Taking portraits just because. Just because you want to remember your youth. Just because you feel you deserve it. Just because those digital pixels aren’t simply digital pixels to you. There’s never a reason not to. With life passing by so quickly and in a blink of an eye, we turn grey, all the more we should cherish our youth. Just allowing ourselves to slow down, feel the grass under our feet, just breathe….
and smile.
Photographers: Grace, Johan & Mark
Location: Majestic, Malacca
If you did not shoot a pre-wedding portrait session, you can always opt for a day-after session! You’re now husband and wife, the stress of planning your wedding is over, and you can just relax! The very next day after Vincent and Jen’s wedding, we spent 2 hours at the Majestic’s grounds taking photos. I love the old decor in this place! And also how candies from my childhood memories are randomly placed at various locations within the hotel. Yummy! Enjoy the pics!
Photographers: Grace, Andrew & Alex
We continue this series of images from Nabil & Maisha’s wedding with a few portraits. This session at Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka was memorable for me because we went to great lengths to do the portraits here, including fighting Dhaka traffic. The location chosen by Maisha is absolutely gorgeous. I wish we had more time there before the sun set. But I am rather pleased with what we managed to get in just 2 hours.
Maisha said she wanted dramatic shots, so we created the following images for her. For photographers who are interested, we used a combination of natural light, speedlight, and even video light to create these images.
My toes and fingers felt as if they were frozen… and I was already wearing socks and gloves. What a contrast to the hot, humid beach weddings of Langkawi, Malaysia. The moment I stepped into the town of Cappadocia, Turkey, I felt as if I was transported back a few hundred years. If you haven’t traveled to Turkey before, do make this location a must-see place on your list! Some of the places you must see – the fairy chimneys of Pasabag, Devrent valley, Uchisar, Goreme open air museum, and Derinkuyu underground city. Today’s our last day of shoot, and then we’re going to be relaxing, enjoying a hammam, and doing some shopping before heading home for sunny Malaysia! Here are some teaser images from Cappadocia…
Since Alex and I don’t really want to miss out on the action, here’s a silly shot of us as well!
Whenever I go to a foreign country, I don’t know what to expect. The surroundings are unfamiliar, I don’t know where the best angles are to shoot from, what time the sun rises and goes down, whether we will get chased away from locations (which did happen)… there’s just so many uncertainties. But the thrill of being in an exotic country shooting portraits is every photographer’s dream.
It’s only been a few days into my trip, but I’ve already learnt a few things, which hopefully will help brides and grooms plan for a pre-wedding / engagement or portrait shoot overseas.
1. Do your research about the locations you’d love to shoot at. How far is one location to another? Do we need to allocate more days for the shoot? Edwin and Dawn, my couple in Turkey, did an amazing job researching all the best places to go to and knew exactly what they wanted. It helps the photographer a lot!
2. It is best to travel with a make up artist, if possible. It gives you flexibility as you can decide when to start your shoot. And it’s a lot easier communicating with a Malaysian make up artist than one who speaks a foreign language! Unless of course, you’re like Dawn, who has an amazing Turkish vocabulary even though this is only her 2nd time in Turkey. For your information, a make up artist in Turkey is called a makyaj (pronounced mak-kias).
3. Do bring your own gowns and outfits (I think that’s quite obvious!). Though you can do some portraits in a casual outfit, I think it’s quite different wearing your wedding gown or a beautiful evening gown against a scenic backdrop.
4. Depending on the season you travel in, there are pros and cons – for example, if you go in summer months when there are heaps of tourists, you may have to visit major tourist hotspots in the wee hours of the morning or at night if you want to get shots without tourists in the background. For winter months, the sun sets earlier, so do plan for that, because it means less daylight for your shoot!
5. If you plan to go inside a tourist location, be prepared to be chased away. Most locations require some sort of permission – but in our case, even if permission is granted, sometimes it can be taken away! Nothing is certain when you are traveling… just be prepared to be flexible and not get upset when things don’t go the way you expect it to.
6. Be prepared to walk a lot. So do bring along a good pair of walking shoes, especially when you are not posing with your heels!
7. For photographers, here’s a tip – tripods and monopods are considered “professional” gear – at some locations, you will be required to check it in before entry. If you don’t need one, leave it behind. We had a monopod with us as we’re doing a bit of video, and the trained guards spotted it a mile away!
At the end of the day, have fun, enjoy yourselves and create memorable images!
