Full report on Assignment: Wedding in Hua Hin

An alternate title of this report would be 'how I got my photography butt kicked by harsh afternoon sun', because that was exactly what happened.

Here's a little more details of the day. The wedding involved over 80 couples, most of them from China. The ceremony was done in traditional Thai fashion. The event took place at a hotel in Hua Hin right next to the beach. I arrived at around 12 noon to meet the clients who were already dressed up in Thai customs. They told me that we had until 3 in the afternoon until the ceremony started. So they had a quick lunch, and they were ready to start taking some photos. So I got just minutes to scout the location, find some good spots and develop some ideas for the photographs. And at the same time, somehow deal with the afternoon sun.

The result was ugly. I did get by, barely. But that was not the standard I set for myself. Complications with the camera's light metering and flash unit control made the whole experience quite a bit of a struggle for me. Most importantly what happened really pointed out to me how much more I got to learn to be where I want to be, how to evaluate lights, control flash output and how to put everything together to get the image I want.

That is definitely one area in need to improve to be a better photographer

At around 3 in the afternoon, all the couples (all 80+ of them) had a quick photo together before moving indoors for the ceremony, all the while being accompanied by a parade of dancers and bands leading the way. Once inside, the mayor (I think) of the city made a opening statement before proceeding to the ceremony itself. An hour or so later, all the coupled were wedded.

And that was it actually.