Planning a wedding journey of a couple 3 years after their marriage ceremony

From conceptualization to actualization, how I plan my engagement photography experiences for my client

(Photography and text by Aaron Kho)

Noopur and Mayur met me at a cafe in a mall near where we lived one Monday morning in January. Some preparations were made beforehand. Before this meeting, I have prepared a list of a few photographic styles that I would like to explore.

There were twin objectives to this meeting. The first was to get to know them better, in person, for the second time. The second was to decide upon the style of photography they would prefer their engagement photoshoot to be. They chose the visual style inspired by a Thai based photographer, which happens to also be one of my favourite photography styles.

From there on, it is about making insightful decisions in preparation of the shoot.

The clients have decided upon the location, which is National University of Singapore’s uTown open campus. They have shared with me that they collected significant memories when they were there a few years ago.

To prepare myself better for the day of the shoot, I felt that I needed to revisit the campus and do a scout, decide with the clients the outfits they are going to settle on, and plan for any contingencies in case they are required. This is such an important part of the planning process to determine what kind of poses work best on location.

Day of the Scout

I briefly walked around the campus on a Friday morning. Prior to the visit, the client has given me a few locations they had in mind. I visited them and allowed myself to roam around the open campus looking for other locations that may also appear aesthetically beautiful around the campus. Fortunately enough, the campus had no shortage of good locations. From the Town Green to the large grey columns that supported the residence halls, I felt that I was spoilt for choices. Taking into account the focal length of my lens, the location of the toilets and the colours of the space, I planned a route based on convenience.

Communicating the poses

Having scouted uTown and knowing the locations I want to photograph, the next is to communicate with my client a list of possible poses we could re-enact. To stay as authentic as possible, I asked if my clients could share with me a few important memories they shared together in the past. One of such memories was Noopur picking up Mayur at the uTown taxi stand after his arrival from the airport.

Other poses were planned based on the location in mind. For instance, by the Town Green, I suggested lying down on the grass patch and looking towards the skies.

Scouting the uTown Campus is an essential part of every engagement photoshoot experience.

Choosing the correct outfits to match the style of the photoshoot is essential to nailing the mood of the photoshoot

Choosing the outfits

I suggested that for variety, having two outfits is way better than one. For the casual outfit, I suggested clothes they would wear on an everyday date. For the formal outfit, I suggested wearing outfits they would go out on a high event date, but it does not have to be black tie. Mayur ended up going for a blue formal blazer with blue shorts while Noopur wore a yellow dress. The complementary colours work well with green or grey backgrounds, which I heavily employed in my photos.

Finalizing a week before the shoot

To me, it is important to stay aligned with the client before the shoot, and to ensure that the client knows exactly what is planned during the shoot. My call with the client involves going through the most probable plan during the day of the photoshoot, asking for questions along the way, and making sure that the client knows what they need to prepare before the day of the shoot.

Backup / Emergency plans

For me, it is crucial to have a backup plan in case anything were to happen. If rain were to happen, where should I quickly pivot and photograph indoors? Or could I work with rain to good effect? Where are the nearest bathrooms? What happens if the client fell sick and needed to postpone the shoot? Noopur fell slightly under the weather a few days before the shoot and the shoot had to be postponed to a weekend after. Fortunately for me, I was free the week after and able to carry out the shoot as planned.

The day of the shoot

We planned to meet at 6.30am in the morning. But as usual, I anticipated my clients were a little excited and would arrive earlier so I knew that I had to be a little earlier too. With the sky still dark, we followed our plan to photograph the night scenes first.

We started our morning laying the clients on a makeshift mat at the Town Green. After they were comfortable, I knew that the light had to come from the opposite side of the camera, but at the same time, sufficiently illuminating their faces. With the poses in place, I tried to find the middle ground where the light was not too bright or too dark in the picture.

Near the Town Green were a few benches where we set our next scene. The clients took out their laptop to emulate their experiences in the past where they were working hard, even till late at night. Against the glass window, I utilized reflection to my advantage to gather a few shots of the couple.

Walking our way to the entrance of uTown, we chanced upon a beautiful staircase in the Stephen Riady Center. This was not part of our plan. But I found the staircase to be wide enough where I could have Noopur and Mayur reach out to each other like Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.

Not Taxi-stand? No problem! I found that the taxi-stand at uTown to be not as nice looking as the bus-stop at uTown. This was not before a security guard stopping us and asking if we had a permit to photograph at uTown. I’ve checked, because we are not working for TV, we didn’t need one! The plan at this bus-stop was to photograph the couple meeting again after a very long time, as well as the anticipation and excitement they carry with them.

We ended the first scene at the steps where I found that there is a best view of the CREATE building. With the trees framing the scene, this was immediately one of my favourite spots around uTown. It would be amiss not to capture the client at this location.

We changed out to our second outfit there after and decided to photograph the couple at the study corners near the bathrooms. This marks the halfway point of the shoot. The couple’s choice of blue and yellow against the slightly more monochromatic background gives them an added accentuation. The client brought books as props, so I have decided to let them read stories to each other.

We moved on to the heavy grey structures under uTown Residences where we went all out creative at that scene. The rigid grey structure makes it appropriate where I have them break the rigidity through a dance routine. Fortunately, the couple rehearsed before the shoot.

There were a few more scenes in between but we ended off our shoot at the Yale-NUS campus. As they were stepping into the pond, I suggested Noopur lead Mayur in a treasure hunt for fish at the pond, where the stepping stones can be seen as a small ‘jumping’ challenge for both of them.

All in all, we managed to pack 14 separate scenes in a short span of 2.5 hours. It was a love story, captured 3 years later that deserved to be shared. For me, I am happy that Noopur and Mayur enjoyed the photographic experience as much as I had taking photos of them.

To learn more about what I can do for you and your loved ones, book a consultation with me. I customize all experiences according to the story you want me to tell!