A few months have passed since my first wedding anniversary shoot, and now, although I didn't think I was quite ready to handle it, I've completed my first fullblown wedding.
A typical Chinese wedding here in Malaysia kicks off with an early morning start to the solemnisation ceremony. Here, it was a church wedding, which would follow after the usual bride/groom prep, and consequently a 'pick-up-the-bride' games session with the groom and his best men. In the morning half, there was so much that was challenging: I had to calm down a nervous first-time groom (which is usually most people!), mingle with his relatives (doubly hard as his relatives were flown in from England), and make sure everyone was sufficiently comfortable with me around without being intrusive. The most experienced photographer in our tag team was on the bride's side - it was up to me and another member new to all of this to capture the groom's side.
My camera batteries ran out towards the end of the morning ceremony - I use one of the most basic entry level camera bodies and it clearly was not designed for more than 400 shots + flash fired at one go. Thank god for backup photographers - and a backup camera! (This is probably one of the major reasons I'm thinking of an upgrade.....more on this and why I chose to start at entry level later.)
After the rings were exchanged, we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed home to what we thought was a continuous few hours of editing - but in reality, ended up being the three of us knocked out cold for an hour while we recovered from being on our feet the whole morning for a good 6-7 hours.
Only then did editing commence - the best photos to be selected and compiled into a video slideshow for the evening dinner party.
That done, and after a quick shower, we zipped back off to the venue of the dinner ceremony - usually a restaurant - and began to take photos, as well as make sure the slideshow is in good condition to play when the button is pressed.
Murphy's Law kicked in as usual, and various contingency plans had to be cooked up, and finally, at midnight, with only time in between to grab some quick bites from the 9-course dinner, we wrapped up and went home.
A few photos from the day here:
