A pinhole of my life.: Pre-Wedding Photoshoot - A Photographer's Perspective part I

WHY AM I ALWAYS SICK ON LONG WEEKENDS.. I WANNA COMPLAIN!

I used to think that wedding preparations are a joy, never will be a pain in the neck like what others have said, but now I just want to tell you that I never wanna marry again! LOL. But come to think of it, I deserve all the stress since I can't blame anyone for my fastidious personality.

All the following photos from our photoshoot by Hearted Moments Photography are not photoshopped nor touched-up by the photographer yet since his lead time is one month, but how can I wait for a month when I am so eager to show some now??? I have shared a few of these untouched photos on Instagram and Facebook using the magic of Instagram filter, but sadly, the filter can't filter away my fat, untoned face and arms.
Okay, I did try to edit the photographer's photos using my Macbook's photo editor but no matter how hard I try to adjust the exposure, saturation or add filter, the original one is always better. HAHA. When can I reach this level of photography skills???

That very day came, I went there half exhausted half worrying if the photos would look out good as I really don't like the heavy make-up which makes me look so eunuch like LOL. (Not saying that the make-up artist's skills aren't good; it's just that my face isn't really suited for any heavy make-up I guess!)

The make-up artist was great; she came on the dot (she would stress me out if she came earlier since I was still packing up props for the shoot), I felt comfortable talking to her and love how she styled my hair. Have been contemplating whether to tie my hair up for the photos (i always like my hair tied up), but she encouraged me to try letting some of it down, since it complements the photoshoot themes. And so I did. I let some of my hair down.

The horse would be accompanied by the trainer to meet us outside the Riders' Cafe at 2.30pm that noon, but they were both late, which is fine cos it gave us some time to prepare ourselves. This was the time our friend cum photographer began pulling up large cameras from his luggage and taking candid shots. He photographed me sitting on the bench waiting for the shoot to start but it was the first time a big camera pointed at me and I looked very uncomfortable in the photos so can't show it here. :D

So then he switched his focus to my primed friends who were outside the cafe all set to help us with the shoot! Joe was so sporting, trying to look pitiful in front of Jia He (photographer). :)

White shirts and brown pants.

When they first alighted from the cab, they looked like they were wearing some form of uniform suited for horse riding. Very cute haha!

Thanks friends for buying the outfit when they weren't sitting in your closet in the first place. :D
I created a group chat consisting of a mix of my secondary school friends and poly girlfriends solely for this photoshoot, but they were too shy to spam the group chat since they just got to know one another, so they PM me whenever they need clarification with how they're gonna dress up that day.

While preparing for the shoot, I went leafing through catalogues and Pinterest pages to get an idea of how people posed with horses. It was funny how the ang mohs look so classy with the horses beside them but we look short next to the magnificent horse. His magnificence somehow overshadowed us, so it looks like it was his photoshoot and we were just the 2 small supporting roles! Haha!

This gown was picked by the bridal studio coordinator. It was the first gown she chose for me; she said it suits me alot and the moment I saw it, I knew it is the gown!

My colleague who saw some of our photos on Facebook said it really looked like we were overseas, since it's quite unusual for Singaporeans to have their wedding photoshoot at the saddle club, and she went on to say that Gardens by the Bay all are just too mainstream. (I didn't dare to tell her that I'm going to Gardens next year for my actual wedding photoshoot haha.)

Jia He took a good number of candids, and I love most of them :)))

Sorry, we were still shying away from the camera!

I think this horse's name is "Poland", if I didn't hear the trainer wrongly. What i really like about him is his poker face. He looks so sian all the time; he was like saying, "Are you done??? I need to eat my grass already!"
Jia He asked the trainer for reasons why Poland kept salivating (his saliva is white lol) and he said horses are grazing animals and since Poland was not allowed to feed on grass although he kept seeing them, he salivates.

Sorry Poland, you will eat your grass later but can you not try to eat my flowers? They are fake and not taste as good as green fresh grasses. It's not worth suffering from indigestion by eating those plastics!

Jun Wen loves how Poland walks. The sound of his hoofs knocking on the ground and the elegance and pride he carries with him while he is walking.

