My Sweet Escape Experience(s) and How To Maximise Yours!
Shooting With Sweet Escape And How To Maximise Your Sweet Escape shoot (or any on-location shoot with a hired photographer)
Have you heard of “Sweet Escape“? It’s this cool service that pairs you with a photographer in any part of the world. Sharing with you my two experiences trying it out (in London and Indonesia) and tips to maximise yours!
WHEN TO BOOK A SWEET ESCAPE SHOOT
Before we start, I have a disclaimer. Hiring Sweet Escape whilst you’re on a trip sounds fun but like any quality service, it doesn’t come cheap. I find the need to hire a photographer on these specific circumstances:
- To document a once-in-a-lifetime special event (i.e a pre-wedding shoot or bachelorette)
- Business related (charge to marketing!) ie you have a brand and need lifestyle shots for Instagram/social media material (which is the reason for my second session)
- Celebrating a milestone trip (Someone turning 18 or wedding anniversary trip) or a rare occasion (ie friends coming together for a trip).
No matter how “extra” taking photos seems to be and the time and effort it takes, it is always nice to look back at memories through lovely photos.
WHY I LIKE SWEET ESCAPE
When I heard about Sweet Escape – I immediately thought it is a brilliant idea. What I love about it is its like an airbnb for freelance photographers. Sweet Escape screens the photographers and makes sure they come on time (done 2 sessions already and the photographers are on time, polite, engaging and professional.), they serve as a platform to connect our needs to the area-based photographer, therefore making our costs less and giving the freelancers more work opportunities too.
Considering its a special event (i.e. pre-wedding), you would like to hire a photographer anyway but getting one from your country of origin (assuming you will shoot on location), will turn out more costly because there might be extra expenses such as their “out of town” fees, travel expenses, accommodation, food etc – which will be charged on top of their usual fees. So I think Sweet Escape is a brilliant idea.
MY FIRST SWEET ESCAPE SHOOT: Pre-Wedding Shoot in London!
I’ve always wanted a pre-wedding shoot that’s just relaxed and chill so (accompanied by a lot of convincing) Nick and I did our shoot during a family trip to London! We were photographed by Syarifah McDonough and the whole process was so smooth.
Syarifah arrived on time and we picked a place that would give us many “layouts” within the 2-hour span of the shoot. We chose Covent Garden (so you see photos around it and in the chapel beside it) and it had nice streets and alleyways we could just walk to. My mom was with us on the trip so she also enjoyed and appreciated some photos around London!
MY SECOND SWEET ESCAPE SHOOT: Celebrating Style Cat’s Partnership With Banyan Tree Hotels!
My second Sweet Escape shoot just happened recently – in Bintan, Indonesia. My bag brand Style Cat‘s newest stockist is an international hotel group so when I planned to physically visit the resorts, I had also arranged a shoot so we’d have material for social media use. It was so funny because I actually thought the photographer was late. We were set to meet at 12nn in Angsana resort. It was already 12 and I was wondering where my photographer Robbi was. Apparently, Bintan is 1 hour behind Singapore time so it was actually just 11AM on island time. Oops!!! Of course, he was on time.
Again, I had pre-planned the shoot locations before Robbi turned up to maximise our 2-hour photoshoot and we went around both Angsana and Banyan Tree to take photos and visit the Style Cat display in the hotel’s galleries. Robbi and his assistant Zul were so professional and simultaneously shooting (wide and portrait lenses!) – I was very happy with the outcome.
TIPS TO MAXIMISE YOUR SHOOT!
Sharing with you some tips you can keep in mind to maximise your Sweet Escape shoot!
Outfits from Love Bonito
- Time is gold – be crystal clear in the meeting time and place (Consider the timezone differences too!) so you can plan well.
Side kwento: I made the rookie error of not considering the Bintan timezone difference when I was in Singapore (1 hour diff pala!!!) so before you get impatient, double check the time zones.
2. Plan well – Assess how many hours of the Sweet Escape session do you actually need + what outfitSSS you’ll wear
- 1 hour can get you a maximum of 2 outfit changes (if you plan well) including changing time
- 2 hours can get you around 4-5 outfit changes (because really, who wants a bajillion photos of yourself in just one outfit? Maximise it na!)
- Plan your outfits and shot list both well and ahead of time (because your time starts ticking when the photographer arrives!)
TIP: 1 hour is ideal say if you’ll shoot with family, senior citizens or with kids na they might find 2 hours of photos too tiring but I like 2 hours so you actually take your time and review the photos.
3. Scan your surroundings – While waiting for the photographer or days before the shoot, consider the outfit, location AND where you’ll change outfit.
- Spend sometime to look around already and spot corners you’ll surely want a photo in. For my past 2 sessions, I find that 2 hours is the sakto time to get a nice wide selection of photos and hindi ngarag.
4. ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)– Inform the people involved in the shoot ahead of time! If you’re the one who booked the shoot, explain to everyone else the importance of time and make them feel comfortable. Not everyone likes the idea of a “scheduled photoshoot” (but if they love you, they will take plenty! Hi Nicholas!) so make them feel comfortable by suggesting fun poses rather than the usual smiling shot.
5. Give credit where it is due – Credit your photographer! Even if you paid for the shoot, its nice to go an extra mile to ask for their IG handle or full name so you can cite proper photo credit. (Shout out to Syarifah and Robbi – super loved my sessions with you!)
6. Lastly, have fun! Enjoy the photoshoot, don’t take the posing too seriously. Don’t be shy to ask the photog to direct you to make sure your body angles are ok 🙂
Incase you’d like to book – here is a treat!
To those who’d like to book a Sweet Escape shoot, they extended to me a discount code to give you guys $100 USD off your first shoot – shoots with a min of 2 hours (but that’s super sakto!).
So if you’re ready to book, check out with my code YUKI for $100 USD off your shoot on their website or app!
*Shoot must be booked by the end of 2018.
Other than your big photoshoot, put the photo-taking to a minimum and enjoy your trip. Live in the moment – as cheesy as it sounds. Good luck and enjoy your shoot!
(Photos by Syarifah McDonough and Robbi Hafzan of Sweet Escape)