Matti's 9th Month DIY Pictorial

There's nothing more important to me right now than making sure I capture my little one's monthly growth and milestones that's why I have to set aside a day for a Do It Yourself pictorial.

Johan Matti is now 9 months old, last month, my husband and I had a quick shoot at a nearby location but this time, we decided to bring Matti to a beautiful location in Ubay, Bohol. Our family was very supportive they had offered to join and help us out. This pictorial served another purpose - a family trip!

Concepts

I was torn between the photographer, beach surfer, and book worm theme. I had to consider several things. At first, I thought I should just stick to the photographer theme because that's what we had planned since last month. I mentioned before on the blog DIY and Quick Photoshoot for Matti's 8th Month that we postponed this theme and will do it in April but things had changed, we didn't proceed with ordering the lego camera toys anymore because the seller said we need to pre-order it when in fact, his shop states it was available. Shopee had refunded us the amount we paid.

Before I decided to go to our location, we also thought why not do a beach theme because Matti's rashguard and swimwear might not fit him anymore next month. We had scouted for the "perfect" beach the previous month where we could do the photoshoot however, we couldn't find the right beach for it.

Photoshoot Location

A week ago, I found a photo on a social media site that displayed a beautiful dam with a view of mountains and hills. The location was not stated but it was mentioned that it's in Ubay, Bohol. The photos were surely pretty and I want to visit the place but, I have to find out where that was taken.

I googled dam locations in Ubay, Bohol, and compared it to that on the image. Our house is located in Guindulman and is almost an hour away from Ubay so getting there won't be a problem.

After a few tapping and comparing, I finally figured that the location is in Benliw Dam. It's funny because one of my YouTuber friends had already vlogged about it and I didn't realize I was watching her video! 

Long story short, I informed my parents about the plan and they were all supportive. They want to be tagged along! Of course, I want to go on a trip with the family because I want them to also see for themselves the beauty of this view. My brother who lives in another town also wanted to come and guess what, it became a road trip and adventure kind of experience instead!

Photoshoot Accessories and the Failed Cake

I wanted it simple but thought adding some accessories won't hurt but I don't want to spend money on this pictorial. I just want something that I can keep as a remembrance before Matti bids goodbye to his 8th-month-old self.

My husband suggested why not use books. My father had some old dictionaries on the shelf and so I decided to use that instead. These dictionaries were bought when my niece was still a baby, they said she will be able to use them when she grows up but guess what, the books were just kept in the storage because today, we can just ask Mr. Google!

For the past eight months, we had ordered and bought cakes. Somehow, I got over it. So, unlike the previous months where I would look for minimalistic cake designs, this month, I didn't bother until a day before the photo shoot.

Why the change of heart? Well, I thought I must be consistent with the cake thing since I had been doing so since the start so I decided to look for a bakeshop who could make a simple carrot cake.

Unfortunately, the cake was a disaster and it was ruined because it has too much icing on it. So, we ended up with a Goldilocks chocolate cake instead! 

Trip and Rain

At one in the afternoon on the 24th of April, my family and I had an hour and seven minutes road trip from Guindulman to Benliw, Ubay, Bohol via the Mabini road route. The road was concrete until we reached Benliw. The view was also mesmerizing, it was our first time to take a road trip on this side of Bohol. There were rolling hills and mountains on the sides, rice fields, and forests, we even talked about some spots where there are bad spirits too! We just laughed about it but I wish I brought my action camera with us, we could have made a hyperlapse video of how nice the view and share it here, anyway, that's a good excuse for us to do another road trip.

It was already sprinkling when we reached Biabas, Ubay, just a few minutes away is the location and my mom prayed there won't be rain in Benliw but we were greeted by a heavy one instead as we were still parked. We decided to get Matti dressed while waiting for the rain to stop.

Benliw Dam

We found other visitors as well at Benliw Dam, food isn't a problem because there are also vendors around. The place is huge but it has no shelters so when it rained, the visitors had no choice but to get wet. We went inside the car and waited for it to stop.

The view was amazing, the hills are pretty and the water body gives it a relaxing feel. There are campers around too who arrived right after us. We did the pictorial with the mountains as the backdrop.

Pictorial Session

The pictorial part was fast. It was way faster than the travel time, we just had to set up the things we brought such as the mats, cloth that covers the mat, books, and the cake. 

Also, it seems like Matti is already aware of what is happening because he was very cooperative just like the previous photo opportunity session. I am truly proud that this baby isn't crying nor giving us a hard time at all. He was content with what he has at that time, he played with his sunglasses, his cap, and the books around him.

But of course, he still was curious about the cake just like the previous months, he had touched all his cakes except for the first month in which he was still unaware of what was going on around him at that time.

After taking a few shots, I knew it was time to wrap it up. But the family wants to also take some photos of ourselves so we took some time at the location, ate too because we brought some snacks with us.

Unfortunately, we forgot to bring chairs so it was hard to just be standing while eating, our seniors can't also endure standing the entire time so we had to get back to our car and eat there.

It was time to head back home when the sun started to lose its light. There were still people around but because it has a huge land area, we were not bothered at all. The campers had already started setting up their equipment and we bid goodbye to Benliw Dam. 

Postprocessing

I used Adobe Lightroom Classic to post-process the images. It is quite easy this way because I just had to edit one single photo, adjust what's needed like contrast, exposure, the saturation, and then apply it to all the images as there's a sync option.

After applying the changes, I then had to check each photo and rate them. The rating means I have selected that specific photo for export. After exporting, it's time to put up the images on social media sites like this one. Here are a few of the shots I have selected:

Thank you for reading the article. I look forward to the next photo opportunity.

xoxo,

mommy jean of momentswithmatti

Love harder than any pain you've ever felt.