A Return to Event Photography --- A Malay Solemnization Ceremony

With the revival of my SB-600 speedlight comes my return to taking photos of events, the first of which was my cousin's solemnization ceremony at her home in Petaling Jaya.

The solemnization ceremony was held in her house with a relatively low white ceiling, so it was a really good environment for shooting with the speedlight aimed straight up to get some even, neutral bounced light from above. This way, the subjects were evenly lit and harsh shadows were almost undetectable, except in some photos.

The key event in solemnization is the akad nikah, where the wali, in most cases the father of the bride, gives away the bride to the groom in an exchange of ijabkabul (the acceptance of vows or agreement). As I was not the official photographer for this event, I did not position myself in the best location for capturing this event, therefore the above photo was the best one I could get of the akad nikah ceremony.

Also due to the overwhelming large number of people present and the layout of the house, my cousin the bride was only able to witness the akad nikah through a live video screening. I imagine her having mixed feelings of nervousness and joy as she watched her husband-to-be recite his 'qabul' in response of agreement to her father's 'ijab' on the screen. Once the recital of the ijab and qabul was over, the couple is considered ceremoniously married.

I know at once my cousin was glad the ceremony went on smoothly without a hitch.

After the traditional and religious ceremony was over, the relatively more modern/western influenced exchanging of the rings was done.

The exchanging of the rings were also accompanied by the 'official' kissing of the hand, the Malay version of 'you may now kiss'.

As Malay and Islamic traditions discourage public displays of affection, this kissing of the hand (and sometimes forehead) would be the first intimate moment between the couple that the family and friends may witness.

Close family members are usually dressed in some predetermined theme or color scheme for the occasion, and this rare consistency in outfits is always a good time for a quick and fun family photoshoot.

I know the sisters enjoyed the fun shooting sessions a lot, with all the funny props.

Also, since the bride was prettily prepped for the ceremony, she would take the chance of this rare occasion for some personal portrait shots, along with her husband.

As you can see, since I was not the official photographer, it was difficult for me to get eye contact from the subjects since it was not my photoshoot session, hence the off-camera look of the subjects.

Overall, I was quite happy with how the photos turned out, especially when I was able to work with the environment and the lighting really well. Of course, with any piece of artistic work feedback and comments would very much help in improving my future work, so I would really love to hear from you regarding the shots above, or any of my other photo works in the past.

I have some more events to shoot already lined up this month, so be prepared to see some updates on those!

-ihsankhairir-

[Closeup] Pewter Statuette of Guan Yu

Closeup of a 2-ft tall statuette of Guan Yu (also known as Guan Gong), a Chinese army general who served under the warlord and eventual first Emperor of the Kingdom of Shu, one of the Three Kingdoms.

This statuette is made of pewter and is on display at Royal Selangor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[Photo] Candid Headshot of a Malay Martial Artist

I took this candid headshot of my friend Luqman, who is a Silat practitioner (like yours truly).

The photo was taken while he was waiting for the results of a national Silat tournament he participated in.

The good news came later: His team won the overall champion for the male category.

[Photos] The Chief Minister of Malacca

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot the Chief Minister of Malacca during an interview.

I showed this picture to a couple of my students, and asked them to mention who the person in the picture is.

Guess what they answered!

Famished Female Feline Feasting on Fried Fish

Here's my answer to the question I posed in this post quite a while before.

Famished female feline feasting on the fried fish on the floor

Yes I did.

Would you?

Would You Feed a Hungry Beggar?

A few years ago, while lunching at a roadside stall, I saw this female tabby-cat.

It was a stray cat. And from the longing face it showed me, it looked hungry.

It jumped on a chair and started eyeing the food on the table. But, being a nice beggar-cat, it didn't pounce on the food.

Instead, it looked at me with those sad kitty eyes. I didn't have to be a genius to understand what this cat was trying to communicate to me.

The cat kept its eye contact with me for a while. Look at those eyes, they scream 'have mercy, please feed me!'

If you were me, would you feed this hungry stray beggar cat?

Also guess: did I end up feeding this cat with leftover food on the table?

The Innocence of Youth

"The young cannot be blamed for not knowing what it's like to be old, but the old is guilty of forgetting what it's like to be young"

Or something of the sort. Guess where the quote came from, for bragging rights.

Innocence. I can't help but notice how little children emanate their glow of youthful innocence whenever they have fun.




They are honest and frank. They do not deviously insult nor flatter. They speak their minds and express their honest opinion on anything, without fear of being judged.




Kids don't wear a mask on their faces. They cry when they are sad, and laugh when they are happy. They don't pretend to be excited when they're not, and when they do become excited, they honestly are.




When they do things to make you happy, you know they're not doing them because they had to. They do them because they want to. And seing your happy face, in turn, makes them happy as well. And that is enough for everyone, both you and them.




I long for the same youthful innocence, for I feel like it has left me for quite some time.

Children's Eyes

They are pure, untainted, and clear. And if we look carefully, we can actually see ourselves in their eyes. We see what they see. And maybe if we learn to look at ourselves through children's eyes, life wouldn't be as complicated as it has been.

I wish I have a child's pure and untainted eyes.

The Family Younglings

I have a big family: my dad is fifth of twelve and my mom eighth of nine. And each of my uncles and aunts have many children of their own, resulting in my having more than a hundred immediate cousins. A certain portion of those cousins, especially on my mother's side, already have families of their own. Their children are mostly born while I was away in the States, and it's very unfortunate that I have problems even remembering their names. Maybe I haven't spent enough time with them, or maybe I've grown too old to be playing with kids on a regular basis. I don't know. But I do know that it's imperative that I should make a meaningful connection with them, because distant or not, they're my relatives and I should at least be on recognizable terms with them.

So here are some photos I took of these children during family gatherings, in hopes of remembering who is who, although I have yet to know everybody's name. I shall need the help of my fellow family members to help me remember the names of these children of cousins.

This is Amer Zafran, the youngest son of my cousin Shaza Rina. In the second picture, he's held by his uncle (my cousin) Shazli.

The youngest son of my cousin Umi Zuraifah. I need to recall his name.

The youngest son of my cousin Emma Zuhaimi. I need to recall his name as well.

With his older brother Nabil.

My cousin Adila's children... plus some of her sister Umi's as well. In the last picture, you can tell who is whose sibling and who is not, as the sibling resemblance for both families is quite clear.

I have now been known as the family's photography enthusiast, since I tend to lug around my camera to every family gathering and of course been snapping away (flash or no flash) photos of family members. I think, once I have enough, or maybe even sooner, I would have these pictures in a family blog I intend to keep updating so that everyone in my immense family can enjoy my family photos.

...

P/S: I still regret not knowing the names of each of the children in the photos. I shall update this post with the children's names as I learn and commit them to memory.