Today’s post is something that’s close to my heart. I still consider my decision to study at UP many years ago to be one of the most life-altering I ever made. And I always say this whenever I get the chance because I’m not sure if I’d have improved myself or have as much confidence to do so if I chose otherwise—growing up in a below-middling household at the margin of Metro Manila before the internet age doesn’t expose one to what’s truly out there. There is nothing to compare to the nostalgia whenever I set foot in UP Diliman. I feel at home, and I feel reinvigorated. And the same goes when I meet, especially shoot, people who also have decussated the same grounds. Because of this, and because I haven’t shot here for years, I was up to creating something a bit more exciting for Doreen and Percy. Many background details about the shoot are covered by the BTS video below (or here), but I do want to emphasize that the goal was to always make the most out of all the people involved, especially Doreen and Percy. We wanted to showcase them and this particular campus where they met and fall in love – in a light that’s different and yet still true. Thank you to Doreen and Percy for allowing themselves to get a little uncomfortable and have a little more fun. These two are fantastic, and I had the best time being back. Please do […]

They say that life is like a movie, and what’s fascinating is that movies are based on life experiences, so why would we expect anything else but stories that we all can identify with, right? But some movies do take it a little more to the extreme – scenes, stories, and events that are highly unlikely (or even improbable) to happen in real life but make for such an exciting plot or at least clip. Scenes like these surprise us and make the experience at least a little more memorable than usual. And these are the reasons I get inspired by such elaborate set-ups and dream of executing them in my shoots. Imagine how crazy it seems to execute them in a mere pre-wedding shoot if they are imposing to see in movies where resources are plenty. Since the beginning, Metrophoto has been known to push the envelope further and further when it comes to the concepts that we shoot for our clients. We’ve been to the harshest of places and have done unthinkable stuff, and while we are not successful all the time, this constant thrust to do something unique has allowed us to get better and better at knowing what is possible and what is not. Something that has made us masters at getting the most out of a relatively limited resource. Today’s feature is something I’m extremely proud about. I was re-watching the movie La La Land for a similarly themed shoot, and I was refreshed by […]