wore it for my Halloween self portrait back in 2010.
Ezra told me that this portrait was inspired by a video game she is currently playing, called Rune Factory. In the game she is a spell caster and is able to do magic using a staff. (The “staff” in this picture is actually a walking stick/cane that Ezra and I bought for our dad way back in 2008. He loves collecting these kinds of things.)
Surprisingly, editing this didn’t take as long as I expected, which is a good thing since I’m usually too lazy to do difficult photomanipulations these days. Ezra had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted me to do when we shot this. I expected to spend all afternoon editing this when she explained it to me, but it took me just about two hours. The hardest part was of course the masking. But it’s worth it I think. This is probably one of my favorite manips this year so far.
Photoshop brushes are from r0man-de.deviantart.com and redheadstock.deviantart.com. Her title came from a quote by Samuel Butler.
Week 14/52 : Happy thoughts
Something really simple. I was on my way out when I realized I’m already behind on my project, so I snapped this really quickly.
The bubble thing is actually a hair clip that Brinks gave me. I don’t really wear it, but I like seeing it on my dresser because I use it to remind myself that sometimes happiness is simply a state of mind Happy thoughts often lead to a happy life – at least according to this article on happy thoughts that I came across the other day. I thought it was interesting how our perceptions can actually have an effect on life’s events It’s really short so I’ll just paste the whole article below:
Happy thoughts are part of our lives. In an average day it is estimated that we have around 60,000 thoughts. Have you ever wondered how many of these thoughts are happy thoughts?
It is known that happy people think more happy thoughts than unhappy people. If we think happy thoughts… we create happy perceptions… we create a beautiful aura of light around ourselves… which leads us to happy events. And so we create a exciting circle (where we become even happier).
Happy thoughts connect us with the light, confidence and courage to act… to the power to believe. To live our lives according to our hopes and dreams not somebody else´s.
Jealous, angry and fearful thoughts and feelings take us away from our own path… our own purpose. But a straight path doesn´t admit compromises. This negative thoughts strip us of our power and ability to act effectively. If we think fearful thoughts we become afraid and act defensively. This pushes away other people and other possibilities away from us. And so we become lonelier and more afraid.
The route to a happier life is through happy thoughts. Not just because they make you feel better immediately… but because happier thoughts give you a stronger and more stable foundation to your life. You are in control rather than being bounced around by life.
Stay happy guise!
Week 13/52 : May the odds be ever in your favor
Shot this weeks ago but forgot to post it here on my blog. This was taken the week that The Hunger Games movie was released. Ckloy and I went and saw it that weekend and we loved it. So for my self portrait that week I decided to be a Capitol citizen. What do you think? Would I fit in with the rest of them? I wish I had a pink or purple wig, it would have been more convincing, but the only ones I own are brown, black and white. Brown and black are boring and so un-Capitol so I went with the white.
I had fun playing around with my makeup for this shot. I normally don’t wear makeup when I shoot my SPs (everything is done on Photoshop) but I decided to experiment this time
Outtake:
Ckloy said I look so mataray here XD
(EZRA) 13/52 : I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!
Ezra’s self portrait for three weeks ago. I have no idea how it got to this. I thought she was only two weeks behind, gaaah!
Anyway, at least the theme of this photo fits perfectly. Very late indeed.
(EZRA) 12/52: Black is always beautiful
Eeek, this is 3 weeks late already! But she was super busy with her thesis so we didn’t have time to shoot until recently. She wore this dress during her thesis defense about 3 weeks ago and I told her that with the pig tails it made her look like Wednesday Addams (from The Addams Family – we used to love that show) so she decided to go with that idea for her self portrait that week. She decided to leave her bangs down for the shot though, instead of parting it in the middle like Wednesday usually does.
(Although she’s originally supposed to be portraying Wednesday, she reminds me more of that “Orphan” poster in this shot. It’s funny because you know how the tagline for that movie was “there’s something wrong with Esther”? – whenever we would pass by one of those posters, Ckloy and I would tease my Ezra by yelling out “there’s something wrong with Ezra!!” XD It used to annoy her so much, lol.)
Week 12/52 : Touch
Self portrait for last week.
My 4-year old ipod shuffle died last month, so Ckloy gave me a new ipod Touch last weekend … and it’s taken over my life! I know it’s supposed to be an mp3 player but I use it mainly to play games and read ebooks. I hardly let go of it and I have to charge it at least once a day because I keep playing around with it so much.
Anyway, this shot was inspired by the game Draw Something. I’ve been playing that a lot and I love it! It’s funny what some people come up with XD
(Do you guys have any game recommendations for me? My favorites at the moment are Cut the Rope, Temple Run and Draw Something, but I’m looking for new ones to download.)
(EZRA) 11/52 : The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses
Ezra’s portrait last week. We were both in dippy-modes XD She was having a hard time coming up with an idea for her SP, but she found these pretty roses that my mom bought and decided to use them.
