Kim & Ari's Laotion Wedding
Kim contacted me a while back asking if I could shoot her traditional Lao wedding. She was attracted to my photojournalistic style and I was happy to do it! I had never shot a Lao wedding before and was excited to do this one. Kim was awesome in letting me know all the ins and outs of the day and was very organized with her planning. I really couldn’t have asked for a better client as she was simply amazing to work with.
The day started out at a park in their neighborhood. Ari was there with a gathering of people. The wedding started with a celebratory procession from the park to Kim’s house. Ari was dressed in a traditional Lao gown adorned with beautiful colors. One of my favorite things about this wedding as the vast array of colors on display. From Ari to the guests to the ceremonial items, everything popped!
I spent time throughout the wedding not only photographing the people in attendance, but also the items that were a part of the ceremony. Aside from being decorative, many items at the wedding held significance in other ways. I definitely did not want to miss capturing something that was special for the day. With me, photographing an item doesn’t mean having it in front of me and just snapping a quick shot of it. The image has to stand out with some artistic quality to it.
The arrival at Kim’s house was quite an event. Ari couldn’t enter until after he made it through some of Kim’s family ‘guarding’ the door. Ari had to share in some drinks with the family as well as offer some lucky money before being allowed in. It was really fun to see the interactions Ari had with the family members. The biggest challenge here was navigating through all the people that were around. I had to find my space and make sure I had a good view of what was going on. I love this shot of Ari and Kim’s sister meeting on the sidewalk. They have so much expression on their faces!
When we got inside everyone packed into the living room for the ceremony. Again, this provided a challenge for me as the space was tight and hard to navigate. Thankfully, I had a pretty wide angle lens in order to capture the entire room. I couldn’t get the variety of shots that I was able to nab without having my entire battery of lenses. Going to a wedding with just a 35mm and an 85mm may work for some, but I find it too restrictive and the variety of images that you can capture is vastly cut down.
The ceremony involved a litany of different rituals to be performed. The presider guided the couple through the entire process. Thankfully I didn’t interrupt him with annoying shutter sounds. The living room was small and if I didn’t have a silent shutter, I think I would have stood out like a sore thumb. With my mirrorless camera, I didn’t have to worry about any of that.
The ceremony was quite long which gave me the chance to really find angles that I liked. I always try and provide unique looks for my clients. Overall I was able to deliver over 200 hand-edited photos for Kim and Ari of their special day.
If you’re looking for top notch photography or videography in the Sacramento area (or even beyond!) please let me know! I’d love to work with you in getting the best and most unique images possible!