To travel is one of life’s greatest pleasures. To time travel, on the other hand, is one of mankind’s greatest dream. I am no Marty McFly but what if I told you that I was able to do both and have the photos to show for it? Several months ago, we visited one of the most enigmatically unique places in the world to shoot the engagement session of Sei and Paolo. Here in Havana, Cuba, you are transported to a different place and to a different time. Because of the extensive reach of the embargo that the United States has slapped on Cuba in the 60s, the country has been virtually stuck in time since. Cars, people, structures and ways of life have not changed much. It’s a dream location for any shoot. It takes something special to shoot in such a place and aptly, I have one of the most special ones in Sei and Paolo. These two are family to me and Paolo is a significant part of what Metrophoto is today. Traveling back in time and having these photos with them is surely a history we would love to back to, time and time again. Enjoy.

It was tricky adjusting to the fact that we cannot travel internationally for shoots anymore. Accepting it was easy; it was in maintaining the quality and the uniqueness of our photoshoots that was difficult. At Metrophoto, we rarely repeat a particular location for our prenup or pre-debut shoot, moreover, the shoot itself. If there is something very ordinary about a site, we elevate it with a concept. With international travel before, we didn’t have to think about something unique for every shoot because traveling itself WAS THE UNIQUE CONCEPT already. Nowadays is a different story. Every scheduled shoot, we thoroughly plan to make sure that we at least have the provisions to make it unique if the place doesn’t provide it by default. And sometimes, no matter how much we plan, there would be shoots that would require our experience and improvisational skills to get ‘elevated.’ This is on top of making sure that everyone is on board any plans we can think of – thank God for clients like Joyce And Raymond. Truth be told, Lahluna is a pretty nice place for a prenup shoot already, and we could have gotten away with only shooting on the ground below the beautiful tree. But where is the fun in that, right? Wasn’t it more thrilling (and we got more shot variations) that we asked Joyce to climb the tree instead? Wasn’t it more memorable (and we got movie-like photos) that we tried to execute shots with the horses in the […]

No matter how many times I have shot in Siargao, the place would always reveal a side of it that’s less seen. Sometimes, I think its beauty is also just inexhaustible; that’s why there is always something new to behold every time we visit. For this shoot of Kim and Tim, we went to the signature Siargao prenup spots – Sugba Lagoon, Cloud 9, and the Magpupungko Rock Pools. We have scoured these places before, but still, we found interesting perspectives that gave the photos of Kim and Tim distinction on top of, of course, being beautiful. Many thanks to Kim and Tim (and their entire crew) for pursuing and pushing our vision for this shoot as much as I did. We encountered challenge after challenge, but each time, we broke through. The photos and the memories left in our hearts tell us that everything was worth it. Enjoy