Perhentian Honeymoon “Trash the Dress”

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer

Last week I endured the heat and severe sunburn (left the sunscreen in the hotel room aaargh!!!!)  on Perhentian for a honey moon shoot…OK endured is a harsh word….in reality ENJOYED is a the totally accurate term!  :-)  I was approached by Pina and Ahmed’s close friend Zina from Germany a few weeks ago and asked whether I would be open to heading up to Pulau Perhentian Kecil to cover part of their honeymoon. For those outside Malaysia reading this “Pulau” is Malay for “island” and “kecil” means small, important as there are two islands in the Perhentian group.

The photography shoot was going to be broken into two parts. First was above water portraiture and the second part was a trash the dress. Above water was going to be no problem provided I compensated for the very bright sunshine which tends to give very harsh shadows. The way to do this is usually to use a diffuser to shade the face to eliminate “squinting” and then use a fill flash to rebalance the shady parts with the strong sunlight. As there was only me and no assistants we did what we could. Big thanks to Ahmed for being my impromptu lighting stand!

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
Drown the Gown!

Part of the plan was to trash the dress or “drown the gown”. This can be fun and romantic. While we were shooting some Malay girls in Tudungs from one of the dive boats walked over to have their photos taken with Pina, and later on the main beach we certainly attracted attention. It’s only when you get in the water that you realise how buoyant a bridal gown really is. Safety was also a primary concern for me  as swimming in a gown isn’t something you can do with any real conviction….not that I have tried!  😀

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
Solid emphasis of my shoots is fun!!
Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
….and romance….
Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
…and more fun!!
Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
The classic wet hair flick photo.

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerWe planned the trash the dress shoot to include underwater photography. A lot of people were really supportive for this. One of my scuba diver friends loaned me her Canon Ixus which came with an Ikelite underwater housing and my good friends at FujiFilm Malaysia loaned me one of their waterproof cameras. Unfortunately both are jpeg only cameras without the ability to shoot in RAW so editing after the event would have been exceptionally difficult. This is because a jpeg photo has very little additional information that is crucial to properly editing afterwards.  Shooting underwater imposes challenges due to the rapid fall off of light and absorption of the red to yellow part of the colour spectrum in the first metre or two underwater. With jpegs you lose all the important info so I really wanted to use a camera with RAW support for the underwater images. More on this further down the page. BTW ALL of these images were shot in RAW and developed in post production. I don’t like the word photoshopped as that implies major fakery. I develop images in a similar fashion we used to do in the darkroom, brightening and darkening parts of the image and either increasing or reducing contrast. That’s it.Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer
Sunset photos of the bride are always romantic

Perhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding PhotographerPerhentian Honeymoon Wedding Photographer

Sweet Sunset from Perhentian Kecil

UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY: Ok, the glaring omission is the lack of the underwater photos. The sea didn’t agree to work with us and due to overnight rains and the inevitable rain water and soil run off the water was not clear at all  :-(   A big disappointment considering the amount of preparation I had done but it also showed some shortcomings in the gear I did eventually choose to use. I purchased the Dicapac DCP-WPS10 underwater DSLR soft case as I read some very positive reviews about it. Seems like the reviews were shot either in swimming pools or nice clear ocean water, as in less than optimal conditions it was hard to use and couldn’t focus even if its life depended on it. It may have been the camera I used, a Canon 650D, but I was not too keen to trust either my Nikon D3 or Canon 5Dmk3 to the Dicapac bag as they are very pricey cameras to replace! I am used to pressing a shutter button and the camera giving me a very positive feed back that a photo has been taken. The Dicapac was a big fail here. I had no idea whether it was firing or not…and it turned out it did, once in every 20 clicks….aaaargh! The other thing is viewing the images on the back of the screen was exceedingly difficult so I gave up on the Dicapac. It is now relegated to swimming pool shoots. One tip if using the Dicapac DCP-WPS10: when you open a Dicapac after it has been underwater be extremely careful as water is trapped in the folds so there is a good chance of some sea water falling on to your camera.

I also rented a Canon G9 along with Canons specifically made housing for it from a PADI diver on Perhentian. He was raving about how good it was until I told him I am a professional photographer. His “nOOb spiel” was then replaced with a more realistic set of expectations and afterwards we had a most excellent chat about underwater photography. The images I took were marred by the murk however it was an excellent experience for me. The “feel” was really not responsive and I wasn’t sure if images were being taken or not while shooting. I would say about 70% of the time photos were being taken but pressing the shutter and not being sure if it was firing was a curious phenomena for me. It was spray and pray…with many images deleted in post. Again the viewfinder was quite poor  (might be awesome if in deeper water – say deeper than 3m?) but it was useless for framing within 2m of the surface so it was a real cowboy shoot from the hip experience.  One tip when using the Canon G9. Turn it off when not shooting. The camera is fairly warm when on and fogs up the front plate really fast with condensation. A bit of tissue around the lens sort of helps but not a lot.

So where to from here? It’s time to drop about RM16,000 for a proper casing for my pro level DSLRs and get some underwater strobes. Professional is professional.

