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-

Pink Wedding [Wordless Wednesday]

Fully dressed in Malay royal regalia as king and queen of the day

Please click here for other Wordless Wednesdays!

Knotted

So many friends and family tying the knot this month. If I were to go to all the weddings I'm invited to, I'd have four or five free buffet lunches every weekend for the whole month.

Just this last week, I went to three out of four friends' weddings, the one I missed was because the reception was too far away and going there meant that I'd have to miss the other three. Sorry Ayu, I know you had a wonderful time anyways!

Speaking of tying the knot, here I'd like to share with you a (not so) recent photo I took of a knot.

Care to guess what that is?

An electrical cord?

A wire cable?

A fishing line?

Actually, it's a strand of hair.

A strand of hair, knotted in the middle.

No it's not my hair, because it's quite long in its entirety. I found it on a white tiled floor, so I used an off-camera flash and reversed my lens to get a closeup shot of the knot on the hair.

It was my first time getting a closeup shot of a strand of hair, so getting it in focus manually wasn't that easy. I had to make sure no wind was blowing so that the hair wouldn't move, so I had to turn the fan off. The room was small and cramped and the windows face east so it was hot without the fan blowing. I only took a few shots until I was satisfied with the results, and then turned the fan on, causing the strand of hair to be blown away and disappear.

...

On another note, it feels great to be back to blogging again; I haven't been blogging for a week and felt so at unease that I had to resume my regular postings today, even though I still have much to do work-wise.

Are you glad that I'm back blogging? I hope you do. Because I'm looking forward to hearing from you all again!

Wedding Road Trip (Updated with some photos)

This is a quick and short pictureless update.  

Right now I am still feeling tired from yesterday's wedding road trip. 

For one whole day I drove alone to three different weddings in three different districts.  

In the morning, Norbaya and Sharifuddin's solemnization in Segamat, Johor.  

Noon, Zulfadhly and Lily's reception in Sungai Mati, Muar.  


Evening, Lailatul Nadia's reception in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. 


I had to cancel going to Faizal Tahir and Siti Munirah's reception in Batu Pahat, because it was too far away and I would've taken two hours to get there, and another two to get to the next wedding venue.  


Also had to forgo the intention of going to Sarah and Shamin's reception in Bangi because I was too tired.  


Anyways.  


My well wishes and congratulations to all my friends who recently tied the knot. May your lives be blessed by Allah always.

Wedding Shots: Salah and Izah

Salah is a very good friend of mine whom I got to know since prep school. We both went to Michigan for our undergraduate degrees, but him being much smarter than I am, he managed to get his Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Michigan as well (while I'm still struggling to start writing up my master's thesis).

His marriage to the love of his life, Izah, was something that I had been waiting for a while to come. And now that it has happened, I couldn't get more excited to come to their reception held in Kuala Lumpur. I ended up being one of the first guests to arrive and the last to leave.

Here are some photos of the reception that I managed to snap in between chats and banters with friends and colleagues who also came to the reception.


Salah and Izah making their entrance.


The groom and his bride on the pelamin (wedding throne).


The handsome groom and the beautiful bride




Some photo moments usually requested by guests and photographers alike


And lastly... a rare photo of myself with the happy couple (my friend Bobby at my right)


Congratulations, Salah and Izah. I wish the both of you a wonderful life blessed with love, happiness and health for you and the family you two are going to build together.