After a grueling travel schedule from Gondar to the Semien Mountains then back to Gondar and then to Lalibela, we were set to finish our Ethiopia adventure in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.

We only had the whole day to spend in Addis Ababa. From Lalibela, our plane touched down at around 11am and we went straight to an art gallery and restaurant for lunch. The Ethiopian art present there was remarkable, all of us ended up buying a piece or two or three. This was the day we would shoot our last set and then by evening we would fly back to Manila.

To save time, after lunch Coleen and Billy went straight to the hotel to get ready for the shoot while me, Erron and the other reps went to check the location. After shooting more of the countryside the first two days, the idea for this set was to show more of an urban setting. The Addis Ababa spice market was the ideal location. But of all the days we could shoot there, it had to be on the only day of the year the market is closed because of a holiday.

We were in a desperate situation. We drove around the whole city and it seemed that our fallback was a church or one of the city’s government buildings, which we would be ok but we still have to get a permit for. Our last hope was a fruit market where we found one store open. Running out of time and option, we decided to just shoot in that street.

During the time we were going around the city, there was one thing that we see everywhere, their blue and white colored taxis. These Russian Ledas shout Addis Ababa and I thought it would perfectly compensate the compromise we had with the location. So we commissioned a nice old taxi for one hour, put it on a nice angle (composition and lighting-wise) on the the street and waited for Coleen and Billy.

People started to pile just by the sight of the production team. Our set-up was very minimal, two cameras for me and 1 for Erron and 1 strobe (thank you Phottix Philippines) but the people knew something was up. It is an unusual setting but having met a lot Ethiopians the previous two days, we knew it’s going to be fun. If you look closely, their expressions are really more of curiousness and excitement. Some chatted with us even asking if we were the subjects. I said yes, but I wasn’t convincing or good-looking enough.

All the shots were outlined already. We planned to end with Coleen climbing on top of the taxi and that will wrap up the entire shoot. When they arrived, you could see that Coleen and Billy and the glam team were a bit surprised with what they saw – unexpected and cinematically chaotic . But with our whole crew the Ethiopian representatives all there, everything went swiftly and smoothly. Coleen and Billy were amazing, we nailed every frame with just a few clicks. When we say what the pose should look like, they just execute them perfectly with no second guessing – yes, even having to climb on top the taxi in high heels.

I hope that we were able to share with you the things that go in our heads while we do shoots like these especially something as special as Coleen and Billy’s prenup in Ethiopia. If the text is not enough, we prepared a short behind-the-scenes video below to help paint a picture. Special thanks to Ody Genilo of Smart Shots for the video clips and to Marvi de Guzman of Cinemaworks for editing the video)

To everyone who took part in this endeavor, we have nothing but extreme praise and gratefulness for you. Hope you enjoy the photos.