South Asian Weddings - an info page

On the day of the wedding:

Bride’s House: In most South Asian wedding homes excitement runs high from very early in the morning from the dressing room to the kitchen. This is a great time to get some priceless shots including some detail shots of jewelry, shoes, dresses etc. Months of planning and preperations have gone into making the bride look her best. Don’t forget to keep about 15 to 20 minutes for some bridal portraits. We will never be able to re-create that look. We can even get in some fun shots with brides maids or friends. Don’t forget a picture with Mom & Dad. This is a very special moment for them.

Most relatives who are close to the bride’s family gather here making it ideal to get some memorable group shots.  Schedule about 20 - 30 minutes after you get ready for the group portraits.

Groom’s House: Just as in the bride’s house, groom’s house offers some great candids in the dressing room & around the house. Keep 15 to 20 minutes for grand portraits of  groom and some fun shots with the grooms men & friends. A picture with the proud parents and any traditional ceremonies carried out before the “barat” leaves for the main ceremony.

Generally two photographers are required in the morning to cover the bride’s house as well as the groom’s

Preparations for the getting ready shots:

If you have a choice, select the room with the best looking dresser & layout in the house for getting ready. Since often flash is bounced off walls & ceilings, if there is a dominant colour to the walls such as blue, green, maroon etc. do let the photographer know beforehand so he is prepared with appropriate lighting.

Wedding paraphenalia such as dress, shoes etc. lying around is okay, infact could make for some interesting shots, but do hide any non wedding things such as sneakers, jeans etc. Boxes that the dress or shoes came in are okay if they look good but do get rid of any plastic bags. Make sure the dresser is clean especially the mirror. If there are any smudges or smears on the mirror, they may not be very visible to a casual glance but could catch the light from the flash & flare. Makeup & other wedding items on the dresser is fine.

Just before the ceremony:

We would generally arrive at the venue for the cermony before you do, so that we may set up any lighting if required. If possible have someone close to the groom co-ordinate with the photographer & call him on the cell as soon as the “barat” is near the venue so that he is ready for shots outside as the “barat” approaches.

During the ceremony

There is a lot that goes on during a South Asian wedding. We are there to document the event and get for you interesting shots of the ceremony and happenings. We do not get in your way although we are all the time scanning for pictures that you would love to revisit again and again. Depending on the iteneray of the day, we may be able to get some couple shots right after the ceremony.

Park Shots

Park shots for South Asian weddings work out better before the reception rather than after the “doli” (especially if you plan to have an emotional “doli”). We would suggest after the ceremony, get a bit of rest, freshen up, get ready for the reception and get the park pictures done before the reception. Schedule about an hour (two hours is ideal) for the park shoot and if it could be timed close to the golden hour (see FAQs) chances are you may get some interesting skies. Remember to give us atleast 45 minutes time to set up for the reception.

Most parks require permits and a small fee, and they may limit the number of wedding parties so please do decide on the location beforehand (discuss this with the photographer) and block off time with the park authorities.

The best time for photographs outdoors.

Outdoors the main source of light is the sun. Unfortunately its position is always changing. The least preferred time is midday, when the sun is overhead. This leads to black shadows under the eyes, nose and chin. Often the face is in shadow and the sun only catches the nose. This can be minimized using a flash or a reflector, but only to a certain extent. This becomes more and more difficult to control as the group becomes bigger.

Early mornings and late afternoons are great as the sun is much lower in the sky. Half an hour before sunset & right up to a half hour after sunset make for great pictures and is often referred to as the golden hour. While planning an outdoor or a park shoot the time for sunset is easily found at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html

General things to remember

• Give a list of important family members to the photographer and whenever possible have someone introduce them.
• There are a million little things for you to take care of on the day of the wedding. Don’t include coordinating with the photographer as one of them. Have someone close and responsible who could take care of that.
• Oh Yes, please do not forget to feed the photographer and assistant. We do not work well hungry and we would not have the time to run out for a bite. We do not take pictures of people eating, so that is generally a good time for us to eat as well, unless you want to sneak away at that time to get some couple shots done. (in which case we eat when you do) We keep cameras close at hand during dinner so if you could have us at a table where we have a clear view of you, then we would be ready for any spontaneous shots that might occur.

Group Shots

• A South Asian wedding is one such occasion where there is a reunion of a number of relatives and friends. It is a great chance to get some group shots in should you want them.
• Discuss and schedule the group shots beforehand. Have someone who knows the relatives co-ordinate it. Get the immediate family and close relative shots done first. If you wish to make a list, that is up to you. At the reception do not keep the group shots till the dancing and festivities have begun. Guests often have fun and work up a sweat on the dance floor - not the best for photographs.
• It is not a good idea to go around to individual tables at the reception and take pictures. Besides having varying lighting there is partially eaten snacks, food and drinks at the tables which do not make the best photo setting.

How to get really good prints?

You have to first decide why you want the prints. Do you require prints just as proofs at minimum cost? Do you want archival quality prints in a grand album or do you want to showcase them on the wall? Or maybe it is a gift or a thank you to a loved one.

South Asian weddings are full of rich vibrant colours. If you are just looking for proofs you can get 4×6 or 5×7 prints done from any discount superstore but do not expect them to do justice to the delicate work done on a expensive wedding dress, nor each print to be individually colour corrected.

A custom print squeezes the maximum out of a digital file. It all starts with a raw file. The file is then worked on in lightroom and Photoshop. Skin smoothened and cleared of blemishes and any other work on the file is done and the file then resized and sharpened for printing. All this is done using colour calibrated monitors and the contrast, colours tweaked to get the best result from the lab we use. The larger the print, that much more detailed is the retouching.

Different file sizes also are proportioned differently. For example: a 4×6 or 8×12 or 16×24 are sizes that are the same proportions as the original digital file. However a 5×7 or 8×10 or 11×14 etc. will have to be cropped on either sides. In mass production automatic machines it is difficult to custom crop individual prints and so an important detail may get cropped out.

Since different sizes of prints require different file treatment, so we cannot prepare one file that would be ideal for all sizes. Any computer work is done on the file first, then it is resized and finally sharpened for prints. Moreover different labs require different file preparations, depending on the printer profiles they supply.

For these reasons, although we give you the printable high resolution files, we would suggest that if you are making any prints 8×10 or larger, please let us take care of preparing archival quality prints.

Retouching: What can be done to enhance the photograph.

Besides smoothening and touching up the skin of blemishes, In most cases one could work on opening closed eyes, whitening the whites of the eyes, the teeth, reducing lines on the face, getting rid of an exit sign or a unwanted electrical switch on a wall etc. You can also get partially coloured photographs, or photographs that have received special treatment, such as sepia toning, duo tone etc.

Different types of albums

Wedding albums basically fall into two broad categories. One is the traditional album also known as the matted album. In such an album, custom enlargements are behind matts that have an opening slightly smaller than the print. This is a great way to showcase some beautifully made prints and is more suited for the traditional style of photography where the photographer takes posed pictures or carefully created portraits.

The more contemporary type of album is the coffee table album (some call it the digital or storybook or a flush mounted album. Please note a digital album is indeed a physical album put together digitally). If all the excitement and emotions that take place in a South Asian wedding is captured in a candid or photojournalistic style, then the coffee table album works very well. A professional graphic designer prepares a one of a kind layout that tells the story of the wedding day. Text may be added or collages done. Detail shots can be included as a background or as part of the page layouts. There are varrious choices of covers, from personalised with a photograph to metallic to a more traditional look with a leather finish. Visit us to see some samples.