Focusing on romance--wedding shoot | | Du Er and her husband Meng Yuan strike a comical pose in one of their wedding photos. The couple wanted their photos to reflect their unique personalities and experiences. Photo: Courtesy of Liu Ziyuan |
For some newlyweds, a dolled-up wedding shoot offers little trace of creativity orsentimentality. Striking fake grins and wistful gazes in costumes worn by countlessprevious brides and grooms, couples sometimes struggle to have a unique memento oftheir big day. Indeed, it's easy for outsiders to feel that once you see one Chinese weddingshoot you've seen them all.
But flip through Du Er and her husband Meng Yuan's wedding album and you'll find photosbreaking away from the formal, schmaltz-heavy mold. Rather than posing in front of ascenic lake or field of flowers, the couple was snapped watching TV casually dressed intheir favorite sports jerseys, climbing the Great Wall and, with the help of Photoshop, evenfloating on a cloud.
"I knew what the process would be like if we had our photos taken at a professionalwedding photography studio. This was our wedding and it only happens once, so I wantedsomething special that belonged to just us," said Du.
Du and Meng, who married in May, had their wedding photos taken in October 2012 at anindependent photography studio. Their goal was simple: to have wedding photos thatreflected their personalities and unique romance.
Despite requiring more effort and time from both newlyweds and their photographers, agrowing number of couples are making the pivot away from professional weddingphotographers to stand out from the crowd by having personalized portraits.
Capturing special memories
Like many brides-to-be, Du sought advice from married friends and colleagues beforeembarking on her wedding shoot. She soon learned that professional weddingphotographers tended to have a cookie-cutter approach to their craft, which she wanted toavoid.
"I'd heard that most wedding photographers don't offer personalized service. For example,it's common for them to take you along with another [newlywed] couple in a van to sites forshoots. You're shepherded where to pose and told to smile," she said.
Worrying that this streamlined process would take the gloss off her wedding photos, Dudecided to hire her own photographer.
Another bride, Li Jie, found her independent photographer, Liu Ziyuan, in a similar fashion.Liu shot Li's wedding photos in 2008, and again this year for Li and her husband's five-year anniversary. Li echoed Du's dissatisfaction at wedding photography studios relying onthe same places, same costumes and same poses.
"My husband and I are both active people. We didn't want traditional, serious weddingphotos that involve two people posing at a designated scenic spot," she said. "We wanted tohave something unconventional and based on our own will."
Newlyweds Katherine Wang (pseudonym) and Yang Yang also opted for personalizedwedding photos during their shoot in October. Returning to their high school in Baoji,Shaanxi Province, the couple posed for photos seated in a classroom, running on a sportsfield and dining at a cafeteria. A video showing scenes of the shoot was played at theirwedding reception in November. It proved a big hit with guests, many of whom wereclassmates of Wang and Yang.
"We were from the same high school, but didn't know each other back then and thereforedidn't have any photos of us together. It seemed like a great idea to take photos at ourschool before getting married," Yang said. "We posed as if we were still students. I think[the photos] showed who we are and how we met."
Paying attention to detail
Liu opened her independent photo studio in 2011 in Shuangjing, Chaoyang district. Aformer sports reporter who shot photos for her stories, Liu is sensitive to subtle changes infacial s and skilled at capturing emotion on camera.
She said the shift by newlyweds from professional wedding photographers to independentstudios is being led by first-tier cities.
"Even though we are not as well-funded as professional wedding photography studios, wecan win over young people by offering individualized, creative ideas. People in big citiesdon't want to be the same as everyone else," Liu said.
Every couple is different and so is their love story, said Liu, who prior to a shoot talks tonewlyweds. Her aim is to find out how a couple met, learn about interesting experiencesthey have gone through and even determine "who wears the pants." After piecing togetherthis puzzle, Liu then proposes ideas for a shoot.
Li suggested a few locations for her shoot after consulting with Liu. They opted for shootsat four locations including Beijing's historic commercial street Nanluoguxiang and 798 ArtZone.
"We are active people, so there's no way I'd stay indoors for all my shoots. We decided onfamous locations that suited our personalities," she said.
In one of their wedding photos, Du is dressed in the red kit of the Beijing Women'sVolleyball team alongside Meng, who wears a green Beijing Guoan soccer jersey. Seated infront of a TV watching a game together, it was the ideal shot for Du, a sports reporter andvolleyball fan, and Meng, a passionate Guoan fan.
Another memorable photo was taken at Du's high school. Liu's team drew pictures usingchalk on a blackboard of places the couple had been and important life events theyexperienced before meeting each other. Du and Meng posed for photos in front of theblackboard.
Du said she feels her wedding photos accurately capture the couple and inspire plenty ofstorytelling when guests view the album.
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（Editor：GaoYinan、Zhang Qian） Related reading
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