First Pano outing and I forgot the bottom plane!

It rained last night, which meant that there will be good weather in the morning. True enough it was. I went out to shoot a panorama of Kuala Lumpur's sunrise via Kampung Baru flats. My art director friend, Khairul Hasbullah has been kind enough to share me the shoot spot. I'd also like to thank my buddy Azwan for agreeing to come along and shoot together.

It was my fault that Azwan and I arrived late on location. The consequences of that was we saw the light diminishing as we went up the 16th floor.

With my mind only set to "chase the light", I completely forgot to shoot a 45degree plane facing the floor, rendering my spherical pano somewhat incomplete. You'll know what I mean when you check out the pano below.

I love exploring new challenges and this is one of them. Challenges gives me room for improvement. That being said, I'm definitely revisiting this spot for a better photo.

Enjoy!

Here's the still image from the Kampung Baru flats. This is nothing compared to various photographers shooting better versions of this shot.

To view the 360 spherical panorama, CLICK HERE.

Azreen and Riccardo's outdoor shoot

Hi All!

Thanks for keep coming to visit my blog. It's been pretty hectic for the past month up until now. Just want to update you guys and gals on Azreen and Riccardo's outdoor wedding shoot which we did right after their Majlis Akad Nikah (Solemnization Ceremony) last month. The location is at Pekeliling Flats. Azreen decided to shoot there for a few reasons:

1. She grew up in Bandar Baru Sentul and passes the flats during her commute to work. Let's just say that there's a certain amount of sentimental value to Azreen.

2. The Pekeliling Flats are now being prepared to be demolished. Soon, the existence of this landmark will be non-existent. Therefore, this is part of documenting history on a "historical moment".

It was enjoyable for all of us to be on location, shooting this exciting wedding outdoor session. Both Azreen and Riccardo were really excited with the outcome when the prints came out. I just can't help but to share with you all some of these images. They're both a truly amazing couple. I love photographing them!

Last but not least, and most of all, I have to thank Zuri, Azreen's bridesmaid, who is also her best friend, for referring this lovely couple to hiring me, and trusting me, as their wedding photographer.

Thank you Zuri, Azreen and Riccardo, and to both your family members and friends who were warm to accomodate my presence during your wedding.

All the best, and enjoy!

Azreen and Riccardo. I wanted to have a retro-feel to the images, in-line with the "historical" theme for the Pekeliling Flats shoot. I love this moment. Got it while they were waiting for the train.


LRT Montage. So much to show, so I thought a small montage would give an idea of how much fun we had. :)


A classic moment.


Another Black-and-White montage. Notice the words used? Pun intended. "Persatuan" means Unity, and "Satu" means "One". Kinda cool IMHO.


On the way back, with lots of fun.


Last shot.

Emotions of a wedding ceremony. Azreen & Riccardo

I was processing Azreen & Riccardo's images and I had to stop at these images and just have them published for a preview. I just couldn't handle keeping them to myself. They're just so emotional, especially this picture below, where Riccardo's father, Mr. Perlo, hugs tight his only son, Riccardo, to congratulate him into entering the married world. I can see it was a mix of joy and sadness all at the same time. Joy of the newly weds. Sad probably because from now, they part and Riccardo lives as a husband. Also, even more sad, because Riccardo's mother, Mrs Perlo, is in Italy. She couldn't fly to KL due to her medical condition. It was truly an emotional moment for both of them, father and son. Therefore, I had to post this photo, which followed with a few other photos that I quickly processed to share with you all, especially Azreen & Riccardo, and also Zuri, her maid of honor, who introduced me to the couple. Here they are, enjoy!



Riccardo's father, Mr. Perlo watches his only son fixes his sampin, just a few minutes before entering the Solemnization Hall, at Bandar Baru Sentul Mosque. Mr.Perlo flew all the way from Italy to attend his son's wedding with Azreen in Kuala Lumpur.

Note: This tilt-shift effect on this images is really cool. Inspired from Zack Arias tilt-shift images which can be found here. Check 'em out.



Riccardo kisses Azreen's forehead as a blessing, after just being declared as husband and wife in the solemnization ceremony.




Outdoor portraiture, taken at the abandoned flats of Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur. The Pekeliling flats will be demolished and this will be the last record of it's establishment.


Here they are, the lovely couple Azreen & Riccardo.

