Andrew & Akushla were one of the first few couples to book me as a wedding photographer. Andrew first saw my work on the Overclockers forums and contacted me about shooting their wedding. I was a newbie in the industry then so when they got back to me saying they wanted to book me I was over the moon! Also, if I remember correctly it was over 18 months from the first point of contact till their wedding day.

The wedding day started at Milford Meadows where the ladies were getting ready while the guys had a later start at the Plum Tree Cottage. It was raining that morning on the way to Bowral but when we got there we had clear blue skies. The ceremony was held at the Anglican Church of St. Simon and St. Jude and reception at Centennial Vineyards.

Thank you Andrew and Akushla for putting your trust and confidence in my work so early on in my career. I have very fond memories right from the first time we met till the very end when we made our way back to the car. I looked up to the sky and there were billions of stars lighting up the night sky. It was beautiful, just like your wedding day was. Thanks guys

One of the many views at Milford Meadows

The girls reading the well wishes on Facebook

Starting with the hair

Hair done while going through last minute stuff

The well wishes keep coming in!

Mum fixing one of the bridesmaid’s dress while the bride waits anxiously for her hair to be done

Three things going on at once!

Off to the boy’s side for a bit

Then it was back to the girls

First look at the bride

Then it’s off to the church

Andrew and the boys waiting anxiously

At first I thought they were trying to steal some grapes! They were actually trying to free a trapped bird

Centennial Vineyards at sunset

These flowers were arranged by the bride’s mum. Better than some ordered from a florist!

Homemade souvenirs

Love the flower arrangements for the cake too!

Where was this taken? Took awhile for Andrew to guess it right

Speech reactions

The first dance

Jasmin + Chiang – Wedding Day from Justin Oh on Vimeo.

It was a packed day as we were between several different locations starting with the Star City Apartment, their new home in Alexandria, a stroll through the Royal Botanical Gardens before boarding the Sydney Glass Island via Man O War Wharf. We also allocated some time to prepare a slideshow as Jasmin wanted to display some photos taken earlier in the day at the reception. I think it is also safe to say that the Hen’s Day Out vidshow was a hit If you missed it earlier here’s the link to watch it: http://www.vimeo.com/6941364

The weather forecasted for that day was an evening thunderstorm. It was threatening us the whole day but when we were at the Gardens, we had some very nice dramatic light – although we had some drizzle on and off which cut our outdoor portrait session short. Everyone was a little worried and on edge since the ceremony was on the top deck of the glass boat. We went on with the ceremony as the storm brew. Amazingly enough, it only started pouring when we were just about to make our way down!! The celebration went on as hard as ever as the thunder and lightning was seen and heard from every corner Checkout the wedding day video in the next post above.

Thank you Jasmin and Chiang for your trust in me to be your photographer on your wedding day, for asking me non-stop throughout the day if I had anything to eat or drink, for your warmth and kindness and of course, your friendship! I haven’t had so much fun shooting a wedding! Although it was 18 hours, it just went like a blink of an eye! Thank you!

Here are the highlights of the day. Hope you guys enjoy looking!

Chinese Tea Ceremony for the Bride’s side of the family

And the groom’s side

Jewelry as gifts for the bride

Got it!

Jasmin’s sisters. Sorry guys, they’re all taken

Love the lighting here!

One of my favourite shots – pure photojournalism

Another favourite one here

Oops!?

Speech reaction

Love this shot taken by my friend/2nd shooter/assistant Alex

Yaaaaaaaaaaaammmm Sennggg!!! The Malaysian/Singaporean equivalent to Cheers!

And a whole lot of partying too!

The fantastic glass boat with a 360 degree view

If you like the hair and makeup you see in the photos you need to contact these guys! Their work is amazing!

Hair Stylist: Vicki McFarlane vmcfarlane@aapt.net.au 0414 261 033

Makeup Artist: Rosetta Ripepi rosetta_ripepi@hotmail.com 0423 210 441

Let the games begin!

The boys looking worried?

No idea what was in the can – it looked like giant cockles and smelled funky!

Blended with a mix of biscuits topped with wasabi, bitter gourd, aubergine and a whole lot of other stuff I don’t even know!

Which turned into a lethal concoction…

Luckily for Chiang, it was finished before it got to him

Smelly socks anyone?

The goal: to snatch a candy with your mouth

Q&A time

Clearly, Chiang got one wrong and the brothers had to pay!

Dancing and singing too! Here, Chiang is demonstrating the moves

More bribes?

Pretty please!

Honnneeyyyyyyyy!!!

Yeayyyy!!

Meanwhile, here’s the slideshow that was displayed at the dinner reception. This time you get to watch it as many times as you want! Don’t forget to turn HD on for a better quality and sharper video

Jasmin’s Hen’s Day Out from Justin Oh on Vimeo.

For example, I shoot almost exclusively with Velvia 50 for landscapes in both standard 35mm and medium format. I particularly like Provia for random street stuff for the grungy feel/color it produces. B&W film and street photography have undoubtedly, always gone well together. Not long ago, I gave a go at shooting panoramic B&W for documentary and photojournalism stuff which I am now, liking very much. The most recent example is a wedding I shot with Kodak’s E100VS which I think just works so well together. The warm but somewhat clean tones it produces makes it perfectly useable for portraits where skin tone is important whilst still producing a highly saturated and contrasty shot.

