Romancing with Autumn

Extravagant, intense, romantic, even nostalgic. That's what autumn is to me!

 last week in Cacak, loving the fall colours to bits!

It's my first time to experience autumn. During my last 2 contracts as Photographer I would, for a time, experience this season in Europe during the Atlantic crossing. When we would shoot guests at the ships' gangway from 7-11am straight w/o a break, I would be freezing and hating it. But that's all the memory I have. Now that I am more familiar with it,  I can easily compare it to our "rainy months" in the Philippines (sometime around June to September). The rain is there, minus the storms. It is cold, romantic, it makes you lazy... especially when you get used to enjoying the fabulous sound of the rain falling on your roof. Ahhhh, sarap! The windows steam up, but inside the house we make fire, so I love it when we are warm & dry.

just today in Mitrovica stopping over for a snapshot w/ the gorgeous trees along the road, going home from Belgrade to Uzice, our hometown!

Yellow is one of my favorite colors so I had easily fallen in love with the changing colors of the trees!

When we decided to shoot and stay in Serbia last July we were worried that when the wedding season is over after Summer,  in the months of October onwards, there was nothing for us to do. But thankfully, there are still clients around. And I completely admire their excitement and anticipation for snow to arrive on their wedding day. That would be quite a fun downpour!!

I am currently editing 2 shoots and supposed to finish them soon, but I can't help but take a break & blog (again) about the beauty of fall!

taken in Cacak, our lovely couple Bosko & Milica

taken in Belgrade, our lovely couple Ljubo & Ana

and another one of them, (w/c they have not seen yet) when the it started to rain going to our 2nd location

It's one of my favorite shots that day. What could be more cheesy than kissing in the rain? That’s what waterproof mascara was made for I think (wink).

taken in Belgrade, our lovely couple Marko & Iva (another session to finish)

Another favorite from the many favorites :) Because they were naturally C-U-T-E together.

>>> Okay, back to editing... sigh!!

And this week are two more shoots. Snap, snap, snap!! Very happy to be working like this! & everyday feeling really blessed to be doing what we do best. Super thank you, God Almighty for everything!

How about you, what makes you happy??

A slice of serbian culture at Alex's 18th birthday party

The make-shift tent for 400 guests

The long table / the official photographer/videographer / a kid running out from the kitchen

Welcome to Cacak, a quiet and peaceful town where I witnessed a big 18th birthday celebration of Ivan's first cousin, Alexander last weekend. I have seen many celebrations similar to this in Manila but nothing compares to Serbia's long list of traditions so this is one occasion that's really worth sharing. I actually thought it was a small low-key gathering until we got there.

400 guests is a rather large number!

I was not only astonished by the size of the party but also by the fact that certain Serbian traditions are just lovely to share!

Serbians give 3 kisses on the cheeks as a custom! Here, Alexander greets his guests at the gate one by one!

Just for trivia records, cheek-kissing people do over here with friends and family. Doing it with acquaintances upon meeting means you are friends. This is also true for men to men. One reason I think why most Serbian men I know are highly-sensitive people. When Ivan meets old male friends on the streets, for instance, I can't help but smile when they give each other 3 kisses. It is a treat to see men respect each other in that way without thinking of it as ridiculous. In another place, other men would probably gonna die in annoyance just thinking about this whole kissing thing...

But here, basically, it is culturally normal :)

Serbs dancing KOLO, a traditional collective folk dance; relatively the same as Hassapiko of Greece (at least to me)

For drinking (the reason why we all like to party), the choices are kafa (coffee), pivo (beer), water, juice, cola, and of course, and their very own rakija.

Overflowing rakija

Rakija, Serbia's national drink is too strong for me. I always describe it to be as strong as tequila. And since they drink it pure, one shot is always enough for me. It is home-produced, so every household (literally) always have it. At Ivan's country home for example they have maybe 3 gigantic barrels of rakija stored.. Phew! O.A. diba?!

The gift table manned by Katarina

And just like on weddings, large monetary gifts are bestowed on the celebrant by families & friends. There would be a gift table, with one person manning recording everything. So when you come to a party, this is initially your first stop. According to Ivan, 50 euros is appropriate, unless you are fabulously wealthy.  Big investment = yes! But if you do the math, it's really not bad :D Brilliant, eh?

Alexander, Mira, Ivan, Diana & Katarina

Srećan Rodjendan, Alexander!!!

or

Maligayang Kaarawan sa iyo!!!

Thank you for this day of cultural immersion :D