Hi there. This time I’d tell you about our photo shoots with a lovely couple, Kenjy and Ariz in a surprise engagement photo shoot. They were actually from Phillipines, but because of their jobs, Kenjy stayed in Arab while Ariz in Thailand. Yep, right, they were LDR couple.
Kenjy and Ariz were very humble and modest. I had no idea of what getting into Kenjy’s mind so he decided to take Ariz on holiday in Bali. And without Ariz knowing he actually wanted to use this chance to propose Ariz. He only told Ariz that they would use photographer to capture their special holiday. She definitely didn’t know Kenjy’s plan at all.
Plan The Surprise
When we communicated for the first time, he had already said to me about his plan to make this special occasion as his surprise engagement and clearly wanted it to be prepared well. He also had chosen Bali Dream Wedding as the wedding organizer to prepare everything they need to make his plan went as smooth as he expected it would be.
After agreeing our next meeting at 5 p.m. in Jimbaran, precisely around Bawang Merah Restaurant beach, Kenjy, Ariz, and I had a short chitchat before starting the photo shoot. As for me, this was an important thing to do as a starting point in building or creating the mood that we wanted to achieve together.
Let’s Hope This Surprise Engagement Photo Shoot Not Ended Up In A Big Mess
From the beginning of our talk, Ariz had been so shy. Not only at that time but also at the photo shoot session. Many gestures she made, giving the clear signal that she was uncomfortable in front of the camera. No wonder, in her mind she only thought this was a common photo shoot to document her holiday with Kenjy.
Kenjy did seem nervous as well. Maybe his heart skipped a beat for preparing himself to propose his dearest woman soon. Can you imagine how complicated his mind was at that time? Maybe, there was a tiny part in himself that was so worried if this engagement surprise couldn’t success and ended up in a big mess.
Yes, that was human expression, though it was a small one in the heart or mind, if it came out naturally, it would be so clear to see.
At that time, when facing their condition in this photo shoot, I always depended on deep communication so they could send away the disturbing feeling and slowly enjoy what in front of them at that time, watching the boats that lied beautifully and other people activities at the dusk in the beach.
Feeling the soothing breeze from the wind and rolls of small waves that ran to the shore. Achieving the warmth of the dusk ray that made several smiles appeared in their faces. That was how they were so unconsciously (at least Ariz) took a walk closer to their proposal venue that had been prepared by wedding organizer team.
Are You Ready For The Biggest Part?
And the special moment began.
When they had been in the proposal venue and the board with a sentence “Will you marry me?” written on it had been opened, Ariz surely couldn’t believe in what she looked at. Especially when a person from the wedding organizer came and gave her a bouquet, she looked at Kenjy with more surprise expression in her face.
She looked like in a state of gaining trust for everything was not her only dream, seeing Kenjy kneeled in front of her and gave her a pair of engagement rings and also told her a great proposal sentence that could make every woman happy for hearing it. Mission accomplished.
What I Miss From This Photo Shoot?
Talking about the photography, I didn’t play much difficult techniques at that time. Well, we can say they were only point and shoot, and also managed the composistion accurately. The only problem I faced was the classic thing at the climax time.
I knew the pictures when Kenjy proposed Ariz in the proposal venue could be better at the lightning. Unfortunately, the flash remote that was useful to trigger strobish at the right place got stuck. That meant there were no flashing right when I pushed the shutter of my camera. The result was photos became darker and no flashing effects at all. My bad.
But, fortunately, I could still use a trick to cover it. Not by repeating the shoot because that was irreplaceable unique moment. We couldn’t never catch the same spontaneous expressions if we took the second shoot by consciously.
Thanks to the RAW file and the camera that took them, Nikon D750. I still had a chance to increase exposure in the software of photo processing to make the result photos looked much brighter without downgrading too much quality of the photos. Yes, with the consequence of noise that would appear so clearly.
This Venue Is Not Bad For Engagement Photo Shoot
And yes, about the photo shoot location, this was my first time doing engagement photo shoot there. Actually I had been there once before, but took landscape photos, not engagement or wedding.
I thought this location was comfortable enough and very good for engagement. There were many fishboats spreaded in the seashore or in the middle of ocean. As for me, this was a plus for the photo and getting a broad chance to play the object with the model. Other thing, with anyone who loves to play with the sunlight, you can find much chance to play with direct sunset.
But we also should be smart to manage photo angle because the visitors of the beach could be crowded sometimes, and it could be a disturbing factor in the photo if we only want photo shoot for the model. This place was crowded enough with the visitor activities in many points.
More of it, I like this place and it would be alternative choice in the next occasion when the photo shoot concept suitable with the place.
My Final Words
Every photo shoot I took made me learn something. This time, I was taught that the things that technically weren’t thought would be a bigger factor that affect the photo quality. And also with a match camera with exact setting, we could take a big benefit to change the quality of result photos to be better than before.
At the end of the photo shoot, Kenjy and Ariz felt happy with the photos we took together. They seemed so happy when looking at several photos when Kenjy proposed Ariz in the proposal venue. I hope Kenjy and Ariz always be blessed with joy in the next days.
Photo Shoot Gallery
Click the image to view larger size in slideshow mode.
