Grant Corban Photography Sdn Bhd
(666138-V) Professional Studio, Wedding, Event & Commercial Photography
Amy and Henry’s wedding ceremony and dinner were on top of Penang hill. They had a TROPICAL 60’s theme. This wedding was notable for absolutely STUNNING views coupled with what has to be the most precarious tea ceremony I have covered so far. I was hanging on from the out side of the small venue.
Please note the following images are a direct transfer from my old website and therefore may be of lower resolution than later postings.
E&O hotel is a colonial classic set up by the same brothers who established Raffles in Singapore. (iPhone)
This week I participated in my first ever photography competition.The idea behind the competition was to promote the E&O properties which include 18 Andaman East. Through their Facebook page (Click here to see it or if the link is broken or expired do a search on Facebook for the 18 Andaman) they selected 9 amateur photographers out of several thousand, and decided to pair them up with 9 professional photographers. The idea was probably​ to level the playing field and stretch everybody, as they chose professionals not generally known for their architectural or landscape work. ​The rules allowed​ no digital manipulation (aka Photoshopping!) other than basic enhancements e.g. exposure, and cropping.
The famous E&O hotel in Penang (iPhone)
I had two other shoots that week, a family shoot in Penang and a wedding at the Four Seasons in Langkawi, so it seemed like things really came together for me as far as scheduling was concerned. I debated what to take as all three shoots demand different equipment. I decided to leave my Nikon’s at home partly as I haven’t been shooting with them for a while, opting instead to take my Canon system due to the fact I was able to borrow a nice 24mm tilt-shift lens which is made for shooting architecture, and decided to supplement it with my light weight Fujifilm kit. ​Subject matter for the competition wasn’t known until​ we actually arrived so it was reasonable to believe we would be doing architectural shoot of the E&O since they were the sponsor. How wrong I was.
It was so hot I wanted to dive into the fountain (iPhone)
The subjects​ and themes​ for the shoot were given to us on the day of our arrival and we were all dropped off in the same spots with our partners. The locations were as follows:
The view from my room at the famous E&O hotel in Penang. Perfect. (iPhone)
I already knew the day was going to be long and hot so decided to leave the much bulkier full frame DSLR in the hotel safe and took the crop frame Fujifilm X-T1 along with the 10-24, 18-55 and 56mm 1.2 lenses along with copious amounts of water and a lightweight aluminium tripod. My intention for the day was to have fun and not carry a big and bulky camera! My partner Danny brought his diminutive Panasonic DMC-GF6 camera and armed with these “baby” bodies we went to work.
My colleagues Panasonic DMC-GF6 (iPhone)
Looking around ​at ​everyone else equipped with their big DSLRs, shoulder and roller bags​,​ I thought…oops! I certainly started to wish I had something a little longer like my normal go to lens which is the 70-200 F2.8. It was too late ​anyhow,​ so we went for a wander and met lots of nice people, set up shots and enjoyed the day. But in the back of my mind I had that lingering doubt….maybe I should have grabbed the big guns too. This really became apparent when we were at the Straits Quay Marina as we were not able to do down onto the quay itself…the whole place was locked up so the extra reach would have been really useful.
For the Straits Quay Marina we were given the theme “Intriguing Sea Front”​.​ I decided on the following image because the Marina and ocean makes me think of travel ​and​ I wanted to emphasize the meeting of the Andaman sea with the land​.​​The interior modern stairway and the exterior quayside also posed an interesting​​ contrast I thought.
Penang Straits Quay Marina (Fujifilm XT-1 with 10-24 R on tripod)
​The theme f​or the Andaman 18 at Quayside was “Captivating Andaman”. This was challenging due to the harsh midday sun which produced hard and sharp shadows.​Although​ ​there​ were several photos on my shortlist, I wanted to portray this location as an oasis from the heat and hustle and bustle of city life so I was looking for a location that ​exuded​ a sense of peace and serenity, and​ looked​ inviting. Someplace I wanted to be “captivated” by so I could hide from the hot day.
Fortunately we found this area which was in the shadow of the apartment blocks and therefore gave nice subdued light.
Serenity (Fujifilm XT-1 with 18-55 on tripod)
The last theme​ of the day​ was “Colors of Penang”. If you have never visited Penang, believe me, you will be struck by the colours every where. Again, too many photos to choose from but in the end I settle​d​ on this one​ with the r​ed bird cages. I liked the faded reds on the stone work which gave a feeling of the city being old…timeless and full of history. The bright colors show how each generation that lives in the city renews it.
Beautiful Penang (Fujifilm XT-1 with 18-55 no tripod)
Once we got back to the E&O hotel we were given 2 hours to prepare the photos for submission so they could be printed and made ready for the presentation the following day.
Judgement Day (sans Terminator) was amazing. ​All the photos were unveiled​ and I saw so many of the other contestants​’​ photos that I wish I had shot.​ One thing became really obvious and that is Malaysia has no lack of extremely talented photographers. Winners were announced and I was really shocked to hear that my partner Danny and I had won!​ The generous prizes were awarded and there were congratulatory hugs all around.
After that there were interviews with the press and​ the​ final summary before we all checked out.
Lessons learned:
To see more on the E&O hotel itself, please visit their main page here.
To find out more about the Andaman 18 at Quayside please visit here.
And to find out more about the Straits Quay Marina click here.
Everyone won a prize! Yes! E&O blessed contestants fantastically!
Additional links:
For E&O Group : http://www.easternandoriental.com
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For Seri Tanjung Pinang: http://www.seritanjungpinang.com
For 18 East at Andaman or Quayside: http://www.quaysideresort.com
Thank you!
Jaclyn and Michael’s wedding was held in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenlane, Penang. It was a smaller wedding but loads of fun as everyone knew each other. Jaclyn had a beautiful dress as you can see in her portraits. The other nice touch was on her shoes in the very first photo below. Very cute 🙂
The portraits were mostly conducted at the very crowded Batu Ferringhi Beach. (Some claim it is where “First Contact” originally happened 🙂 ). Lots of congratulations were given to Michael and Jaclyn but it was a bit of a challenge to find anywhere without capturing a myriad of sun worshippers enjoying the beach in the background. We had to get creative with the sky and the lighting. People who follow me know we have been using radio activated strobes for close to 15 years now. That experience came in useful for the portraits!
Dinner was held at the Park Royal hotel as was the tea ceremony which punctuated the banquet through out the evening. I have other tea ceremony photos on the site so for the sake of space am not posting any here today.
Finally I would like to point out how unobtrusive we are at weddings. Have a look at the church ceremony photos below. I mention this specifically as at two weddings we did last month the grooms mum and best man both thanked us that we were not in the way or obtrusive. I have become increasingly aware that this is a problem with a fair number of younger and less experienced photographers. Anyway, we believe the day is about you so we try our best to be the fly on the wall.
Michael and Jaclyn’s entrance. Quick note: The purple and green tinges are from the increasingly popular LED lights that are being put into many hotels.
These make colour correcting skin tones a bit of a chore and why we use external radio controlled strobe lighting.
Day is done. Ouch! Our feet need a break!
Just a quick post from this weekends wedding in Penang. It was held at the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit. I will post some more photos later but am busy packing now for an overseas flight tomorrow to cover a destination wedding.