Cadence and Trisha and Spencer

Filed under : Portraits by Ben and Kirin on 12-11-2012

This is Cadence. She is fearless, adventurous, inquisitive, and cute as all get-out.

Isn’t she adorable?

And these are Cadence’s parents, Trisha and Spencer.

As you can see, Cadence get’s her smiley demeanor from her parents.

We all got together earlier last month for a little photo session at a fave spot. Cadence pretty much ran the show, as 2-year-olds tend to do. She allowed for some pretty nifty photos, though, in between sprints.

Spencer, also a photographer, giving Cadence some direction…

She knows exactly what to do with Dad’s big, bald melon!

The little whirl-wind really didn’t slow down until the end of the shoot. She was tired enough to allow us to squeeze a few group shots of them all together before the day was over.

Marivic and Andy

Filed under : Portraits by Ben and Kirin on 03-08-2012

Congratulations, Marivic and Andy! It’s the best thing–it really is!

A Portrait Session With The BIBAK Kids

Filed under : Personal, Portraits by Ben and Kirin on 07-07-2012

BIBAK is a association of Igorot-Filipino-Americans brought together to maintain and further their bonds to their unique cultural heritage while they are away from their homeland. “BIBAK” is an acronym representing 5 of the tribes from the Cordillera region of the Northern Philippines. My beautiful wife, Kirin, is an Igorota from the Bontoc and Kalinga tribes.

The “BIBAK Kids” is what Kirin and I call the youth from BIBAK Youth San Diego, the younger members of BIBAK in our county. They’re also all good friends of ours. Kirin and I have been kicking around an idea in our heads of doing a series of portraits of The Kids both in their native costumes and street clothes. My first love has always been portrait photography. I have always been intrigued by the way a person’s personality could sometimes be distilled in a well shot portrait. And how cool would it be to try to do that with the BIBAK kids as they are in their every-day clothes, and then in clothes similar to what their ancestors wore. Would changing a person’s “outside” have any affect on their “inside”? How much does appearance affect essence? How much is persona a part of personality?