Matt and Susans Wedding at the Westin Langkawi

Westin-langkawi-wedding-photographer-beach-resort-destination-0383
Westin-langkawi-wedding-photographer-beach-resort-destination-0383
Sunset Wedding at the Westin Langkawi

Matt and Susan contacted me from Singapore to ask me to be their wedding photographer to cover their destination beach resort wedding at the Westin on the beautiful island of Langkawi. I love beach weddings as they are usually small, intimate informal affairs. The wedding photos speak louder than words so please enjoy. Cameras used for this wedding were the Nikon D3, Canon 5DMk3 and both the Fuji Xpro1 and XE1.

Designer wedding gowns by Vera Wang, Badgley Mishka, St Pucchi, Reem Acra, Carolina Herrera, Madeline Gardner, Monique Lhuillier, and Pronovias Costura

Featuring gowns by Vera Wang, Badgley Mishka, St Pucchi, Reem Acra, Carolina Herrera, Madeline Gardner, Pronovias Costura, and Monique Lhuillier

Featuring gowns by Vera Wang, Badgley Mishka, St Pucchi, Reem Acra, Carolina Herrera, Madeline Gardner, Pronovias Costura, and Monique Lhuillier

Featuring gowns by Vera Wang, Badgley Mishka, St Pucchi, Reem Acra, Carolina Herrera, Madeline Gardner, Pronovias Costura, and Monique Lhuillier

 

I think all ladies would like to wear a beautiful gown by a New York designer for their wedding day. The problem is they are out of most peoples price range. One of my friends in the wedding industry has come to the rescue. We would like to offer you the chance to wear a beautiful designer wedding gown for your pre-wedding shoot. For free. Yes! For FREE!!
Its a great opportunity so please book soon!

So which designers are on offer? I have wedding gowns by the following:

  • Vera Wang
  • Badgley Mishka
  • St Pucchi
  • Reem Acra
  • Carolina Herrera
  • Madeline Gardner
  • Monique Lhuillier
  • Pronovias Costura

They are available in my studio in Petaling Jaya. You may use for your pre-wedding, or wedding shoot, or if you prefer you can buy them out right at a very affordable price point! I look forward to hearing from you.

St Pucchi wedding gown malaysia

This wedding gown retailed for USD30,000. You have access to it when you book your pre-wedding with me

Carolina Herrera Wedding Gown in Malaysia

Carolina Herrera wedding gowns are beustiful

A Badgley Mishka wedding gown

Badgley Mishka

Reem Acra wedding gown rental malaysia

A lovely Reem Acra wedding gown

Carolina Herrera Wedding Gown in Malaysia

You can get designs by Carolina Herrera

monique lhuillier wedding gown rental malaysia

Another beautiful gown you can use for free for your pre-wedding shoot

Monique Lhuillier wedding gown rental malaysia

A Monique Lhuillier wedding gown

Wedding Gown by Mori Lee

Wedding Gown by Mori Lee

Badgley Mishka wedding gown

A Badgley Mishka wedding gown

A Vera Wang wedding gown

A Vera Wang wedding gown. Beautiful.

Pronovias Costura wedding gown malaysia

I have gowns from Pronovias Costura

St Pucchi lovely wedding gown rental malaysia

St Pucchi makes lovely wedding gowns

Vera Wang wedding gown malaysia

I have gowns by Vera Wang

 

Langkawi and Pangkor Laut Beach and Resort Weddings

Beach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four Seasons

Welcome, you will find links and photos to several of the weddings we have covered at beaches and resorts here. Enjoy your browsing experience and for even more beach and resort weddings click on the following links at the bottom of this page.

Beach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four SeasonsBeach and Resort Weddings in Pangkor Laut and Langkawi, Datai and Four Seasons

Dac and Wai Pin ~ Wedding Photography at the Westin Langkawi

Adrienne and Blairs Wedding at the Four Seasons Langkawi

Chris and Joyce’s Wedding at the Four Seasons

Liz and Lucas – Wedding at the Four Seasons Langkawi

David and Nicki – Wedding at the Datai Langkawi

Jonathan and Sonia – Wedding at the Four Seasons Langkawi

Dominic and Lauren – Wedding at the Four Seasons Langkawi

Reg and Lisa – Wedding at the Four Seasons Langkawi 

Vanessa and Christopher – Four Seasons Langkawi



Honeymoon Locations in Malaysia

Four Seasons Malaysia Honeymoon

Four Seasons Malaysia Honeymoon

Over the years I have been to many hotels throughout Malaysia and wanted to put up some of my suggestions.

Four Seasons Langkawi Island: Intimate and quiet. The perfect honeymoon destination where everyone know your name. You can enjoy the infinite pool, water sports, cycle rides to waterfalls. his hotel tops my list for couples who want that something special. They have a variety of specials for honeymoon couples so best you call ahead.

Pangkor Laut Resort: Another very pleasant location.  A bit busier and will feel a bit more hustle and bustle, but a tasteful resort experience.

Datai & Andaman Hotels: The Datai and Andaman are both fantastic places. Deciding between the two can be difficult.

Westin Langkawi: Lovely beach and larger scale than the above resorts. It can feel like a family holiday destination.

Property of Grant Corban Photography Sdn Bhd (666138-V)