06/07/2026
If you ever wanted to become a professional photographer, wedding photography is one of the most familiar paths. I did it for over 15 years (Or was it 20?)
Looking back, I think I was pretty good. I had some talent, and together with my team, we got to shoot at some of the best beaches in the Philippines, cover ceremonies in some of the country's most iconic churches, ride in a few airplanes (I even shot an engagement session inside one), and photograph a couple of weddings abroad.
Back then, I was juggling three jobs. I was a wedding photographer, a product photographer, and a web developer. I had to. While wedding season could be very good, I wasn't exactly raking in millions. In fact, there were plenty of months when I could barely make my car payments. But that's freelancing in your 20s and 30s. You take whatever work you can, and you just keep going.
Mondays was family day and I loved it.
I wrote a lot about my experiences on my wedding blog, which I still have but have no plans to re-launching it.
Photographing couples is really about connection. You don't just take photos—you get to witness the smiles, the quiet conversations, the nervous laughs, and the little moments in between. Ironically, some of my favorite photos weren't taken while I was actively shooting. They happened right after I lowered my camera to take a break, when people forgot they were being photographed and simply became themselves.
So why did I stop?
For a lot of reasons.
I got older. My tuhod couldn't survive 12- to 16-hour wedding days anymore. A new generation of photographers came in, and many of them were producing incredible work. Instead of being inspired and getting better, I prefer to have them with my team. I hired them than envy them.
But if I'm being completely honest, one of the biggest reasons was that I had a few weddings where I simply didn't perform the way I wanted to.
It wasn't because I missed important moments or failed to get the shots. It was the last part of the job that became my biggest struggle—delivering the finished work.
I always tried to deliver within a reasonable amount of time, but there were projects that didn't go the way I wanted. And then there was the biggest heartbreak of all: losing photos & videos. Maybe it was a hard drive failure. Maybe it was carelessness on my part. Whatever the reason, I still carry those memories with me. When your job is preserving one of the most important days in someone's life, losing those moments is something you never truly forgive yourself for.
Photographing people is photographing life. Every smile, every tear, every hug only happens once. There are no second takes.
I don't really miss shooting weddings anymore. I think that chapter of my life has already closed.
But every now and then, I open one of my old albums and come across photos like these of Jammy and Sugar. They remind me why I fell in love with photography in the first place.
I'm grateful that, for more than 15 years, I was trusted to capture memories for so many couples, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties, babies, and debutants.
For that, I'll always be thankful.
