2012-07-20/21 - Tuan & Judith

I never know whose name to write first… It makes sense “Bride and Groom” that I would write “Judith & Tuan”, but I don’t want to keep relegating the Groom! Amongst my filing system at Home it’s “Tuan & Judith”, but online it’s Judith first… Doesn’t really make a difference! And I probably just wasted 2min of your life by reading that… but hopefully you’ll find the remainder of the Blog interesting…

Judith & Tuan are close friends with my cousin Robert, and they approached me last year when I had just started out doing Wedding Photography. They were engaged (obviously lol) and saw some shots I took at my cousins Wedding. These shots were done relatively casually as I was actually just a guest, but it was enough for Judith & Tuan to at least enquire with me.

We met up for dinner and to discuss their Wedding Day, but not only their Wedding Day, but to hear funny stories about my cousin and his Usher Days lol… I found this immensely hilarious as my nickname amongst some of my friends was also “Usher”. Yes, even I went through the phase in my life where I constantly listened to Usher and tried to pull out his moves in the clubs… So Robert, you’re not alone!

The gist of the conversation that I got from Judith & Tuan, was that the most important thing they wanted was natural photos. Nothing too staged, and they just wanted to feel comfortable with whoever they were going to have document their Wedding.

They mentioned that their ceremony was going to be across 2 days. They were to have a Tea Ceremony on the 20th July, and then their main Wedding & Reception on the 21st July. Not only did they want their Wedding Photographed, they wanted some engagement photos.

We completed their Engagement Photos earlier this year and I could tell Tuan & Judith were happy with these shots as not only did they tell me direct, I saw the photos I took for them very much a part of their Wedding!

The Tea Ceremony was unfamiliar territory for me, seeing as I had never shot one before, and although I was briefed by both Tuan & Judith on what to expect, you never really know until you have been through one yourself.

Upon my arrival, I was greeted by Judith’s family with a Chinese Li Xi, I think it’s called that lol, but basically, it was the red envelope they give as a gesture which contains money and represents good luck and fortune. That’s how I understand it at least lol… But I was genuinely touched by this gesture, and although the gesture may have seen small to Judith and her family, it meant a lot to me that they thought of me for this…

The shoot began with a very familiar Bride Preparation, which then moved onto some games for the Groom. These games were to test his worthiness! Lol… It was actually quite funny to see Tuan walk into his own place and pretend he had never seen it before…

The Bridesmaids had some embarrassing games in-store for the Groom. One of which entailed a very difficult Yoga Move, which Tuan Pulled off magnificently and had perfect form! :S lol

The move actually was assisted quite largely by a little stool, and then Photoshopped out by a photo re-toucher I met in Thailand, Samina Hossain.

The past couple of weeks have been immense with editing, shooting, and work, so much so that I just didn’t have the time to do this photo myself. It is quite a difficult task for me to remove the stool on Photoshop, so I hired Samina who managed to remove the stool perfectly.

The shoot for the Tea Ceremony was very relaxed as nothing was too formal. The challenge on this shoot that I came across was the very restricted space. The Tea Ceremony was held at Tuan’s Parents place in Peterborough, and their house is not small, but when you take into account the number of guests, it was extremely hard manoeuvring around whilst trying to remain like a Ninja. I failed at that miserably as throughout my manoeuvrings, my lens poked Tuan’s back :S

Judith was wearing a tradition red Oriental Dress, and I did want to do a shot that was a bit cliché, and I did unfortunately nudge Judith into doing a shot which she wasn’t comfortable doing as it was very posy. It’s not usually something I like doing myself, but I just saw Judith in her Red Dress, and holding the Red Umbrella, I did pre-envision a very old classic looking photo. By the end of that photo, I think it was safe to say Judith wanted to burn the Umbrella lol… But we did go back to the usual clowning around photos to really bring out their true personalities… ;)

Tuan’s Parents whipped out the old photo album and reminisced a bit, and came across a photo of Tuan’s Great-Grandad who had a striking resemblance too………. Myself lol… It became the joke for the day, that it was somewhat ‘meant to be’ that I am there documenting their day as I looked like one of their family members lol…

On their actual Wedding Day (21st July), I felt more at home with what I was doing. I had shot full-day Weddings before so I really had a much better pre-vision to what would be happening.

I left my house 1hr earlier than I planned to leave, as this was roughly when the Olympics was starting, and there were scares of traffic. All that ended up happening was that I was 1hr earlier than expected!

