Sunday, March 19, 2006

Wedding Photo: It should be a lively beauty

Last week I met up with old friends who come all the way from Singapore to book their wedding package in a bridal fair in mid valley. I think they have been in a relationship for 11 years, and it is finally time for them to tie the knot. They were my secondary school mate, and I kinda saw them going through a lot of thick and thin. There are many possibilities and opportunities which might fail the relationship, but somehow they are miraculously still together. I wish them all the best, as it takes lots of fate, faith and understanding.

While I was at the bridal fair, I kinda browse through their catalogues and samples as well. No doubt that most of the pictures are nice and beautiful, but I would say most of them doesn’t quite suite my taste. Why? Because there are too much unnatural posing, boring artificial environment and there is no life in the photo itself. It is just a piece of fake and lifeless photo which happens to look pretty.

So, what kind a photo sucks? Those with ugly colour clothing pretending to look like club performer in the 70/80’s is the worst. Those with super fake artificial background don’t make it as well. Certain post kinda too fakish or too stereotype and commercial, thus it doesn’t feel natural. It doesn’t have a life nor a sense of real happiness in it. In fact, it is pretty hard to look lively for indoor photography, perhaps we should take photo in a house rather than studio, where there are more comfortable and natural living room, bed room, bath room and garden. Outdoor of course is the best, with blue sky, white clouds, greenery and borderless ocean.

A pretty shot, but less lively

So, what kind of “lively” beauty do I mean? Perhaps more natural smile and laugh (rather than those kind of smile being forced and dictate by the camera man), more realistic natural surroundings (perhaps park, garden, farm, jungle or beach) and definitely posing with some action with more fun (like running around, carrying each other, rather than pretending artistically like a perfect couple looking at something).

A fun expression with flying roses

Back 2 Back carry, Playful

A nice shadow shot, not too dark

Green Grass

Piggy Back Style

What theme would make a good wedding photography (my preferences are highly biased towards natural)?
  • With no shoes (barefoot), and a lighter and more comfortable dress
  • Blue Sky, White Clouds and Greenery
  • Some mud/paint on the face due to some playfulness
  • Sitting on a tree brunch or tree house
  • A swing attached to a tree
  • Pinching each other face playfully
  • Carry each other on the back
  • Back to back carry
  • Beach Boy and Beach Girl look
  • Playing in the water
  • Lying down on green grass
  • In a nice comfy home (living room, bed room, batch room)
  • In front of some extremely nice modern architect
  • Orchard, Farm, Park, Jungle, etc (natural beauty)
  • Artistic Naked Photo?
Outdoor and nature is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely feels and look great :) Perhaps it all boils down to our creativity and how much money do we have to spent, haha.

5 comments:

Shiny Blue Black said...

Actually I think all your photos, excepting the sunset one, look canned and corny. Especially the one with the roses flying through the air and the mock "surprise" on the couple's faces.

If my wedding photos turned out like these... I would burn them and consider eloping.

Unknown said...

Haha, those are are the best examples I could find after googling for 15 minutes.

Can't really blame the photography if the expression is unatural. Perhaps we should have some basic trainning session on natural posing n expression.

Eloping? Haha, there are much worse photos out there. You would have to hang yourself in order to make up for it.

Cheng Sim said...

i think hiring a personal photographer to snap pictures is a lot better than having those bridal packages. has a more natural and artistic feel plus, NO STUDIO BACKGROUND!!! thats SO 90s. unless you want them old-school, of course

Michelle Looi said...

i agreed with cheng sim. Hiring personal photographer is much better. Better quality, creative and it won't look so outdated 5 years later cause trees, river ,seas and rock will always be themselves.

Emm.. if me and my bf got beatiful figure I might consider semi naked... hahaha

Unknown said...

Professional Photographer sounds good, but we wont have the wedding cloths rite? Are we are supposed to rent or something?

The reason to go with studio is hassle free, as they have the equipment, the people, the makup, the cloths and accessories. If DIY, quite a lot of stuff to do actually. Unless it is not for wedding photography :)