... and the first two are "THANK YOU."

I've always found myself to be very, well, AWKWARD. Ever since I can remember (and with the stories of my family and friends) I've always been so clumsy. I trip over my own feet, bump chairs, hit glass doors (the impeccably clean ones, in my defense), and even trip over absolutely nothing! In short, I'm a walking accident.

I was also, never really considered the "hot" or "gorgeous" girl. Di ako nag papa FAKE humble okay. I'm serious. I've also always been very awkward when it comes to my looks. I have really sensitive skin which cause me to break out in rashes at just the touch of something I'm allergic to (the list is growing every year), my hair resembles Mufasa's mane, my nose has it's own zipcode (My sisters up to this day call me "Ilong Ranger" after the Neozep cartoon) and I'm actually still waiting for normal body parts to grow (I have the chest of a 12 year old... boy). So when it comes to taking my picture... well... I'm a HAM. Hahaha! Joke.

I've really only been comfortable with taking pictures of OTHER people and things. I like snapping shots of fun moments, of my family, of my friends in compromising positions that I then upload and spread all over the Internet, nature, food (Yes, sometimes I'm that annoying girl who Instagrams and blogs about her meals), my dogs and anything and everything. But when it comes to having my picture taken, again, I'm a HAM in the sense that I will only really be okay with it if I'm the one taking my own picture (Hurray for the front camera of the iPhone HAHA)

Now I know what you're thinking, "Well if that's the case, why do you have so many pictures of yourself on your Instagram by other people huh?" "You are so cute, Karla :)" Let me explain why and why, for me, the first two words for those pictures should be "THANK YOU."


Elisa Aquino and Edric Chen.

I cannot even begin to describe my love, admiration and respect for these two individuals. If you notice, majority of my pictures of my MOWDEL MOWDELANS (I get awkward when people say it's considered "Modelling" when, well, it's ME they're referring to in the pictures) are by these two. The two people who I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know in my life.

Elisa Aquino.

I started talking to Elisa through my college friend Dannah- apparently, Elisa is her cousin. She actually tweeted me about how she'd see me in school stalker ka Elisa HAHA and how she wanted to take my picture whenever I was free. I was hesitant at first baka kasi killer siya because I really don't get my picture taken (and all of my school IDs and Government issued IDs are proof that I just can't take a good picture) but I said yes. I figured, well, if they don't turn out nice cause of my awkwardness, the world never has to know HAHA


Ever since then, whenever Elisa asks me to MOWDEL (I will never say model talaga kasi hindi ako model!) I automatically say YES and try to fit the shoot into my schedule (yehes.. busy si ate!) Aside from these beautiful pictures- I swear, she makes me look so flawless and NICE (but I am nice naman Haha) Elisa has since then, become one of my very good friends.

We may not see each other often, but every time I get to see her, I am always in awe and in a good mood. Elisa is not only one of the sweetest and most humble people (her talent is beyond words and yet she still thinks she can improve! ANO BA YAN!) and most importantly, her LOVE and DEVOTION to God is infectious. Whenever I feel down or in need of some advice, I text her or message her, and she always finds some way to make me feel good and strengthen my Faith in Him. She was actually my inspiration for my entry on "Our BestFRIEND."

For the "It's All About Hue Shop" Kaleidoscope Collection

She also asked me to be a part of her Thesis this year entitled "The Bible Project" where people would share their experiences and relationship with our Lord. I must say, her thesis blew me away! Please do visit the site when you can (ELISA KEEP IT UP FOREVER PLEASE) and you will feel not only His love, but be ENCOURAGED. It's a beautiful thesis and I love everyone's pictures in it! Elisa took them, of course. So you can see for yourself just how TALENTED this young lady is.


She's even shot the Bubba and I! I love this picture- it was part of a feature in Meg Magazine's February 2012 issue! Yes naman! Famous! Haha

Edric Chen.

This is how I look every morning when I wake up... CHOS!!! Hahaha

I'm on Tumblr everyday for like ten hours straight a lot. I just love scrolling down, looking at all the pictures and liking a million few. Then one day I came across one picture that just blew me away- it was reblogged by one of the sites I follow, and it was of this beautiful girl named Giza. I stared at the picture and thought to myself, WOW. Just, WOW. I searched through the notes to find out where the source came from and there, I saw who had posted it. A guy named Edric Chen. I then was hooked on his Tumblr account. I would browse through his picture and think, "This guy is amazing! Just, amazing!" And my Tumblr admiration continued.



A year later, totaly oblivious to everything, I opened my Gmail account to check my mail and reply to emails from some of my readers (uyyy popular?) and then there was an email from an Edric Chen. At first I thought it was spam (I won the online lottery for like the enth time already) so I didn't really pay any attention to it. It's when I saw the short preview line that said "Hi Karla.." and so I was like, I'll look at this.


I SQUEALED the moment I read the email. It was from Edric himself! He was asking me to shoot with him sometime! I was so shocked! I thought he was living in the US since a lot of the pictures I grew to love were of foreign girls in LA and places in the States! I couldn't believe he was actually here! It also turns  out, he knew Elisa and had seen me from one of her photos! AHHH!!!


Shooting with Edric is super fun (uyy I sound like a MOWDEL nga! Haha NAT!) he's very quiet and he knows what he wants. He has really good direction especially when it comes to how I pose (I told you, I'm super awkward!) Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what he wants (since I'm really not used to posing) but his talent and eye for angles always prevails in the end. Whenever he posts the pictures on his Tumblr (YES! I AM OFFICIALLY PART OF A TUMBLR ACCOUNT I ONCE JUST ADMIRED FROM MY COMPUTER SCREEN!!!) sometimes I honestly can't believe it's awkward, poorly coordinated, ghastly pale me.


So why am I going on and on about these two people and myself? Well, Elisa and Edric have really made an impact in my life. They both, in their own ways, have taught me to be more confident in myself, and to be more secure with who I am both as a person, and with how I look. I used to be so insecure about my nose, my height and my body. But through them and their talent in photography, I have learned to accept myself, flaws and all.

Granted there are still days where I feel super ugly (I am part human, afterall, and part Unicorn) but I have put less value in how "perfect" I have to look- And to think it was all because of pictures!

So this is my message to all those who have decided to read this entry: YOU ARE YOU. And that's FANTASTIC. We all have our insecurities and our own "flaws." There are things we would want to improve on- our English (in my case my Filipino), our weight, our skin, smile, hair... and the list goes on. But we are who we are for a REASON. Never forget that. It may have taken me a long while to get to this point, but I'm glad to say that through a lot of prayer and just acceptance, really, I have learned to be very comfortable in my own skin. What took the longest for me was my nose. I was teased a lot before about it and even if my sisters were only kidding, being called "Ilong Ranger" really hurt me. But you know what? I love my nose now. I don't care if people tell me it's HUGE or ugly. It's MY nose. And it makes me Karla. I wouldn't even change it. :)


So I encourage everyone to really reflect on their own insecurities. And not put too much value on the physical. I'm not telling you not to care at all, I mean, it's nice to look presentable and clean, but stop making yourself feel bad for being YOU. For being who you are. You were made to look the way you do for a reason. Live it. Love it. :)

And a BIG THANK YOU to Elisa and Edric- I owe you both a lot. :)

P.S.

These pictures aren't cause I'm VAIN, but because I truly believe their work needs to be CELEBRATED. And since I can't just take their other pictures FREELY, I'd rather just post the ones they've taken of me- that way, they're technically, also, mine? NYAHAHAHA LOOP HOLE!