Indian Wedding In Agra

[siddr20]

Hi all,

As you know I recently went to Agra to shoot my 2nd ever wedding gig. A lot of pressure from right from the start, but it was totally worth it. The experience and photographing at one of the greatest wonders of the world was truly amazing.

Weddings in India are sacred and very ritual. They are long ritualistic and elaborate affair with lots of pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding events. You will see the photos soon But to be honest, you will never see a wedding like this anywhere else in the world. This wedding was actually pretty tamed compared to others.

The aim of this wedding gig was to capture as many natural moments as possible. They already hired out another local photographer there to do all the group shots etc. So my main was to focus on capturing the un-expected, the natural smiles and photographing in a journalist type of way.

I'm sharing my experience with you all here, and please don't think im trying to show off my images. Its far from perfect and i learn't so much in that week.

The wedding events started on Friday and ended Monday. It was pretty full on to be honest and very tiring. All images you will see on my website are hand held. Pictures were taken from my 5dm2 or my 40d. Lens wise, i used 24-70L, 70-200L, and 50 f1.4.

How did i get this gig? - Well the client saw some of my model shoot photos on facebook and rest was history

So now for all the wedding details:

Friday: Mehandi (henna) - Girls side only.

Sample Pics: http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20Mehandi/

Explanation: Mehendi is applied to young girls, as its believed the mehendi will give a handsome groom. During an Indian wedding both the bride and bridegroom apply henna (also known as mehendi). It is also a symbol of love between husband and wife. The bride?s intricate mehndi pattern normally has the name of the groom written into it. The groom is expected to find his name in the pattern. If he cannot do so, it is said that, the bride will control the marriage. However in this case, they did not do this. She thought it was too cheesy.

Oh and did i mention they love drinking!! Whisky Whisky Whisky!! seriously these guys were drinking till 3 or 4am in the morning.. They tried to get me drunk by doing shots lol.. Indians love drinking thats for sure. They kept on drinking right till sunday night!!

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Saturday morning: Both families met at Taj Kema (which has the taj mahal as the backdrop!!) This was just a casual lunch/meet up.

Sample Pics:http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20M...Saturday/Greet/

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Saturday Night: Sangeet

Basically this event is for the girls, where they put on some shows/sing/dance etc.. However they totally changed it, and they actually swapped wedding rings that night, which i thought was totally strange. Normally sangeet is all about dances!! anyways...

The hardest bit on this night was trying to white balance and control your flash against the stupid video recording guys flood light If you see the pics you can see his flood light, which just makes the whole image orange.

btw not referring to the pic below. Check sample pics, you will see what i mean.

Sample Pics: http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20Wedding/Sangeet/

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Sunday morning: Haldi

This event normally takes place a day before the wedding, but due to time restrictions it was held Sunday morning. The ceremony is considered auspicious and is meant to purify both bride and groom before the big day. Because of the medicinal properties, it?s like a mini-facial/body scrub the day before the wedding. Its actually fun to watch!!

Sample Pics: http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20W...g/Sunday/Haldi/

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Sunday night: Wedding ceremony

Ok so basically the first bit is the bharat. This is where the groom and his side of the family rock up in style On this occasion hes on a horse with all his family dancing around him on the street. This was seriously one of the coolest experiences ever!!

After that, the brides side of the family greet them and do a little aarti (hard to explain.. basically a very small ritual). The groom then sits down and waits for his bride to arrive.

After this is over, the actual proper wedding ceremony begins (pretty late into the night). Theres a lot of rituals that i don't understand. But basically they are saying their vowels.

Sample Pics: http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20W...Sunday/Wedding/

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Monday Morning: Taj Mahal Photo shoot

Wasn't too happy with this shoot at all. Firstly no flash was allowed or any tripods or a lot of camera equipment. They were pretty strict due which is fair enough.

So now the next bit that didn't help was the crowd. It was seriously packed and it was hard to get the right spots. Plus we didn't have much time in there. I had to leave to the airport that day which was a good 4 hour taxi ride back. Also it was the wrong time to do the shoot (12ish), with harsh sun!!

Well i think they turned out ok i guess..

Sample pics: http://www.sidd-rishi.com/gallery/Agra%20Wedding/Monday/

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Well thats pretty much in a nutshell. It was seriously an incredible experience. The clients loved the photos and im getting a lot of positive feedback which is good.

My fav photo has to be this one:

Well hope you like the images and learnt something new

Thanks for your time.

Sidd.

[Humbla]

Lovely story and beautiful picks sidd.

[NA_Goodness]

Thanks for all that information, that's really interest!! And those pics are awesome!! I can't see all of them on my iPhone, but for what I can see, absolutely stunning. Youre a lucky, lucky man for getting that gig!!

[siddr20]

Cheers for the kind words

Indeed im very lucky to experience this and will never forget it.

[siddr20]

This will give you an idea of how packed it was:

[MaTBoY]

great pics Sid, and a good read too.

Cheers!

[NItRo34]

Amazing Pics Sidd. Indian weddings are all about colours.. and the Agra.. one of the best places to be.nice work.

[siddr20]

Cheers matboy Thanks for looking

Nitro34 - Thank you so much and taking your time to look at the pic. Appriceate it.

[Boxxxr]

Thats amazing