Jacob Maentz’s Blog

The last two months since my last blog entry have been busy for my family and I. We returned to Cebu City at the end of October after spending eight months visiting family and friends in the States. Its always nice to be back in Cebu and to see our family and friends here as well. We have been in the process of building a new house here for the past year. Construction continued while we were in the states, but the past two months we have been going full throttle trying to finish it. We are about two weeks out now from moving in and we are very excited to make the transfer. The house is not too big, but it is tall (four stories). We love the patio on the top floor and it has a great view of the mountains in Cebu. Watching fireworks on New Years from the patio was a family event and we could see them in all directions.

Panoramic view from our patio.

Aside from the excitement of moving into our new home, my wife gave birth to our second child on November 26th. Baby Amaya Mary. She is a cute one and her brother loves to give her kisses. She’s already getting big and before we know it she will be walking around like Liam.

Baby Amaya

This time of year is busy for photographers in Cebu with weddings and events in peak season. I have been fortunate enough with all that is going on to take a few assignments. I have posted some images below from two weddings and other events I have covered since arriving back to the Philippines.

Wedding at Maribago Blue Waters Resort

Wedding reception at Waterfront Hotel Cebu City

Turkish Ambassador to the Philippines with Guests

On another note, two good friends of mine from my Peace Corps days came to visit. It was great catching up with Matt and Alex and it was just like old times hanging on the beach, having some drinks and good discussions.

Matt and Alex with Dive Master Tata in Malapascua.

I’m looking forward to a fruitful 2009 and spending more of my energy on traveling and capturing beautiful images. I have spent a good portion of 2008 developing jacobimages.com and coming up with business ideas, etc. I am looking forward to getting back to more of the photography side of the photography business and doing what I really enjoy. I hope you will be patient and continue to check back to see what new images I am able to post in the stock gallery. Thanks for reading and see you back here soon.

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I have not wrote a blog entry in over a month now and I thought it was time too once again. I have been on the road with my family for the past couple of months and haven’t found the time to write an entry. We have been traveling visiting family and friends around the US before heading back to Cebu City, Philippines at the end of October. Right now we are visiting my wife’s family in the Bay area.

We have had a wonderful time seeing family and friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It feels just like old times when we all get together. I have also tried to squeeze in some picture taking during our trip, although it’s quite a challenge when you have a pregnant wife and a very active 11 month-year-old son. I have posted my images from Tennessee, the Outer Banks, and Colorado in the Stock Gallery if you are interested in viewing them. Also check out the Landscapes & Seascape gallery, because there are some new ones in there too. I am excited to return to the Philippines where I can start focusing more of my energy on creating excellent imagery once again.

What else is new? Well…we have had a graphic designer make a new logo for the website and business. I am really excited about the new look and I think the design fits really well with the current website.

We have also adjusted our prices for fine art prints and licensing while providing more options. Customers can now order fine art prints and have them professionally matted and framed by us. The result is a beautiful piece of artwork that is ready to hang on your wall. We now offer three different types of black frames for your fine art prints and they all look great.

As our stock gallery grows we are trying to make it easier for you to search for images. We are working on making it easier for viewers to browse by location/place as well as by category. We should have this function up soon. Thanks for checking back and seeing what’s new with us. We hope you will continue to return and see what new images we have.

1. My son Liam in front of the US Capitol Building, DC.
2. My friend Wally having fun on a zip-line, Colorado.
3. My friend Jolon and his son Logan in Colorado.
4. My son Liam and I playing in a river, Colorado.