It takes two to tango right? A good photo shoot will always need two things, the willing couple and the talented photographer. Rich and Jill brought their personalities and love for fashion (as is evident by their gorgeous wardrobe!) while Francis Perez added his flair for art and eye for good photography. It is always important that you choose a photographer that will catch your vision (and vice versa)–it seems like this set is a perfect example. Shanghai has never been sweeter!

Let’s pick the brain of this very talented photographer!

B&B: What’s your style?

I’ve had the wonderful chance to learn photography from a truly masterful lensman, Pat Dy. I dare say now that after years of shooting with him, I have incorporated his fashion & editorial sensibilities and relaxed candid photography with my own quirky flair for the romantic. I love it when people tell me they remember the phrase “you and me against the world” when they see my travel engagement photos. For me, being lost in each other’s arms amidst the busy, crazy world is truly something worth capturing for all eternity.

B&B: What are the things that inspire you?

I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books. Words, lyrics of songs, and of course poetry, inspire me a lot. I love freezing DVDs into still images that I can digest one scene at a time. More than the story, I am moved by the cinematography of old, sappy date movies like “An Affair to Remember” to the more recent “Fifty First Dates” and to some dark way, the “Twilight” series. The play of words on paper sometimes translate into still images in my mind that I bring to a shoot. I love Pablo Neruda and his sensual, tangible, worldly poetry. I am moved by his passionate words for his wife in “Cien Sonetos de Amor” (100 Love Sonnets) and I try to imagine the groom having those intense emotions for his bride which drives every kiss or touch I ask them to make in front of my camera.

B&B: What do you love about your job?

Bridesmaids… definitely bridesmaids and single friends of the bride and groom! Seriously though, no day is ever the same and I love meeting a lot of new people every single day on the job. If there’s one thing I truly learned from photography and shooting events and weddings is that the world is filled with people and places one can encounter and learn from a shutter click at a time. One testament to this is the fact that I met the “The One” at a wedding a couple of hundred thousand clicks back, someone I would not have possibly met if not for the incredible and minute chance of being at the right place at the right time with my camera. If that is not something to love about my job I do not know what is.

B&B: How do you engage the couple to really work with the camera?

It is in the first few encounters with the couple that my true work as a photographer starts. The connections you make with them enables you to create wonderful images during your session. After the initial walls have been broken down, I try to enter the couple’s world by being one with their love story, falling in love all over again with them as we shoot. I try to make them relive their love story with me as someone who documents and creates lasting images that stand testament to the reality of their love for all the world to see.

Photography: Francis Perez