I had a fantastic weekend shooting Desmond & Ching Sze Pre-wedding in Singapore! It was a challenging day because we were sparring with the weather most of the time. You see, it started out a week prior to the pre-wedding shoot. I was observing the weather forecast and the pattern goes something like this; morning – bright and sunny, afternoon – rain, evening – beautiful evening skies. Perfect! This has been ongoing from Monday to Friday morning when I was all psyched up for the shoot on Saturday. Great, I couldn’t wait! But things took an about turn when I saw grey clouds gathering on Friday evening. Oh no! It started raining!

Sure enough, Saturday was a challenging day, grey and dull skies for most of the morning, afternoon had a hint of sunlight. We did some beautiful casual shots for the morning. I initially thought that we would have clear blue skies for Saturday like the rest of the week prior. I was so confident that I planned out a string out outdoor locations without a backup plan! Hah! BIG mistake! As we were heading out for the evening shoot, I saw the clouds gathering above us as we drove to our first venue. We had to practically race against time (and the rain clouds) for most of the shoot.

By the time we got to the first venue, it was getting really dark. I took a few shots with the couple while Andrew and Mark (who graciously assisted me for that day) were setting up the lights for me. I felt a few raindrops on my face now, and I remembered shouting to Desmond and Ching Sze, “One last shot, guys! One last shot!”, just in case you do not know, that’s my favourite sentence *wink*. The rain was getting heavier now but I insisted that we took “one last shot”. *snap* *snap* *more raindrops* OK, by now, I knew we had to leave, although we only had 30 minutes at that beautiful spot. I told the guys to pack up and head to the car. We started loading the gear into the car when I heard Desmond shouting, “It’s coming! It’s coming!”. I looked with the corner of my eye and I saw a thick grey layer of rain like a curtain moving towards us. “Quick!” We dumped everything into the car boot and jumped into the car and slammed the door shut. BOOM! The rain poured like there was no tomorrow.

This was one of the “last shots” we took before the rain won.

Definitely one of my favourite shots of the day!

Finally, I could tick off one item on my wishlist. To photograph a couple or bride/groom alone, next to a plane. Woohoo!

I had to think of other spots to shoot due to the heavy downpour. I’ll probably post some of those photos later. As the rain hampered most of my plans, I was determined to wait until I could shoot at another wonderful spot. Here is a preview of what is to come.

All in all, it was a wonderful day out with friends. The weather did make things a little difficult for me at the beginning but it all soon fade away the moment I look at the photos. Desmond & Ching Sze, thanks for being so patient with me and for putting up with all the impossible requests at times. Would love to show you more photos but that would ruin the surprise for the Ipoh Wedding in December! The rain didn’t stop us and I think, end of the day, the chili and pepper crabs did make a whole lot of difference!

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We started playing with off camera flash with my PocketWizards.

Since it’s dark, it’s time to play with some video light!

I love this shot. I think I told Ban Yew to do something funny and I got the following shot.

While we were shooting, Andrew noticed a reflection on a marble slab and we took the chance to shoot a few shots here. One video light and one waterproof torclight from Melvin’s diving gear was used

Melvin’s shot of the couple kissing.

One of my favourite from Part 2. Melvin was inspired with a Jerry Ghionis shot and tred to replicated it but instead, we got this, which reminds me of some TVB Drama poster.

And my personal favourites for the evening.

There was this little spot outside the Marina Barrage that had a viewing platform, we got Ban Yew to try to kiss Esther.

That’s all for now folks. Hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have. Thanks to Andrew and Melvin for helping out that day, it was great to have the both of you there.

Tomorrow would be another exciting day for me. Hopefully I’ll get to meet one of the top photographers in Singapore and get to learn from him. It’s been my dream to meet him in person.

If you’ve never been to the Marina Barrage on weekends, you probably won’t know that this place is like a people magnet. You’ll see families, lovebirds, teenagers and foreigners enjoying the cool breeze and the scenic view of Singapore. It was rather hard to shoot when you have onlookers and people just walking in front of the camera now and then. Nonetheless, we came back with awesome photos and we just love them! Most of the shots were taken right off camera with very minimal post processing.

Melvin and Andrew were my tag-along buddies that day. It’s great when you have people helping you carry the video light, occasionally taking a few beautiful shots of the couple and giving creative ideas. I think we all learnt a lot that day and Ban Yew and Esther would be proud. Ok, enough said, on to the photos… here is the first part of the series. Do check back tomorrow for more!

On rooftop of the Marina Barrage. Doesn’t look like it does it?

God is just awesome for creating such a beautiful blue sky that matches the green grass. Beauuuutiful!

I really like this shot a lot. Been meaning to try something like this for a long time.

Andrew took this beautiful shot of Esther as well as the next shot below.

While I went up the next floor to take this shot.

Then we went indoors to play with some video lights…. oooh.. I’m so excited! Check the next few shots out!

These were some shots that Melvin took.

Ban Yew trying to act cool!

…..and one of my favourite shots from that day!

You probably have seen this from the previous post, but I just love the silhouette. This was taken right off the camera with no post processing. Power of the 5D Mark II. Woot!

I guess that’ll be all for now as I continue to post process more photos. Do visit again tomorrow at 12PM, Friday for the next installment! So what should you be expecting? Well, remember we were there since 5pm? Naturally, the sun had to set and we went up to the rooftop again to take more beautiful shots of the sky.

Here is one from tomorrow’s post just to wet your appetite.

In the morning, it was really cloudy and it rained most of the afternoon. I was praying that the weather would change, despite the fact that I was prepared for a wet day at Marina Barrage. I was telling my wife that each time I want to go out and shoot a pre-wedding, it is always raining. I’m a master in “dramatic skies” due to the rain clouds, I told her. It’s been a long time since I last shot a pre-wedding with a blue sky. But thank God, everything turned out the way it did because at 5pm, the sun was up and the sky was nothing but spectacular.

I was accompanied by two friends, Melvin and Andrew whom I met at Louis Pang’s Workshop in KL. They helped by giving ideas and snapped a few photos for Ban Yew and Esther.

Here are some photos from behind the scene. (Wide angled photos courtesy of Melvin)

The Marina Barrage.

I had to pixelate part of the photo below. Teeheehee.

Andrew taking a beautiful shot of the couple.

Melvin lining up for the shot.

What was not to like about the sky that day! It was pure awesomeness!

As the sunset came, we definitely walked away with several great shots.

Me showing Esther how to pose. (Photo courtesy of Andrew ;-P).

I’m very excited as there are so many great shots that we got out of our little trip to Marina Barrage. Ban Yew and Esther were also very accommodating as we shot from 5pm to 9pm. However, I’m sure they would be very pleased with the shots we’ve got. The next update would be a two-part series of the pre-wedding session.

For now, here is a shot we took from the shoot that day…