Like puppets, our poses were manipulated by Jia He (mainly because we really didn't know what pose is nice). This time, we were told to pretend to walk casually and chat while we walked, but look at our stance; it's so awkward. Haha! Got "scolded" by Jia He countless times!

A better one when we walked side by side, but as we didn't know how to lead Poland, he was walking straight into his heaven - the grass.
Jia He gave us all the 700+ photos he took that day without additional charge, and told us to select 50 photos out of all these. We have 700+ choices and Simba chose this as 1 of the 50 photos, where Poland was looking down at his heaven. LOL.

Uneasiness can be reflected so vividly on Jun Wen's face as he was kind of afraid of huge Poland... I can vouch for this! At the zoo, he didn't dare to go very near the horses at the stable as their long faces were as long as half of his body.

Jia He "scolded" me for my silver loafers which did not suit my gown, his suit and the horse. LOL. He gently said he will try to photoshop them away. BUT HOW COME??? It took me days before I finally decide to buy this; thought it will look fun with my gown.

My number 1 favourite photo!

The tree, the horse, the lighting, us and everything were so in the right place!

Well ok, Poland and his expressionless face again.

Love how the long train looks on the meadow.

It was actually very dirty, with bugs and ants running all over, and my friends had to dust them off for me sometimes.

Uploaded the zoom-in on Instagram after applying its "vintage" filter.

The make-up artist lent her own necklace, since the bridal studio coordinator didn't lend me any necklace, mainly because she felt that it might be too much if she adds some more blings.

I really like how small details can add to the overall look. I would look so plain without the choker.

Another kind of failed shot:

I'm one-legged and he absolutely did not look like he was walking casually at all.

It looks so easy to do it right, but it was so hard!

Thanks Mao Mao who ran to the cafe where we put our props and brought my bouquet to me.

He brought the bouquet which I prepared for my bridesmaids, but I'm glad he brought this wrong one cause a blend of purple and white flowers looks so nice in the photos!

Manoeuvring Poland requires more than just pulling his "leash", it requires a horse whisperer to impart his skills, knowledge and experience to us! We were at a loss in whispering to Poland, to get him to turn his head slightly.
OK, I know I look like some fierce woman ready to eat a horse, but this wasn't how I felt at that time. I was very patient and kind with Poland I swear!!

Yay when Poland turned his head!!

But he looked like "Wah lau eh. You all done already??? I really need to graze liao!"

Jun Wen has been dying to take an individual shot with Poland!

I was pretty surprised that he didn't pick this as one of the 50 photos, he said it's a waste of money since every of these photographs should contain both of us. Anyway, glad that he think it this way.

Me and my 2 beautiful and ONZ bridesmaids!

It was a laborious day for them, carrying my stuff and everything. Thanks so much girls!

The pretend best men! :D

Jun Wen was so shy to engage his own guy friends in our photo shoot, so I used my guy friends. Lol.

I wasn't worried about troubling my guy friends at all. It was funny when the styling coordinator asked if we have any questions for her after her briefing and I said, "If you need any help, I can ask my friends to help."

And she was totally at loss for words, and replied after a few seconds,

"NO! Your friends wear so nice that day, can't let them help me carry stuff!"

Jia He was thinking on what fun poses the guys can do with the presence of a horse, and an idea came to Si Ting!

Gangnam Style! Yay! Some of the ideas brought forth by my friends were fantastic! We would have never thought of that if we came alone!

The guys were very shy, and it was so unlike them! I wasn't sure if it was because of the presence of my 2 poly girlfriends, Jia He, Poland, the camera or all the the abovementioned, although I highly suspect it was because of the girls. LOL.

Simba had to dance Gangnam Style with Poland as we were warned to never let of go of Poland wherever we go or whatever we do.

Failed shot again.
It was intended for me to tell Poland, "Hey, look at what this guy is doing!"
But Poland wasn't listening! He was perpetually looking at his other horse friends in the stable; maybe they were feeding on grasses.

Group shot time!

Love my sporting friends. I don't know if I will look as natural as them if I were to pose as a bridesmaid in someone else's photoshoot.

We tried getting Poland to turn to the guys' side so that it looked as though the girls were directing him to the other side but the attempts failed several times. Then when he finally turned, the guys' attention shifted from looking at the camera to him. -_-"

A picture says a thousand words - I told you Simba is afraid of huge Poland. Believe me now?