I was scheduled to start shooting Tuan’s Preparations at 9:30am, however as I arrived at 8:30am and we had finished his Preparations shots before I officially started, we went for a walk around Tower Bridge for some Portraits of him and his brother, the Best Man. It was quite unexpected, and we had no props to play with, not even the Red Umbrella that Judith loved so much :S lol… But we managed to knock out some ‘normal’ Portraits lol… (Sorta lol)

I then had to go to meet Judith for her preparation shots. During the preparation shots, Judith had quite a few of her guests arrive there for a Wedding Day lunch. It was very sweet of her to include me in on this as I wasn’t expecting this at all. It was scheduled that they would have a lunch, but I didn’t realise I would be a part of it too!

I made my way down to the Ceremony Venue, and earlier in the year when I met up with Tuan & Judith for their Venue Visit, I was praying for good weather as the staircase on this Venue is amazing. It made for a lovely Group Shot.

When I walked into the Ceremony room, I found out that their Registrar was the same Registrar from a previous Wedding I had shot last year. I found that his style for performing the Ceremony last year was great! He is friendly, funny, and does not steal the lime light away from the couple, but performs the ceremony in such a way where he does make the guests smile with his subtle jokes. When I saw that he was performing the Ceremony for Judith & Tuan, I knew they were in good hands. I also like the fact that he allows me freedom to walk wherever I wish, and does not restrict me in anyway.

After the Ceremony, Judith & Tuan were lucky to have 2 Confetti sessions lol… They had one just as they exited the Ceremony Room, and then another walking down the stairs outside the Venue. I personally love the Confetti shots as it always seems to bring out the best smiles for the couples. My jokes are unfortunately not good enough to bring out a smile as genuine as Confetti does lol…

Prior to the Wedding, the Group shot list was extremely intimidating. It was a large list, and I feared I would not be able to complete the entire list. The list was large to the point that on the Groom’s side, there were 17 separate groups listed. I’m used to doing Group Shots for the Wedding which totals to around 15ish total for both Bride & Groom, however with the help of Bridesmaids, Maid of Honour, Bestman and Grooms Cousin, we managed to rustle up everyone with ease. It was incredibly efficient… When I was done with one Group, the next was ready for the shot and just stepped in. It was amazingly efficient… I actually couldn’t believe it when I checked the time and we were on schedule.

During the meal they had a few speeches, and during the Speeches, it’s quite difficult to shoot as you cannot take pictures of the words that were said. So the best I can do is shoot in such a way where it reminds the Bride & Groom of how it looked during the Wedding, and I shoot at angles which veer over peoples shoulders, and try find angles where it looks as if you can see from their point of view. Sounds like an easy concept, but pretty hard to execute whilst trying to not make the guests or speakers feel uncomfortable.

After the speeches they hosted a slideshow presentation of pictures from their lives. This is something I had not seen before and it was amazingly sentimental. It brought out laughter and I heard a few “awww’s” lol… They even included the engagement shoot that I had shot for them in the slideshow.

I forgot to mention earlier that they had the engagement photos printed in a photobook, a large print of one of their shots in a frame. It was amazing for me to see that they made their engagement photos very much a part of their actual Wedding Ceremony.

In closing I would like to take the time to say Judith & Tuan were so laid back, easy going, and immensely caring and considerate to everyone on the day… they did not make the day all about 'the wedding day' but made the day about their lives together overall...

These two days were two of the longest shoots I have ever had, but at the same time, it was the smoothest I have ever had. It is an amazing honour to be a part of their day with them, and I am just wishing them all the best for the future!

2012-07-15 - Rachelle & Theo

Rachelle & Theo’s Wedding began with Bridal Preparations at Kink’s in Putney. This was a first for me as most Bridal Preparations were done either at the Bride’s home or in a Bridal Suite at the Venue.

This to me was a great experience shooting, as I really try to avoid being noticed at a Wedding, and getting in front of people with a big camera, it does throw people off and distract from their true emotion. However with the amount of floor space I had to play with, it made it a lot easier for me to move around. Although with the excess amount of mirrors, I was never out of sight :S lol

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 250

We moved onto Pembroke Lodge in Richmond, and this was a stunning venue. The thing that caught my eye the most about this venue was the view at the back. The venue seems to be on top of a hill almost, and there was a brilliant skyline view.

