“I Got Your Back.” – A Military Themed Prenup

“I Got Your Back.” – A Military Prenup Pictorial

The Beginning…

When Jomel first pitched in the idea of having a Military themed prenup pictorial, my first question was, what gave him the idea? He simply said we could pull it off, because he could see it in my fiancé Jon’s aura that he’s the military type, plus he observed that being a gun-toting chick seemed to suit me. I was impressed, since he was right on both counts without even knowing that,

1. Jon was a former corps commander back in high school and
2. I’ve always wanted to be Lara Croft. (haha.)

Realizing that both Jon & I could actually put our secret identities out in the open even for just a day, I put my foot down. This is it, the Ooomph! concept that I have been waiting for. Thus, with no further objection from either party, the Military concept was born.

The Execution…

Then came the grueling part of putting together the costumes (Recto shopping, anyone?) and contacting one of Jon’s groomsmen who is, let’s just say, an “Army Officer” in Camp Aguinaldo (Yep, classified information). He said he could get us in, and, well, we’ll take it from there.

After much anticipation, we arrived at Camp Aguinaldo. Camp? I thought a camp was like a campus, like my school. But this, this was actually more of a city, with long winding roads leading to narrow grasslands with abandoned warehouses on one end and nice looking barracks lined on the other end. Then there were several big schools, a church, plus the Department of National Defense building, and a grandstand. After getting lost trying to follow the instructions of the personnel at the gate, we finally met up with our main man Jay (the groomsman/officer). After changing to our battle gear costumes, Jay led us to our first location. It was perfect – the tanks, choppers, the works. It had everything Jomel needed to work on.

First Location : Those that Run or Fly

This was one of the first few shots we had. I have never had a professional photo shoot before (of course except for my grad pictures) so everything was a new experience for me – the costumes, the pro photographer, the tank I was sitting on… Hmm.. but I don’t know about my fiancé, Jon. He seems comfortable enough!

Lara Croft meets Guile. Workin’ it by the humongous tank behind us.

This shot was actually easy enough for us. We just had to stand and look back. But what I didn’t realize was it was kinda hard for Jomel, since he had to crouch down low to get this angle. I swear the barrel of that tank didn’t look that big when we were standing below it (or maybe it was? Hmmm…).

The concept for this shot was just relaxing by the chopper, and I think that was what Jon was doing. Hahaha.

If the concept of the previous shot was “relaxing by the chopper”, I’m guessing the idea behind this one is “flirting by the chopper”. That exchange of smiles beyond words is very natural between the two of us. I’d say we were already relaxed and really ourselves during this shot – of course, except for the gun-dangling-from-our-hands part. No, we don’t usually do that. Haha!

I think my fiancé almost swept me off my feet with this one. :D

It is actually in these series of shots (with me wearing Jomel’s G-Shock watch!) that we came up with the title for this blog, “I Got Your Back”, primarily because in the shot above, I seemed to be looking out for enemies (while trying to transform into catwoman), while in the next shot…

Jon looks like a real swat operative trying to cover for me while I’m lounging by the wings – literally. While in real life, especially in marriage, husbands and wives are supposed to “cover each other’s backs”, giving what the other may need in order to fill in each other’s shortcomings. Yes, I know, it’s always easier said than done, either in Military or in Marriage.

Women sometimes have to take control. Sometimes lang! (IF we can help it hehehe!)

By this time we were feeling the heat of the sun and the humidity around us. Luckily, the ambiance of the shots was supposed to be hot and humid!

We were actually resting at this time. I was telling my fiancé that I was feeling hungry and thirsty, and he was telling me we would get something to eat after the shoot. This was, for me, the most relaxed shot, since we were just chillin’ down there… yep, right under the military tank looming over us! Relaxing, eh?

Jon Bond and his Bond Girl playin’ it hot under the scope! I can’t imagine how Jomel even thought about this shot. There was a replica for a certain type of artillery that had scopes. Jomel went behind the scope and simply instructed Jon and me to stand in front and to kiss. We had no idea what he was trying to do until he showed us the proofs. Nice, huh?

