Wedding and Reception at The Leela, Bangalore
Mid-June 2011
The wedding had all the characteristics of a Shetty wedding: pomp, businessmen and a stunning bride! Though Sneha has called Bangalore home all along and looks appropriately homey, her passport betrays her family’s penchant for travel, crowded with 30-odd visas. You wouldn’t guess for a moment that the lass, young and demure, could be that widely exposed. All the jet-setting has been proudly led by her father, a veteran of the cement business, who could also pass – quite convincingly – for a South Indian actor of yesteryear.
Tilak has a gentle, unhurried manner around him that could serve this stripling heir to his father’s jewelry business at Mysore well. His refined manners and filial warmth makes his company a pleasant one. And, all that doting over his bride, which he gives into easily, is perfectly understandable. I was surprised to discover that a classmate whom I hadn’t meet in 15 years happened to be his first cousin. It was a happy reunion with his father and him at the wedding, but for the unwelcome reminder that his business was the one that printed all the report cards at my school. Mine was invariably blotched in red after it exited the staff-rooms, causing my parents’ stomach to fall to the floor each time they had to stamp their signature.
This was one of the most challenging weddings I have had to cover as far as the lighting was concerned. The ornate mandap, with it’s florid dome, was erected right below the main light source in the hall – an expansive chandelier letting out incandescent light. Such a setting precluded any directional light, that normally lends so much to the mood of the setting, to hit the seat of action. Moreover, such overhead lighting tends to sink the eyes into wells of darkness that form around their sockets, thus dampening the major element of expressiveness. I was hoping to exploit the sungun of the videographer – however evil that might be – to aid my captures, but the filament gave out that morning and he hadn’t a spare one handy. All the resultant while balance correction and noise reduction made the post-processing heavier than normal, but I was satisfied with the results. And, so were the couple.
We met once more after the wedding to exchange ideas about the albums they would like to have created, to which I would now apply myself. I will update this post soon after I have worked the layouts out.
Here are some of my favorites from the wedding.