Since I arrived earlier than everyone else, I took this time to capture the decorations for the table. Samantha Warren, which is the sister to the Bride and also a good friend of mine, managed to make up these amazing table pieces. I personally think she should look into being a Wedding Planner as her creativity and organisational skills for this Wedding were astounding.

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/4.5, 1/60sec, ISO100

The actual ceremony was beautiful, with a glass ceiling, it allowed plenty of light to fall through and bathe down on everyone. It was a bright and beautiful place to be married in. I loved shooting in this venue as it allowed me to shoot without flash to not distract from the ceremony and also keep my ISO down.

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO400

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, ISO400, 1/640sec

After the Ceremony, we went to do the Group Shots and Portraits. It was quite a difficult session as the ceremony started late, and ran into the time allocated for the group shots, but we ploughed through and got there in the end!

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f6.3, ISO100, 1/250sec

With every couple, I do try to do their Portraits in a very natural setting, and try to get them to be as natural as possible without everything looking too staged, and then I try to give them a Portrait using the Brenizer Method.

If you haven’t read any of my other Blog’s where I’ve discussed the Brenizer Method, it’s a method which allows for a wider angle shot, but with a shallow depth of field. This method really allows me to isolate the subject, and keep the focus on them for a full body shot. It also adds a little something different as it does make them look miniature also.

Nikon D800 + 70-200mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO100 (36 shots stitched)

The Brenizer Method can be quite difficult, as you don’t really know whether it has been nailed until you go home to edit and try stitch them together. For Rachelle & Theo, it somewhat failed. There was a building in the background behind the bushes, however I miss-shot one part of the building which would’ve completed the stitch, however I decided to remove the building altogether and give the final edit a slightly vintage feel, and added much more green to the highlights to give it more of an old faded image.

I was very happy to see Rachelle use the image as her Facebook Profile Picture.

Their first dance was very much the traditional dance, no remix, no funky moves, just them two, the song, and a dance floor. You can feel the love from them from their dance as they were more or less hugged up a lot of the time, and this allowed me to capture what I feel is one of my best shots. The body language and facial expressions caught within this image to me just really shows how much they love each other, and this is my new personal favourite.

Nikon D800 + 50mm f/1.4 @ f/2, ISO1250, 1/60sec

Rachelle & Theo came to me with the idea of light painting for their Wedding Photos. They wanted to use Sparklers to spell “Love”. Light painting is not something I had shot before, but I knew the theory of the technical aspect of getting the shot, but never had actually put it into practice before.

I decided to go buy Sparklers a few days before the Wedding to practice, as I envisioned a shot of the light painting, but have them in focus, with no motion blur. I had a few practice sessions at home before the big day, and the biggest issue I had was the white balance difference between the flash and the light from the sparkler, but otherwise successful runs at home. Didn’t need to test too much and had sparklers spare.

On the actual Wedding Day Rachelle tells me she couldn’t find Sparklers, so luckily these spares did not go to waste!

I think it was safe to safe Rachelle & Theo were fairly intoxicated as it was quite difficult rounding them both up for the shot. So I thought it was best to get setup before trying to get them out, and with the help with the brothers from both sides of the family, we managed to get them out, and they helped out with holding up the flash stands.

I suggested that instead of “Love”, they should paint out a heart instead. Symbolises the same message, but less movements lol… I think to spell out a word sober would be quite difficult, but they were both pretty intoxicated, so I feel a heart would be more realistic, and even at that, it wasn’t a perfect heart lol… We tried twice, and this was the second attempt. I think they were both keen to get back to the party, so I just wrapped up the Sparkler shot here, and I still think it makes for a very sweet image, even more so now that the heart isn’t perfectly done. It’s very unique and personal to them.

Nikon D800 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ f/14, ISO100, 8sec

I absolutely loved shooting Rachelle & Theo’s Wedding. This Wedding meant a lot to me as my good friend of mine is sisters with the Bride, and not only that, the best man to the Groom is also a good friend of mine. The amount of thought that went into the details of this Wedding was amazing, and definitely I had a lot to capture.

I could be writing all day about this Wedding as there is so much to say, although I have written a fair bit already I feel I should wrap it up here.

I will close off by saying it was a beautiful ceremony, Rachelle & Theo are both genuinely great people, and without a doubt, I thoroughly enjoyed being there documenting their day for them. Wishing them all the best for the future, and I’m sure I’