What Is Your Element: Marc Abrigo and James Lontayao

http://www.justinelement.com

If this is your favorite submission, please vote by writing any comment below. the submission with the most comments wins.

My team read this entry and we were laughing the entire time, Marc and James are two of the funniest guys I’ve met and I’m glad I can put them on the top 5. They are partners in Youtubes hit show Lexationships! They’ve made me laugh countless times and I’m glad to have an entry from them. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

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We here at Lexationships wanted to say our element was “fire,” but after realizing how much of a douchebag that ginger was to the rest of the Planeteers, we instead decided to go with what we knew — ties. And when we realized how absolutely lame that was for an entry, we opted to go with something we pretend we know, and that’s comedy. Comedy, for our money (the piles and piles of it, we’ll have you know), is without question the most important performance art in the world, bar none. You teach people with comedy. You can make people angry with it. And if you’re really good? You can heal people with it. And that’s our job here at Lexationships, especially since none of us can afford med school. But more than that, we want to bring something new to the table. We don’t do accents. We don’t make fun of our parents. But we do like bringing people together — and if they have even a third of the fun watching us as we do performing for them? Then everything’s worth it.

Now, how’d we use comedy in a photoshoot? Well, aside from posing like we’re telling jokes, and telling some poor stranger to hold a laughing pose while you snap away, we want to come across just as classy and entertaining as one of our main inspirations at Lex: the Rat Pack. They were the epitome of entertainment, guys who could make you laugh, cry, and sing along whether you were an average Joe, or the Hollywood elite. Look at Frank, Dino, Sammy, etc., in the decades worth of photography dedicated to them, and you’ll see consummate entertainers — the best in the world at what they did. And regardless of their personal problems, their issues with each other and their families… when that spotlight hit? They were the coolest men on the planet. Singers. Actors. Dancers. Comedians. That’s what they did. But who they were? Well, that was something else, entirely. Both on and off the stage, on film and in pictures — they were best friends.

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Will - 11/26/2010 - 9:31 pm

I love these guys

What Is Your Element: Zermina Akbary

http://www.justinelement.com

If this is your favorite submission, please vote by writing any comment below. the submission with the most comments wins.

The first submission is from Zermina Akbary who submitted a piece about her writing. Zermina expresses her passion for writing very well. I was able to relate easily with her and I could really see how she gets into the moment when she’s writing that she pretty much loses herself, just like I do when I’m shooting. I just really loved how well she wrote her submission and my team totally agreed with me. Hope you enjoy it!

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What is my element?

Definitely writing. Writing is my life log. With retrospect, a simple life becomes fascinating. I’ve filled countless notebooks with random thoughts, poems, and doodles. I could not live without writing. If I’d go to a deserted island, I would need a thick block of paper and a set of pens or one that is super long lasting, and I’d be more or less satisfied. (If I write a letter, I can run out of a gel pen writing one letter.) I write anything, from just words on paper to longer texts. Writing is like breathing to me. Well, not quite like breathing, perhaps, because I can LIVE without it, but I can’t really THRIVE without it.

I can process my thoughts way easier when I write them down. Running around so much everyday you barely have ANYTIME to sit back and reflect a little, or just have some time to yourself, its unfortunate. Like we don’t enjoy the real things around us: trees, plants, mountains/hills, sky, lakes – we forget that all of these make up life and if we really sit down listen to them on a quiet night/day and just think about and write about all the creations of God; it’s truly something else. When I first moved here and was spending my weekends at my aunts, I would hike up at Midnight to a spot near the edge of the mountain and just sit there listening and writing away…and it was an amazing feeling how you can hear the trees rustling, the fresh smell of the plants around, and the best was hearing the Water – I’m sure from a Lake- running, and to top it all I looked Up and it felt like the Stars were so close -all that gives you a spiritual booster. That is what simply writing does to me. It fills me up with gratitude and fills me with awareness of the beauty of life.

Writing helps me get my emotions out of my system. Writing is my life; it is my passion that takes me wherever I want to go! I relive experiences; I embrace solutions to problems shown by the stroke of my pen on blank paper. I love it when I lose myself in the writing. The world’s an adventure.

How could I use writing in a free photo shoot? Simple. I could transform any piece of writing (whatever it may be) into photos. Simply from words, a paper and pen to a camera, film and photos.

Here is a recent writing piece:

Happiness: Fire vs Water

Happiness

When I was younger, I chased after a type of happiness that could best be described as a fire. It burned bright and hot, but it burned fast. Winning tennis matches; making new friends at summer camps and school; dancing my heart out at parties and on stage; acing exams and feeling smart… They were all such an intense burst of energy, a blazing rush of adrenaline and endorphins.

As I grew up, I started to develop another kind of happiness that could be described as a substantial body of water. It was calmer, but deeper. Sharing a profound connection with your significant other; enjoying a low-key weekend; dancing at home while swiffering.. in my undies; understanding that there’s so much more to learn and accomplish; dedicating my time to meaningful ventures; developing a stronger sense of self-worth… These joys flow slowly, steadily, and quietly.

Both kinds of happiness are wonderful to experience. But in my opinion, “fire” is over glamorized by Hollywood and over hyped by the youth culture, while “water” is somehow underrated. Yes, fire seems more exciting and powerful. But don’t mistake the gentleness of the water’s surface for lack of strength. And although fires are easier to form, they are also quick to burn out and dependent upon fuel from external factors. On the other hand, water can actually help you stay afloat during the rough times thanks to the uplifting force of buoyancy.

I see a lot of young people chase “fire” after “fire” to grab whatever short-lived happiness they can get their hands on. True happiness is from within and not dependent upon external stimuli. Adrenaline and endorphins make for fun times, but hardly equal a fulfilling life.

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Aminah Sahir - 11/26/2010 - 1:42 am

excellent work Zermina !!! keep it up ! :))

Cindy Ch. - 11/26/2010 - 6:00 pm

Great work!

Heycatcake - 11/26/2010 - 9:14 pm

Amazing pictures! Show me more more more!!

Heycatcake - 11/27/2010 - 4:14 am

Amazing pictures! Show me more more more!!

Top 5 Submissions and Preview to Agnes and Daniel

So theres still a month left in the year, but NOW is as good as time as any to look back on this last year and really think about how things have been, and well in short and predictably, give thanks. This year has been the biggest year of my life, when everything changed.

This is the year that

I finally decided to be a wedding photographer

I made my room into an office

I got my business license

I bought my first full frame camera

I set my priorities

I emptied out my closet and redid my wardrobe

I went to my first Clipper game

I discovered The Office and Outsourced and fastpasstv.com

I got a smart phone

I made professional business cards

I got my professional website up and running

I got to watch all the Harry Potters

I chased my dreams

And as always, I love shooting. I love love love shooting. And I’m so thankful to everyone whos supported me to come to find or realize all of this. And to God for guiding me to find, well my camera.

So this is where my contest comes along, I found my element this year and I’m sharing it with all of you, so in return I want to find out what your element is and thank you for your support by merging our elements together.

Following this post I will be posting the 5 submissions that stood out to my team and me the most. If you like the entry the most, you can vote for it by leaving a comment. Comments will be checked for identical IP addresses so only one comment per person. All inappropriate comments will be deleted. The post with the most comments will win the photo session!

Final Count will be taken 1 week later at the night of Dec 2, or Midnight Dec 3. Good luck!

Here’s a preview of Ag and Daniel’s engagement session too! Pictures will be up soon :)

Agnes and Daniel Engaged from Justin Element on Vimeo.

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