Sharing what they see

“I like capturing moments and connections,” said Axiss Photo Creative Solutions founder Rene Gil Ramos. (Contributed Photos)

Axiss Photo Creative Solutions founder Rene Gil Ramos has an eye for moments and these moments are captured with a click of his camera. After a decade of being a freelance photographer in Illinois, he is now on Saipan offering lifestyle and traditional photography services and sharing with us what he sees in photographs.

“Photography has always been my passion and long before there was social media, I have taken photographs of everyday moments in my life and assembled the printed photos chronologically into albums that make up bits and pieces of my life story. My life’s work is creating photographs and albums that tell stories of people’s lives…On Saipan, I started doing freelance photography for family and friends… [In] December last year, I met a few friends and decided to launch Axiss online,” he said.

“When we were just planning on how we will do the business on Saipan, a business partner suggested in doing free family portraits for the community We know it has been difficult for the island because of the pandemic, especially in Christmas time…so my business partner posted this information on a Facebook group called ‘Saipan Free.’ Many people responded and we catered to the first 10 family reservations. When people keep on giving us good reviews and our audience in our page grew 300 times in a span of one month, we then decided to make packages and prices,” he added.

Axxiss Photo Creative Solutions offers portraits that range from family, couple, or solo portraits that are mostly done outdoors.

They also do events and specializes in capturing pictures at weddings, birthday parties, concerts, graduations, etc.

“Currently, I am the main photographer who does most of the portrait, family photoshoot. However, we have another reserved photographer available to help out for big events like weddings and another one who is currently on training for videography in addition to our photography services,” Ramos said.

Axiss Photo Creative Solutions does lifestyle and traditional photography services.

“Our team is composed of photographer/videographer Irene Cristobal, session director and sales [executive] Candy Feliciano, and editor Jan Dionela…Over the years, I found the way to educate myself in photography is by investing time and money in learning the knick-knacks of the business. I studied and completed Adobe Photoshop course back in 2008 and I have been photographing portraits and events since then,” Ramos added.

According to Ramos, he always wants to capture connections more than highlight aesthetics. “I guess this is what I am aiming for the most, to show the love and joy of the people in front of my lens. They can look back at these as memories and it will give them that exact day when they were together and they were happy. I believe that on any given day, this will spark hope and happiness and knowing I was part of that, gives me extreme pleasure because is not every day that you get the chance to bring a smile to a person,” he said.

“I want clients to see past the beauty and technicalities and that everyone has that delicate and unique beauty and perfection, sometimes a little angle and light can bring that to surface. What I want them to see is beyond that. I want them to see not only is their imperfections perfectly beautiful but also the joy and the love that surrounds the shot—their family, their loved ones, or their friends,” he added.

Ramos said that to date, American Memorial Park is his favorite for outdoor photoshoots, “I guess it’s really close to families. Not only that it is well maintained, offers many scenic background options, but also perhaps, the fact that families enjoy being there. Families enjoy picnics and outdoor fun when there so I guess that idea comforts them and eases their anxiety in posing in front of the lens because when we work with families, we want to make images for them that are meaningful, full of life and love, a bit emotive and raw.”

For Ramos, photography is personal. Even though a lens separates him from his subjects, he takes time to know clients in a personal level and value them like they were his own family. “We give our photographs meaning by including literature and storytelling. If you can see in our page, we write mini-stories of our clients lives. They are not just clients to us, they are our friends who have unique and beautiful life stories to share.

We do this so at least offer hope and inspiration to the community. With everything that’s been happening now, having hope is the most important thing…We are called Axiss after my two children, Axel and Katniss. To be able to do this is already a dream come true, the profit is just the icing on the cake,” he added.

Axiss Photo Creative Solutions shoots daily. For more information, you can reach them at www.facebook.com/axissphoto.