Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"The Love Train": A Contemporary Urban Outdoor Wedding Photography by Azhar Ariff

Wow! I took so much of me to overcome my procrastination! Finally I beat the hell out of procrastination, and resized these amazing shots of Akmal & Fazira's Urban Outdoor Wedding shoot. It's amazing what you can achieve when you've done your homework. Prior to the wedding event, on the same day, I scouted nearby location for an outdoor shoot near Pandan Indah. There were parks of small and large. Knowing me, I'm not much of a "shooting-outdoor-wedding-photos-in-the-parks, or garden". I just go blank when I'm shooting in parks or gardens. On the contrary, the urbanscape gives me textures, multiple colour variations, terrains, surfaces and most of all, human interaction with the public. There are a lot more elements that we can play around when shooting an outdoor wedding around the city. I can never run out of ideas in this manner.

We discussed on where to shoot the outdoor session with Akmal & Fazira, and after I presented my idea, both of them were excited and really up for it. "Let's go!" said Fazira without hesitation when I just finished throwing the idea. The easiest and convinient place I thought of was taking a train ride via the STAR LRT, from Pandan Indah to Hang Tuah station and back to Pandan Indah. The ride gives me a lot of opportunity, space and time to work around the couple. It also gives some comfort to them to be in the air-con for a while in the train. Talk about the heat man...

It all went really smooth and I was enthrilled that I got a lot of good shots. To give you an idea, I maxed out all my CF cards worth around 12 gigs of RAW files. Man, I'm telling ya, it is soo worth it. Thank you Akmal & Fazira.

Note for photographers: All was taken with ambient lighting. No flash was used. That's why I'm loving my Canons now. He he! :)

Just before the ride, at the train station.
Image:red shutters

Image:red shutters montage
I love the treatment for these shots. I wanted to create an atmosphere that doesn't look like Malaysia. The look that I wanted to make was as if this was shot somewhere in Australia, the UK or the States, with some nostalgic feel to it. Somehow, railways has that automatic nostalgic effect, no matter where it is in the world. Truly amazing. I love these..
Image:black & white

Image:black & white montage

I love these colour sets too. Something like a magazine spread.
Image:Akmal & Fazira waiting for the ride on THE LOVE TRAIN

The love story: Catching a ride on THE LOVE TRAIN.
Image:getting on THE LOVE TRAIN

Image:Train 01


Image:Train 02


Image:Train 03


Last stop and heading back home.
Image:Heading home

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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    salam bro.
    pegh...outdoor kat luar/dalam/tepi/*sib baik takde atas* LRT tu~ jeles...jeles.. :(

    anyway, really admire the way you capture all da photos. gonna follow it. but kuching no train. only Jalan Keretapi. huhuhu~

    ReplyDelete
  2. azharariffJanuary 20, 2009 at 3:49 PM

    Thanks for your comments Putat. You're more than welcome to guna any idea yg rasa sesuai from my photos. I'm glad I can inspire other you and others with my photos. Dapat inspire people je pun dah Alhamdulillah to me.

    Kuching takde train, tapi ada lots more interesting elements, especially the penambang. Maybe can sewa 1 penambang all to yourself and get a private ride with your wedding client for their outdoor. Not to mention the heritage buildings and the market. How's that for an idea? Thanks bro for your support. Go crazy & best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 20, 2009 at 8:38 PM

    Lawa! Love the couple shot in B&W by the rail & lone bride in the last set (top right). Do take note of the typo error as I've mentioned earlier in Photoskool.

    ReplyDelete
  4. azharariffJanuary 20, 2009 at 9:07 PM

    Thanks for the note Kijal, typo error noted & fixed. Ya, I like the convex mirror reflection too. Nice, but Fazira commented that shot made her look wider. But, what the hey, I just wanted to illustrate the context of the shot in relationship to the environment.

    ReplyDelete
  5. kijalJanuary 20, 2009 at 9:39 PM

    as a photographer (commissioned job) you need to make your client happy (of the shots taken etc) & @ d same time to be creative. Guess 1 need 2 balance it out.

    Tis stesen is pretty near 2 me.. =:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2009 at 1:13 PM

    Sempoi giler...bro nak tanya sikit...macamner nak edit gambar bagi nampak kaler tu kuning2an tu...nampak menarik ler..

    ReplyDelete
  7. azharariffJanuary 21, 2009 at 4:52 PM

    deelapena, editing untuk dpt kuning2an tu saya pakai Adobe Lightroom. Sebelum apa2, saya adjust colour temperature+tint. Saya shoot RAW, oleh itu, white balance dan colour masih boleh diselamatkan/di"edit"kan.

    Basic adjustments yg saya slalu pakai adalah: exposure,fill light,recovery,blacks,clarity,vibrance,hue & saturation,dan akhir skali vignette.

    Settings dia berbeza-beza dari satu gambar ke gambar lain, tapi secara amnya, apa yang saya sebutkan ini sahaja yang saya adjust dalam Adobe Lightroom. Ada beberapa settings yang saya suka, saya savekan jadi "Preset" saya. Oleh itu saya boleh guna balik lain kali. Kalau tanya photoshop, saya tak tau, sebab tak pakai untuk post-processing saya.

    Untuk maklumat lanjut, awak boleh google "Free Lightroom presets" dan boleh download pelbagai preset yang dibuat oleh para pengguna Lightroom yang lain. Diharap maklumat ini membantu.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2009 at 10:32 AM

    cun....angkat ibu jari for this shoot...

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2009 at 6:14 PM

    dude,so la the kewl....love the setting.Unique.

    ReplyDelete
  10. azharariffFebruary 5, 2009 at 12:05 PM

    Thanks Ted. I love them too. He he...

    ReplyDelete

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