Picture-perfect babies

They told me I was very fair as a baby. My mom’s co-workers from the old legislative office who came to visit me after she gave birth all gushed: "Ang puti-puting baby." But they only said that because that was all they could say and didn’t want to hurt the feelings of a woman who had just given birth to an, ugh, ugly baby.

My siblings said I was all mouth – and that even got bigger every time I cried. All that ugliness was recorded in every baby picture – none of which exists today... I made sure! Photos from birth till I was 10 are all gone. The only one that remains (but it’s hidden under lock and key) is my First Communion picture, but only because the image of Jesus Christ (giving me the holy Host) is also in it and it would be an act of sacrilege to put it under the shredder.

Kids today are so lucky because there is a photography studio that can turn even little Quasimodos into the cutest of babies and they’ll have grow up having nice pictures of themselves because each angle will be studied (or avoided if it’s unflattering) while their photos are being taken. The photo shop is called Blow-up Babies (the original branch, which is doing brisk business today is at the Gateway and its tel. nos. are 913-7710 and 912-9101).

The idea to open a shop for babies and kids came about when award-winning cinematographer JA Tadena had the picture of his young son taken by one of the more popular studios in town and the father was unhappy with the result: It was flat – Tadena complained. He thought he could do better – and did so by putting a photography shop along with some of his friends: the very talented young director Quark Henares, commercial cinematographer/director Jessie Pastor, production designer for commercials Jenny Lao Pastor, colorist and film editor Lia Martinez – plus Tadena’s wife Ning, who is a top-rate makeup artist and pre-school teacher. It’s the best combination you can get – the best young blood in the visual arts and a teacher trained to handle kids (and their tantrums).

Actually each one of them went through a workshop to learn how to deal with children. Here’s what I gathered from them on how to handle tykes:

They’ve got to be an authority figure. They’re kuya or ate – sometimes Teacher Quark or Teacher Lia. That’s the best way to make kids follow instructions.

You have to talk to them eye level.

Kids have to be well-fed before the shoot.

They have to be well-rested and had a good night’s sleep.

They are not made to wait because they get restless.

Parents don’t force kids to wear something they don’t like before they leave the house because that will put them in a bad mood.

You play with the kids.

If the kid is not in the mood, Blow-up Babies will give you a refund – although what happens is that the parents just reset the schedule because they know from the photo studio’s portfolio that they’ll get more than their money’s worth there.

In Blow-up Babies, your kids don’t only come out beautiful in pictures, you’ll also have whatever effect you want to make the mementoes really colorful, exciting and even wacky. So you want your child to look like he is in a cup? Blow-up Babies can do that. Or maybe you want him or her look like they’re inside an egg.

But how do they make sure the kids look beautiful in pictures? Blow-up Babies can actually do "enhancing" through the magic of digital technology. Like they can put abs on a young boy. Although they’ve done that upon the request of some hit and unconventional parents, Quark Henares has observed that a lot of them would rather retain the baby fat because that’s what makes the kids look cute.

Getting the best angle of the kid is what they do first and foremost and erasing imperfections through digital means is just an option (again, only if the parents want). This way the child can go through adulthood and hold his or her head up high and proudly say that his or her baby picture was without retouch.

It’s the team of Blow-up Babies that takes care of this – through careful lighting (given the fact that they have the best in the business – commercial and movies – they succeed) and selecting the best angle.

Having your picture taken at Blow-up Babies is like shooting a movie or commercial: the concept is discussed and studied first, you are handled by people very active in film and advertising and there is even post-production work.

The works of the Blow-up Babies people have so impressed the parents of the kids that they – the parents themselves – want their photos also taken by the studio. And now, Blow-up Babies also takes wedding, graduation and anniversary pictures. Their clients now include a lot of adults – celebrities mostly. (A great bulk are professional models who want to update their respective portfolios.)

Recently, I went to visit their new Serendra shop (in Global City with tel. no. 909-7998 to 99) to cover the pictorial of Angel Locsin as the newest endorser of Belo Medical Center and I noticed that it was a full production, very impressive. On another side were kids preparing for their shoot. Oh, how I envied them because they were getting pampered and were being handled in the most professional manner. Why was there no Blow-up Babies when I was little? You bet I’ll avail of their services now – before I even lapse into my second childhood. That should be soon.