How - just how do you shoot in an immensely popular and overly photographed tourist spot without falling into that oh-so-convenient trap of being cliché?

That by the way is a big no-no in my book, unless the location is utterly significant to my couple - and in this case, it was indeed.

I found the answer that Saturday afternoon: genuine emotions and organic chemistry (non-academic, that is).

Singapore prewedding photos: Clarence & Tiravan's engagement session in Singapore. Prewedding photography x @redsheepphotocinema. Shot on location: Google HQ and Marina Barrage, Downtown Core, Singapore. Sony A7III. redsheep Chromavib 160C proprietary color grade. March 2019.

Pick the odd one out.

Going... Going... Gone. Pencils up!

The 26th photo.

All of these are generally candid-organic photos from this quick, easy going sunrise photography session in Siargao: just Sebastian & Maria being Sebastian & Maria. The 26th however, although candid like the rest, doesn't depict an authentic moment of them being just being together;

[ Ice breaker round, usually during the first set. Small talk. But not about the weather. About your home city or country for example. ]

G: "Hey guys, I know another German word..." [ other than the usual pleasantries ]
M&S: "What?"
G: "scheiße" [ Thanks Cartman’s mom.]

*laughs*

G: "Do you know where we're to going next?"
M&S: "Where?"
G: "Cloud Nein."

*laugh track disabled*

The 2nd one didn’t happen BTW. But it’s still better than telling your couple to do a ‘fake laugh’ for the camera. IMO. Oh the heck no. *cringe*

Siargao travel couple photos: Sebastian & Maria's quick and easy sunrise session. Photography x engagement photographer @redsheepphotocinema. Shot on location: Cloud 9, General Luna, Siargao Island, Philippines. Sony A7III + redsheep Chromavibe 160M. March 2019.

Max, Kat, the El Nido sunset, jaw-dropping as always, and a healthy dose of Seattle weather. Which, in hindsight, worked to our advantage:

1. The cold blue atmospheric ambience juxtaposed well with Kat's warm yellow dress;

2. Gloomy weather scared half-hearted tourists away - perfect for shooting inside the Big Lagoon, which was surprisingly empty during midday primetime, and yes, minus the cacophony that's akin to something that also happens during midday primetime in the Philippines: noontime variety shows;

3. Seattle-like lighting and weather conditions that a couple from the Pacific Northwest would feel very much at home to; Max & Kat were as close and as cozy as possible.

4. Stormy weather sunsets are more interesting, don't you think? Just as long as the clouds don't cover the sun entirely. And the blue hour that comes after? Blue-aqua-orange-red-pink hour rather.

...and besides, my skin has already taken a severe beating from Siargao, Singapore (hot AF = hot as a furnace) and El Nido, for weeks on end, in this month alone. Mother of tan lines.

Oh, and yes, Skipper Charters. I gotta give it to these guys. I've done "quite a number" of shoots in El Nido (*faux cough sounds like *thirty* *forty* *) and surprisingly, I had two "oh good Lord, how great and marvelous are your woks" moments during this shoot alone: Skipper Charter's private beach with a jetty made of bamboo (so indigenously picturesque!), and a secret cove that's reminiscent of Danny Boyle's "The Beach". But I can't tell you where that one is. If I did, I would *ends abruptly*

El Nido engagement photos: Max & Kat's El Nido adventure engagement session, on an island hopping private tour (Tour A) with Skipper Charters. Photography x engagement photographer @redsheepphotocinema. Shot on location: Pinagbuyutan Island, Big Lagoon, Skipper Charters' private beach and Matinloc Island, Las Cabanas and Maremegmeg, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines. Sony A7III + redsheep Chromavibe 160M. March 2019.