I find that I also have more keepers when I shoot in film compared to shooting digital. I think this has to do with the cost of shooting film, specifically slide film which has risen significantly over the years. This makes nailing every shot with the right exposure and composition so much more important since there’s no preview after clicking the shutter button! Shooting in film has in some way, helped me learn to think more before I take the shot. I think more about the composition, the exposure values. Would it work?  Check then recheck again to make sure I have everything dialed in perfectly.

My weapon of choice alongside the 5D Mark II for the recent wedding was my all time favourite camera (yes, more than the 5D!), the Hasselblad Xpan II, panoramic film camera. For a discontinued film camera, the XPan still commanded a very high asking price of about $3.5k and upwards for the kit with a 45mm prime lens. I was very lucky when I found one for sale which was in immaculate condition with only a 100-ish shutter count, for much less than the market price then. I of course jumped at the opportunity as this was one camera I have only dreamt of owning many years ago.

Shooting with the Xpan was a bit of a challenge since there is no auto focus and adjusting the aperture requires manual adjustment on the lens. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think I will be using it more at weddings in the future

Here are some pictures of the Xpan  just after the postman dropped by

I have always been a fan of DIY stuff. It has nothing to do with doing things on the cheap or anything like that but simply because I enjoy every step of the photographic process, from clicking the shutter down to the mixing of chemicals and hanging it to dry. As a photographer, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a perfectly shot and developed strip of film after waiting anxiously for at least an hour for the film to dry. Perhaps it is the delayed gratification shooting in film which makes it so much more exciting.

Here is a photo of the setup I have when developing film at home in my bathroom. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a dark room with red lights to develop film. However, yes, that is my washing machine!

The use of film has dropped significantly over the years. One example is when Kodak decided to stop producing Kodachrome and some time next year, the only lab in the world still processing this wonderful film will seize to do so too. I just hope there won’t come a day when shooting with film is no longer a possibility 

Very briefly, the camera used was a Hasselblad XPan II, panoramic and standard 35mm film camera loaded with Kodak E100VS slide film. What’s so special about this camera is that it takes a shot which is almost twice the length of a standard camera. I was initially writing a post to show the pictures here but then soon after I realized I had gone totally off topic. I started writing more about why I still shoot in film and why I love it so much.  I have separated that post to another one so I’ll post that soon after I put this one up so stay tuned!

Let’s get on with the pictures first shall we? CLICK for larger photos!

I absolutely love the warm tones here!

I’ve always been a fan of panoramics and here are some examples why!

Erm, what wide angle lens?

This will be my all time favourite panoramic portrait shot on film. Notice how panoramic, portrait and film don’t usually go together at all!

My 2nd favourite..

and 3rd favourite

Hope you guys enjoyed this! Somehow I’m feeling extra sentimental just looking at these photos and reminiscing Vanessa and Marcus’ wedding day. Thanks guys for having me there, and also Gemma for asking me to come along and shoot with her

Damn, I really love my job!

The day started out in the morning at Vanessa’s parents beautiful home followed by the ceremony at the Hunter Baillie Memorial Presbyterian Church. Built between 1886 and 1889, this church was the tallest in NSW for over 100 years until the twin spires of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney were completed in 2000. Bridal party photos was next so we headed out to The Rocks and then Observatory Hill where we had the most amazing light and a beautiful couple to work with

Later that evening we took a stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the Botanic Gardens Restaurant where the reception was held. It was a great end to a wonderful and well planned wedding. I have to thank Vanessa and Marcus for having me there alongside Gemma Clarke to photograph their union. We had such great weather with sunny blue skies and slightly cool weather which is great for us photographers to work with

Here are some of my favourites and highlights of the day! Don’t forget to CLICK the photos to view a larger version!

Hair and make-up artists working their magic

Bec (Vanessa’s sister) helping Mum out with a necklace

Mum and Bec video conferencing while getting ready!

I love the following 2 shots and couldn’t decide which I like better

Applying final touches

The end result – Perfection

The majestic Hunter Baillie Memorial Church

Equally majestic organ at the rear of the church

Dad and Daughter

A moment of prayer

Mr and Mrs Pereira

A sneaky moment together?

Thanks guys! It was super fun hanging out with you all!

This is the amazing light I was talking about earlier!

Here too!

Natural flare here! No Photoshop gimmicks, I only had to desaturate it slightly and this is the result!

Congratulations guys! I hope you’re enjoying your honeymoon abroad

After the shoot was done we had a great dinner together at Kansai for some all you can eat japanese dinner in the CBD. We also played tour guides for awhile showing them around Sydney and recommending places to eat and visit. Thanks for also buying us dinner guys!

Being a Malaysian myself, we had a lot of fun during the shoot and catching up on things going on back home. Naturally we had a lot in common and I can tell that we’ll be keeping in touch in the future. I hope we made your trip to Australia a much more memorable one!

Here are the pics from their session, don’t forget to CLICK the images for a larger version!

Florence and Ka Yoong braving the cold!

Sydney! Yeay!

Opera House done, can’t leave out the Harbour Bridge can we?

Florence and Ka Yoong under a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Ka Yoong, I hope you appreciate all the kissing I got you to do! This would be my favourite outdoor shot

I will follow you…

Now for some dancing too

The following three black and white shots are my favourite indoor ones

Both of them were simply amazing! I ran the idea of this shot past them and instantly they replied, “OK, no problem!”

It was a cold night, I think they were warming themselves by running a little 

Thank you Florence and Ka Yoong! Hope you guys have a safe flight back to Malaysia!

I’ll be uploading more tomorrow when I finish processing the whole batch. Stay tuned guys, hope you enjoyed the teaser! Don’t forget you can click to view a larger version!