A Beautiful Journey: Part 2 - Photoshoot Day 1

The night prior to production, everything was set. My heart was beating quite fast. We had the make up artists - 2 of them, eM.K. photographer and one assistant, plus myself. Yes, a relatively small team, for a seemingly huge task ahead!

We left KL with the load full of clothes in the car, simply enough space for us to sit. When arrived, we quickly arranged the designs according to the designer and had to had them ironed - well at least the first 2 sets for the next day... and that would total to about 40 or more.

The first day, the models woke up about 530am to get their make up. We first went to the Cheng Hoon Teng temple - our first destination, with Eric's Chinese inspired motifs by 645. The day started off fast, and we managed to get some shots on time. We were lucky, as there was not much time for good photography as the clouds were coming up pretty fast. Interestingly, the people surrounding the set were very friendly and even stopped traffic for our shoot.. I have a feeling the driver didn't mind this whole photoshoot scene appearing right in front of him.



While on our way back, I saw this thrishaw - in its full authenticity, and asked the thrishaw puller to come back later for we wanted to use his thrishaw for the shoot. Alas, it was not to be, as it rained.. However, after the rain, we headed to the famous Malacca Stadhuys - and low and behold.. a thrishaw puller came by with this authentic thrishaw. Why I had wanted a no frills thrishaw - those simple ones, without those decorative gold-silver or flowery glitters is because it will be too much a distraction from the batiks. I had decided if there's no simple thrishaw, then we'll just go ahead with no thrishaw.. but how lucky we were! However, look closely enough on those pictures taken at the Stadhuys and you'll see a small lil teddy bear on it! haha... some of our customers actually noticed it!

I can't fully remember, but either before this shot, or after, we took the street scene - the small alley which was like mini Chinatown. I took that street firstly because it was narrow, hence giving it atmosphere & 'feel'. Secondly, that road was closed to vehicles, except bicycles, giving us much more space & time. But even that drew the crowd who wanted to see what was going on. I remember it was very very hot, and we were all dressed in those clothes that were meant for air conditioned places. It was a lil hard to keep that smile and laughther! There was also a shot of me in the car. Actually, this shot was unique, as we first tried & tested so many shots in the car...! But as I was exiting the car, eM.K asked me to re-enter & re-exit to shoot that magic moment. This shot of me exiting from the car is one of the most liked by our customers :)

Next, the colonial building where we did 2 shots - of Amyn's semi formal & Eric's weddings clothes. The first shot with Carol & Christine was difficult as we took this shot with lighting behind them. Professional eM.K, with assistance from Richard Se, a photographer-designer in KL managed this shot well.

The wedding shots next. All dressed in white - batik style. We were worn out, though the models did take some nap in between. The only issue we had here was basically not to get those white dresses filled with our make - ups.

As evening approached and the sky darkened, our very last shot was back to Amyn's. We first had Carol & Christine take shot together. This was difficult as either one of their ear-rings kept wavering and the camera couldn't capture it. Hence, I split them up to take individual shots. This is a rare, as I aimed that most photographs have to be taken with 2 or more models, to add to the atmosphere of the pictures. When we did this, the models were good, and the photos well taken.

Our final photo was Carol in the red semi liked cheongsam, and by this time, we had to use lighting as the day was fully dark. This photo is unique as Carol doesn't face the camera, but instead she looks up into the window, giving the spotlight directly to her dress!

Photoshoot of day 1 ended with all models exhausted... but the day hasn't ended yet. We first went back to the hotel, had a Chinese dinner... and it was then time to do the fitting for the models for the next day! And the clothes ironed. What a day!

Read Also: A Beautiful Journey: Part 1

Next: Photoshoot Day 2