How to Gain Trust? Zul & Ain's wedding at Lembah Pantai, KL

These are some of the shots of the wedding of Zulhelmee Farhan bin Ab Ghafar & Ainon binti Abdul Rahman. Outdoor photo session at Pusat Komuniti Lembah Pantai, 14-FEB-2009, Kuala Lumpur. I'd really like to thank Zul & Ain for their trust in hiring me for the day. We had a really good time shooting, and I can't wait to share some of these great photos online. :)

What's truly different this time is that I've never meet the couple prior to the wedding event. How 'bout that? What's even more amazing is that how comfortable they were with me. It's really something when you get that amount of trust in your client. It makes the session relaxed and fun! Now, if you happen to come across a situation similar to mine, how do you gain trust from a wedding couple on the day of the shoot?

Here's what I've been telling my friends who asked that question:
The principal of the situation is to build trust. There are many ways to build trust on location. The two best tips that I use are:

1.Brief your client.
Before shooting, brief your client or in this case, the wedding couple, what you intend to shoot and achieve from the shot. You need to let them know what exactly you have in mind, and illustrate it in words that they can understand.

For example, in the peek-a-boo shot below, I said something like:
"OK, here's the shot that I'd like to get. I'm going to shoot a perspective of these pillars, and in between these pillars, I'd like to see you pop your head out in-between one of these pillars. In the meantime, Zul, I'd like you to be around one or two pillars behind. Let's try this out and see how it goes, shall we?"

2. Show your shot on the camera's LCD.
Couples get anxious and worried that they don't look good in the photos. Right after a test shot, or in-between shots, occasionally, show your shots to your client. They'll appreciate how good they look, and in actual fact, they look a lot better that they think! When they know how they look on the LCD, their worries are gone, and you can continue the shots with your client having a peace of mind, knowing that you really know what you're doing.

Piece of cake, eh? I hope this information helps to fellow photographers, and also to my future clients, I hope this assures you that you'll be in good hands when I'm hired for your event.

Cheers!

Without further adieu, here are some of the shots from Zul & Ain's wedding.

Ain & Zul. Love those eyes.


Note: BTW, shooting white dress in bright daylight can be technically challenging, especially in controlling the highlights. I love my gear and trust them 110%. They capture the details of the laces where they are susceptible to overexposure. I leave the camera to work itself, and concentrate on getting the shot that I want. Talk about peace of mind. :)

A little peek-a-boo!


Zul, leaning with hands against the wall.


Another one.


For our last shot, we headed to the nearby bushes at the vicinity of Pusat Komuniti Lembah Pantai. The sun was really setting, and slightly hazy.

I love this look. Something like "Gazing into the future..."


Focus on Zul, while the sun is really setting fast.






It's a wrap!

"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.



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..




I love these colour sets too. Something like a magazine spread.


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

Last stop and heading back home.

More of Fadil & Ayu

It's really something when I come home with really nice shots. As I imagine some pre-visualised shots that I want to get during Fadil & Ayu's wedding reception on the 6th of December, 2008 on an outdoor shoot at The Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, nature took it's toll and set rain on us.

We were stuck in the Bandar Baru Community Hall at around 5pm. The reception was done, and the caterer's were packing up. We were supposed to head off to The Lake Gardens but it started raining. Ayu was feeling bad about it because she really wanted some good shots, after the session I did in Kuchai Lama. It is situations like these that I love. I was put off-balance from what I planned, and I love working under pressure. It's sort of an adrenaline rush for me. First thing on top of my head was to look around and made use of the available environment. I have a speedlight with me with a remote radio transmitter, and it was my saviour (I carry this all the time for my weddings). With one light, I'm confident that I can shape the light in any way that I please.

I got some ideas and informed Ayu & Fadil what I had in mind. Ayu was relieved after I convinced her that we can still get good shots around the hall, and even more so after viewing the shots on the LCD. After a while, the rain started to slow down and we just headed to The Lake Gardens for a long shot. Turns out it stopped raining at the Lake Gardens! Thank God! We took some shots that we wanted there and head home on time at 6.30pm. All this within 1½ hours (inclusive of 20mins drive from Bandar Baru Sentul to The Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur). Pretty amazing in my opinion. My credit goes to Nazir, who was kind enough to asssist me during these shoots. Cheers!

This is somewhere on the top level of the Community Hall. It was an open space and I wanted to create an industrial feel to it, with all the metal beams and rafters on the roof structure.








Shot just near the hall entrance.




Just luv this classic "peek-a-boo".


Here's some shots taken on the nearby staircases. The steps makes nice background.




One of Fadil's friends said that this photo looks like they were out in a middle of the jungle.




Taken on the nearby bridge in the park.