It has been an amazing first hand experience photographing an Indian wedding reception in Royal Selangor Club (RSC) recently. The ballroom looked more like a hunter’s lodge more than anything else, which would have invariably leaned toward a more urbane, sterile and boring-looking hotel function hall.
The RSC wedding hall was an intimate space with high wooden beams gleaming in the warm tungsten light. Only thing missing was a fireplace and preserved prized possession of an intimidating moose’s head!
I wasted no opportunities in trying to get used to the place, as I may need to conduct a similar session here in the future. As a second shooter engaged to assist Dhivager, I had more freedom to provide a supporting role by alternating between shooting wide and picking on details.
One of the most important aspects of actual day wedding photography is to be able to provide the viewer an opportunity to witness the event unfolding from the perspective of the audience. So, I went in low and blended amongst the crowd. I asked myself, what will the guests be seeing at their level?
The RSC wedding hall allows one to have an overview from one floor above. So it was definitely a rare bonus to be afforded the opportunity to capture the scale and atmosphere of the event from a general commanding macro view.
This old man especially caught my eye as he seemed attentive listening to the best man’s speech. It was, by the way, a pretty well written one, albeit, I was sure some familiar-sounding bits and pieces were plucked off the internet. Nevertheless, he appeared to me as silently nodding his head in approval of the nuggets of truth in the speech, as though, wielding a mask that said, “Been there, done that”.
And then came the moment of the bride and groom’s speech and first dance.
I was lingering behind the couple, just waiting while taking in the scene when out of a sudden, he placed his hand over her waist. It was as if he was cuing me to “Ok, now, take the shot!”. I fired once. Checked. Looked fine. He lifted off. Damn! Will he do it again? Then he did. I grabbed a few insurance shots and knew I’ve bagged myself a winner for the night (though it always happens during post-event editing that you wished you’ve thought about a certain angle then).
It wasn’t long before all hell broke loose, and the party was in full swing till late night.
