Capturing life’s moments are very important to me. After many years of building my own photo collection, it hit me... “Why not create a gallery of my own?”

A single photo can re-stimulate an old and sometimes forgotten memory.

My father, Jerry Sr., was a 1st generation professional photographer- He lived in the era where film negatives, dark rooms for developing, and micro scoping photo slides for his collections were the norm. Whenever we had guests inside our home, they would walk around, looking at our “gallery” of photos displayed all throughout our hallways and common rooms. My family and I always appreciated people’s positive responses and how certain shots made great conversations. After his passing, I made a promise to my family and myself that I would continue to preserve and showcase both of our work in future galleries.

Thank you so much for your support- Have a great day!

The History of the Tabije Photo Logo:

I have been wanting to rebrand myself as a photographer for the past year or so…I just didn’t know where to start. That wasn’t until I met Jeff Dojillo, a professional photographer and is well-known for his work in Muay Thai culture. In the first week of April, Jeff decided to start a 4-week photography mentorship program, which would cater to 4 different photographers in improving their portfolio, website, and editing. After submitting my work to him, he picked me as one of his students! The main focus on my behalf (each student was different) was to rebuild my website and create my own logo, as well as my find my own style of photography that the public can recognize me by.

When brainstorming what I wanted my logo to look like, I was told by Jeff that it needed to match well with the color black. I knew that I wanted to shorten the name of my logo (Jeff agreed as well), since Justin Tabije Photography is way too long for people to remember me and find on social media. I also wanted to make the name more universal, so that I would have the option of incorporating my father’s photography work anytime in the future. In the end, I thought Tabije Photo would be a good neutral name where both of our work can live.

Afterwards, I brainstormed colors and started with gold (Lakers) and Pantone 294 (Dodger blue). As much as I wanted one of these colors to be “The One,” it didn’t stand out enough for me…I started sampling every color, little by little…until I arrived at the color Yellow- It has a nice contrast to black, it stands out by being bright, and it simply fit my personality when I started sampling it. I knew that if I wanted this logo to be designed right, it had to be professionally done…

This where I turned to my cousin, Jordan Tabije, who is a graphic designer and does this type of work for a living. He previously helped me design my first business card when I was a restaurant manager. Plus, I am also a big fan of his work…So, I already knew that he could create something that I was envisioning in my head. I told him that I wanted it to be in black and yellow and that I wanted to incorporate a camera logo; I just didn’t know how or where to put it. After 45+ times ( I counted) of going back and forth with different designs, he designed exactly what I was looking for!

Fun Fact/ Inside Joke:

When Jordan showed me the last samples of my logo, he made the camera white and the lens yellow- This reminded of my Silog T-shirt, which is pairing a fried egg on top of any dish served with garlic fried rice and calling it breakfast. This is a common practice in Filipino meals. It’s a little corny, but this adds a nice little touch to my logo and my secret little way of representing my ethnic background!

Thank you to everyone who have helped me build Tabije Photo. I want to give a shout out to a few people who helped me along the way: To Jeff and the mentorship group, who inspired me to put in the extra work as an artist and photographer. To my friends and family who helped critique my portfolio and logo. To my cousin Jordan for helping me design my new logo. And Mike, for putting the final touches to my website.

Last but not least- My work is dedicated to my parents: I miss you so much and think of you everyday. To Mom for always being my #1 fan and supporter. And to Dad: Thank you for helping me search and discover what I was put on Earth to be: A BAD*SS PHOTOGRAPHER.

With love,