I love the Philippines, in fact I feel that there is no place better to live in than in Manila which is my home. But the city is just a b*tch when it comes to being a wedding photographer. Not only is it one of the least picturesque city I know, it is also the littered with security guards in almost every corner – all of which are instructed to oppose and seize people shooting with their SLR cameras. Sometimes it’s an advantage to those who really take the time to get a permit to shoot or has the right ‘connections’ to be allowed to shoot, but most of the time it’s a pain in the butt.

All these are a stark contrast to another of my favourite city, Singapore. In this small country, not only are people very tolerant of such shoots, the place is also astutely constructed to be conducive to shoot great compositions. And amazingly, when I already felt that I have shot in its nicest places already, they built something nicer to shoot at.

Today’s photos are from the pre-wedding shoot of Jen and Vergel. Shot this inside the newly opened Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, it is a marvel to behold. With a lot of provisions for creative angles that we really love and night lights that really take you. Given the attractive nature of this new location, a lot of shoots are happening simultaneously everyday, but we take that as a challenge and create shots that are different from what anyone else would expect.

So please enjoy these photos from Singapore while we go back home to Manila and take a different challenge – getting to actually shoot. hahaha!

It is time for part two of my SIngapore back-to-beck e-session feature. What I love about both these shoots from the Lion City are that they are very much different and yet they are very much the same. Different in the sense that the locations, the concepts, the poses, and the feel were very unique to the couples and to the spots we shot in. Also same in the sense that the style, the realness, and the diversity of the shots, which are signatures to all Metrophoto shoots, were all there.

For this edition we’re bringing you the photos from the shoot of Alvin and Dorothy. Going for the concept of “live, laugh, and love”, it aptly represents their lives having each other – and Singapore was the perfect place since both of them are based there already. We chose three different locations for each verb in the concept. Starting out with ‘live’, we shot inside the Singapore National Museum for its classic architecture and culture. Then we headed off to the bandstand of the Singapore Botanical Gardens for “laugh” where the atmosphere is light and very open. To complete the concept with ‘love’ we concluded on top of the Herderson Waves bridge somewhere south of the city. The night shots in a very modern architectural setting provided a more dramatic feel that was a perfect finish to the day.

This has been one of my most fun and memorable shoot as besides Alvin and Dorothy being immensely nice and enjoyable to be with, we had a team consisting of old and new friends. And I would like to thank my old friend from high school, Buddie, my hothouse alumni, Jon and his friend Bong for all the help, it wouldn’t have been this awesome if not for them. Special thanks also goes to Myca Velarde-Feng for dolling-up Doray and for offering to give us all a ride – it was impossible for us to all fit in her car but at least she offered. hahaha. Enjoy the photos.

I love a lot of things about Singapore. In fact it is one of my most favorite places in the world. But the best thing I like about Singapore is shooting in it. Seriously, aside from the obvious reasons like; it is safe, the people are oblivious enough, the weather is mostly predictable, permits are rarely required, the most awesome thing is that they just keep on creating new structures to shoot at. One year you think you’ve shot at almost every interesting spot but when you visit again, they have a few more playground for you to knock yourself off.

In my recent trip to Singapore, I was treated to some old and some new spots to shoot at. For Joel and Char’s e-session, both were new places to me to shoot at. And while both are very different from each other they offer the same appeal to my shooting style- and that is a lot of angles to be creative about on top of some really nice close-up and in-love shots.

It was immense enjoyment to be able to shoot with such a nice couple and in such nice locations. And I may have missed to say it but shooting in Singapore allows me also to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones who share the same passion of bringing out nothing but the best each and every time. Enjoy the photos.

We’re taking you back to Singapore once again.

Since the last 3-4 years, Singapore has been more ubiquitous to us Filipinos. It just seems that more and more people from here are working and living there. It is becoming too significant to us that if I were Cebu, I’d be jealous. hahaha. I bet that for every Korean that comes here in the Philippines, there is a Filipino that go to Singapore. Or maybe not, who am I kidding, we’d be a province of South Korea first even before we can take over Singapore.

Given that that is the situation, you get to see more and more shoots from Singapore and it’s always a challenge to shoot either somewhere differently or differently in the already popular locations, or both. It is a challenge of course that we always welcome, giving couples something unique, something that they can claim as their own are priceless pride and joy :)

Last week we featured Rolly and Rachelle’s one-of-a-kind Trash the Dress in Singapore and this time we’re bringing you Louis and Marion’s engagement session in the not-so-used Emerald Hill area and the Orchard Center and then in the overly-used Helix Bridge. In all spots, we made sure that we provided them with something different, something nice, and a whole lot of metrophoto :)

Enjoy.

While I nurse the trauma of having our car broken into and having a handful of our equipment stolen today in San Francisco in broad daylight, posting these wonderful photos from Rolly and Rachel’s TTD in Singapore last month should really help me forget about that incident. :)

Rachel trashed her Veluz gown one rainy Singapore day. We started at the Fullerton Hotel and walked (or should I say boated) our way up to the Marina and the new Skypark at the Marina Bay Sands. We had some really awesome locations and concepts so we hope you do enjoy this post. :)

Thanks to Wilz, Jericho, Mikmok, and Jun for joining us in this shoot :)