How did we celebrate 10 years together? We spent a day in a rain-soaked tropical park with a camera, a tripod, a remote – and each other – doing our very own self-shot photo shoot!

This project was a big challenge but we loved it! We decided to shoot in Fort Canning Park here in Singapore. It is the old location of our dance studios, and it still feels like home. There is a great combination of nature, history, and architecture – lots of possibilities.

We recently purchased a DSLR camera (our engagement present to ourselves), and enjoyed shopping for outfits we liked. We also brought along some cute wooden Japanese dolls we were given, inspired by the blue and red.

The weather gave us a scare. We had already postponed once, so when the rain started (just after we arrived on location) we hurried undercover and kept our fingers crossed. Thankfully, we were lucky! The thunder rumbled, but the rain faded to a drizzle, and the air became cool and refreshing. The storm sent many people home, and we felt we had the place to ourselves. It was perfect.

We twisted some brown florist wire into a headband, so Heidi could collect fresh flowers in the park for her hair. There were all kinds of colourful frangipanis on the ground after the storm.

We painted letters on some simple wooden blocks with craft paint. It was inexpensive, but a lot of fun. It was great to see how they looked in the photos.

We purchased a remote for our camera, which we could set to take various combinations of timed shots. This allowed us to set the camera on the tripod and take a series of pictures. We are so glad we didn’t have to run laps back and forth on a 10 sec timer! It also allowed us to feel more focused on each other.

We definitely ran into challenges. Sometimes we shot a whole set of fantastic shots, but we weren’t in the frame, or had cut one person out, or the camera hadn’t focused. It definitely took some trial and error. But we had so much fun that the day rushed by. As the sun was setting, the camera’s battery ran flat. We went straight out for dinner to celebrate, still dressed in our outfits.

We hope you enjoy our pictures. It was such a fun project to work on together, and we were really happy with the results. Actually the most difficult part of the whole shoot was having to choose our favourites from the 800 pics we took that day! We now have a heap of photos to use as engagement shots, and to remember our time living in Singapore – and the satisfaction and reward of doing it ourselves.

Please view more of our pictures in the gallery!

Camera: Canon 650D
Lens: EF-50mm & EF-S 18-135mm
Remote: Giga T Pro II Timer Remote
Self assembled make up, hair, outfits, and props.
Organic/eco friendly products: Nail polish, hairspray, makeup, bug repellent, and suncream!