I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from Straits Times Urban sometime last week. They were looking to run an article on unique pre-wedding photography. Something which I had been doing but never marketed myself in that direction.

I remember prior to Andy and Liz (the couple who had a mock parliament session at the Old Parliament House, on their wedding day no less), I was reluctant to do pre-wedding photography. What Liz said changed my perspective – she explained that the Wedding Day is a day of celebration, and thus Wedding Day photography’s purpose is to chronicle that day. On the other hand, the Pre-wedding photography, or bridal photography – is actually a chance in a lifetime to be the princess of the little girl’s dream. That image got stuck in my mind ever since. My venture into pre-wedding is thus founded on the goal to realize that little girl’s dream.

Most of the clients who approached me for pre-wedding photography will know that my first attempt is to ask them for ideas on how they want their bridal photography to look like. What story they want to tell. I chip in with my opinions and input from the photography perspective, but usually the couple is very much encouraged to be the chief engineers. Caesar and Siying for instance (the pre-wedding photo published on Straits Times Urban), were the ones to choose the locations. Caesar threw in a number of ideas on some fun shots, and the published photo is a result of improvisation and dealing with the environment and what we have at the location.

Courtship re-enactment of Du Soon and Kai Ling

The interview with ST Urban was a lot longer than what ended up being published. I was eager to share as many stories as I could. One of the more creative and radical ones will be the courtship album I made for Du Soon and Kai Ling. I didn’t think couples in SG would be keen on such shots as usually pre-wedding photography equate glitz and glamour. Even for engagement shots, stylish and romantic. But they were actually game. We brainstormed extensively on the execution and the result was one of my proudest works produced.

Lawrence and Geok Leng at Punggol

Another couple with quite a number of ideas would be Lawrence and Geok Leng. Lawrence takes wonderful photographs himself and both of them have pretty high expectations on photography. In fact, Lawrence directed quite a number of their shots.

I expected them to be published as well. ST Urban sounded keen on the story in which the couple dated at a Salsa bar – and that part of the shoot was done there. Which is also another unique thing about their bridal portraits as approval to do shoots at such places don’t come easy.

At the Salsa bar which they spent quite a bit of time during their courtship

I recently did an off-shore island shoot with Hui Yi and Kai. The couple rented a boat and the trip was an experience in itself.

They had the whole beach to themselves

These projects are very time-consuming and intensive, and definitely very tiring. However, having survived them; and looking back, they are projects which are my pride and joy.