This past week has been extremely busy for both of us. We’re both planning on graduating this April, so we’ve been running around trying to take care of some last minute requirements. I’m almost done, I just need a few more signatures from some professors then I can hand in my final manuscript, but she still has a lot to do. She just had her thesis defense earlier this week and her examiners gave her a ton of revisions, so she’s been panicking about that. And she also has to study for her comprehensive exam. She’s really nervous because she’s only allowed to take it twice, and failing would mean that she wouldn’t get her degree, regardless of how well she did in her subjects these past two years. But we have faith in her, so we’re all just praying that she would pass and not have to retake it.
(I’m so glad that I don’t have to take a compre exam~ I barely passed some of my MS subjects, I have no idea what I would do if I had to study for them again.)
Week 11/52 : A tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men
I read that quote on Tumblr or 9gag a few weeks ago and I totally have to agree I have such a weakness for suits.
Anyway, this was obviously inspired by my nail art last week. Isn’t it adorable? It’s not at neat as I would like, but I still think they make my nails look so classy. Like a sir! XD (If you’re interested, I posted a mini tutorial here on my blog a few days ago.)
I was originally planning on naming this photo “Hey, I’m Mr. Simple” because the suits remind me of Super Junior, but I realized that most people probably wouldn’t be able to make the connection, so I chose something else.
Week 10/52 : Living between truth and lies
My bangs have gotten a bit longer since my sister cut them. They’re still a bit too short for my liking, but it’s getting there. After two weeks, I’ve gotten used to seeing myself with full bangs, and it’s not as bad as I initially imagined. In fact, I’m enjoying my new look a lot.
My friend Amie saw me with my bangs for the first time the other day, and her initial reaction was that it made me look like a little kid! With my tiny frame, I’m already often mistaken for a high school student, and apparently my new hair cut doesn’t do much to fix that. But looking young isn’t such a bad thing right? So for this week’s photo, I planned on taking a picture where I would be portrayed as a little kid – pigtails and all – but as you can see, it didn’t really turn out that way. I do have the pigtails and the fringe, but other than that, I suppose there’s nothing “child-like” about me in this picture. (I think I should have chosen a more innocent looking outfit XD) But I still like it so I decided to go ahead and upload it anyway.
(I love how poofy my pigtails look in this shot. I initially planned on curling them, but I got lazy and just resulted to teasing and scrunching to get the proper volume.)
My title came from part of the lyrics of “See Who I Am” by Within Temptation. I’m currently in love with that song. I actually wanted to use the whole verse but it’s a bit long:
“We’ve been dreaming
But who can deny?
It’s the best way of living
Between the truth and the lies”
(EZRA) 10/52 : Don’t wanna grow up
Ezra with a giant odango bun She loves the hairstyle but she rarely does it because it takes too much effort due to her long hair. She says the bun makes her head feel too heavy, lol.
Anyway, its her birthday next month and she’s not too thrilled with the idea of adding another year to her age. (Neither am I, to be honest…) Ah, if only we can stay young forever~
Week 9/52 : It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart
The other day I posted a mini review of the Hunger Games trilogy, so you probably have an idea on what my inspiration was for this shot
I just love the books so much! It took me four days to finish the set, but now I’m rereading the entire thing again. I finished the first book again the other day and gave it to Ckloy so he can get started on it. I told him he has to read the entire thing by March 23, because that’s when the movie will be out and there’s no way I’m going to miss it.
My title this week came from a quote in the third book. I’m not going to tell you which character said it because some people may consider even that tiny bit of info a spoiler. But I can tell you that he/she was one of my favorite characters in the story.
I don’t own an actual archery set in real life so these were Photoshopped in. I wanted the final picture to be colored, but I couldn’t get the lighting right during editing to I had to convert it to black and white to cover up some of my mistakes. The bow came from HERE and the quiver from HERE.
(EZRA) 9/52: Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear.
Ezra wanted a happier self portrait these week The dress she’s wearing is actually the same one I wore in one of my old self portraits from 2009. That was the year Ezra graduated college and I bought the dress to wear to her graduation party. We stored it in a box in my mom’s closet after the party and we only took it out again a few weeks ago. Ezra was excited to see it again so she decided to wear it for her self portrait this week.
The butterfly and clouds brushes are from redheadstock.deviantart.com
(EZRA) 8/52 : Fly on home
Ezra’s SP last week. I didn’t get around to editing it until the other day. And I didn’t really like how my first edit turned out so I made a few changes. I’m still not fully happy with it, but it’s much better compared to my first attempt. It’s very similar to her Week 4 self portrait (the one where she is summoning a dragon).
Anyway, this was inspired by the baby owl we found in our garden last week. I didn’t really get that many pictures of the actual owl so I had to use a stock image from deviantart for this
Resources used:
Week 8/52 : Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending
Self portrait this week.
As most of you already probably know, I let Ezra give me bangs last week. I know I just got a haircut a month ago, but change is good right? It’s been a few days and I think I’m adjusting well. I still think they’re too short, but hopefully they’ll grow out quickly
(Quote in the title by Maria Robinson)
