Filipina Soul

The weddingest month is almost upon us!

It has been found that May is the month with the most number of weddings, at least in the Philippines. It’s a good month to be married, with the flowers blooming, and summer in full swing. We are getting into a wedding mode here at Filipina Soul, and we have been on a quest to feature professionals in the wedding industry.

Our very first interview is with John Mateos Ong. I feel fortunate and grateful to John (or Jong, as he is also known) for his having taken the time for this interview. I tell you, he is a busy man. He is a professional photographer, but as I have learned, he is also willing to help out with whatever it needs to make a wedding successful. Even standing in as the groom during the first dance!

In addition to his background in events management and music, John brings expertise and passion to his art. He is the founder and moderator of phphoto, the biggest organization of photographers in the Philippines.

Prior to the wedding day, John takes the time to get to know the bride and groom. In doing so, he is in a much better position to bring out the best in them during their special day. He even confesses to having given counsel to a nervous couple just before their wedding. John himself has been married once and can share from experience.

With regards to their style of wedding coverage, John and his team of photographers mix photojournalism and traditional photography. They cover only one wedding per day, so as to give the couple their full attention.

Filipina Soul got to know John better through my recent Q-and-A with him:

FS: How did you get started as a wedding photographer? Was photography a hobby that you took further? A family business?

John: I started as an events manager for corporations 1990.  I was president/stockholder for a company called WishCraft Inc., in year 2000 we diversified. Put up a staging company called stage monster and being a new company, I volunteered to head it.  I studied production design in CSB to learn more about this business and a part of the requirement was to study photography. I fell in love with it and eventually was getting more and more bookings.  I felt it was getting unfair for my other partners that I am always unavailable so in 2003 plus that God had a different plan for me, so I sold my shares and went full time.

FS: Please tell us about your services. How does a couple go about booking you for their wedding?

John: well.. Usual process is we meet up. I present to them the works of mine and my other photographers who are much cheaper than my package. They agree, we sign contract and they pay the down. 

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Come back tomorrow for the rest of my interview with John. Meanwhile, here’s a sample of his work:

images by John Mateos Ong. posted with permission.

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