To the naked eye, this is simply a kiss through a chopper’s window. But as with every picture, this one also has a story to tell. Both Jomel and Jon told me that if you look closely, the seats inside the chopper had traces of bloodstains on it. Of course, I didn’t want to take another look inside, but it nevertheless got me wondering, how many lives were lost and saved inside this chopper? As I look into this picture, what comes to mind is a whole new life with a whole new meaning for my fiancé and I, as seen through life and loss, war and gain, joy and sorrow.

Second Location: The Unmentionable

So we packed up from our first location and drove around and round the Camp, trying to find our main man Jay’s contacts if they’d let us access to their trucks. The concept of the second location will be involving a military truck, whether in a garage or warehouse or parking lot. The problem was, the only military trucks we usually see are either running towards us or parked in areas we don’t have access to. Besides, photographing military logistics is dangerous, lest we give bad elements an idea of what’s inside, right? So we almost gave up on our mission to have a truck shoot when Jay, the dedicated friend that he is, really really sought person after person until finally, after almost an hour of driving around and talking to lots of comrades, Jay finally gave us the go signal. We were in! Thus, the location of these shots is, yes, unmentionable.

Jomel went around the location a few times, trying to conceptualize possible shots given what we had. He had to forego the floodlights, since there was no readily available socket and having bright lights would attract unwanted attention. Thus, we had to shoot in near darkness, with light illuminating only from one corner of the place.

This shot was done in almost darkness, courtesy of a military jeep’s sidemirror.

This is how we’d look like if someone spied on us using night vision lenses. So how did it feel to be sitting on the fender of a bad-a$$ military truck? Let’s just say if I lose my balance, it won’t be a pretty sight. I was struggling to keep my balance in this shot, while my fiancé was effortlessly displaying his machismo at my back.

Hmm… Wanna know what Jon was doing by the military truck in the dark? You’re guess is as good as mine! (This was one of Jomel’s creative shots, where we ended up really laughing afterwards.)

Our “Prenup meets FHM” shot. Lean over. Project. Grab her leg. This was one of the last few shots for the night, and one of the shots I felt comfortable in.

A tender moment captured by the window frame of the military truck. This was not scripted – we simply thought Jomel was still adjusting his camera and doing test shots.

Pain and weakness. That admonishing look I got there is one I’d give anybody who would cause pain to my loved one. (I didn’t think I could pull off this emo shot, since I wasn’t used to “emoting” in front of the camera. Good thing Jomel didn’t pressure me into it. He simply told me the concept, and demonstrated how I was supposed to look at him, and viola! Emo shot.)

This set (in the unmentionable location) was done in around half an hour since we were in a restricted place. But from the output, no one would ever guess we were under time pressure.

After a grueling half day we wrapped up just as rain started to fall. Finally, Jon and I, our main man Jay, our photographer Jomel and his assistant heartily had a (long overdue) dinner in one of the lutong bahay canteens inside the Camp.

Whoa. It all happened so fast as I realized it was back to reality the next day. It was a very different experience, something I never thought I would have to go through. It was worth all the preparations, the conceptualization, the heat and exhaustion. It was worth the fatigue Jon & I experienced as we all went back to work the next day.

As I look back at these pictures, I would always recall the stories behind it, the trouble we had to go through to do it… As the cliché goes, “Pictures mean a thousand words” but I beg to disagree. I attempted to tell each picture’s story with this blog, and I have currently reached 1,621 words (and counting), but I know I could never put everything into writing. Each picture’s story is not in a document but is in my heart, expressed not through words but through emotions, and saved not as a file but as memories. Something that even a crashed hard drive could not take away from me.

To the three J’s who were instrumental in this Prenup Shoot:

Thank you Jomel, for capturing the memories.

Thank you Jay, for allowing us to have those memories.

And thank you Jon, for these memories, and the more to come.