Bridal Photo Albums

Bridal photo of Wuan and Peter

Wuan and I collected the two albums for our bridal photo shoot some time last month. We were impressed by the images in the sample albums that were displayed by De Paris Image at the wedding fair at Mid Valley Megamall. We had gone there for our dinner after having our marriage solemnised at Registrar of Marriage at Thean Hou Temple earlier in the day.

When we placed the deposit for the shoot, we had specifically indicated that we wanted natural skin tone with very little retouching of the images and plain background. Never mind that our complexion were not flawless. We wanted to look natural. The package came with one large album and one smaller album of twenty images each and three framed images.

When we were called back to view and select the images after the 12-hour photo shoot, we were rather delighted with the results. The skin tone was nice. We threw out most of the images that did not have plain background. At the end, we settled for an extra five images that cost us RM600 more. We liked the photos and it was not something that we would be doing often.

Imagine our disappointment when we went to collect the albums and discovered that some of the images were extensively touched up. We did not look natural. The skin tone was not natural. I looked like I had too much powder on my face. Looking at the images of myself reminded me of the touched up portrait of my father when he was young. In those days, if one wanted colour portraits, the studio would take a black and white photo and coloured it.

I will not recommend De Paris Image to couples shopping for a bridal studio for their photo shoot. Shop around more. I am sure there are studios that understand what minimum retouching is or ensure that the touched up images look natural. Make sure all the charges are stipulated up front. Some devious studios will not tell you that make-up, hairdo, fake eye lashes and the ampoules for make-up are not included in the package. Brides should bring their own free bra which can be bought from other places for a fraction of what the studios charge. The bridal photo shoot may be a once in a lifetime event for most couples but that should not be an excuse to allow these unscrupulous studios to take us for a ride.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

11 thoughts on “Bridal Photo Albums”

  1. Hahaha! That’s the cutest evar, mate.

    Retouching is par-the-course with wedding albums. It’s actually very hard to find a wedding photographer who’ll not retouch you, really.

    Buuuut at least you look good in the photos. Not liek mannequin, which is good. Also, v. cute.

    Peter:
    That is the best of the lot. I really look like mannequins in the rest. I want a photo of Peter Tan to look like Peter Tan, not like some guy who looked like he had underwent multiple facelifts.

    But thanks for the compliments anyway. Made me feel a little less frustrated with the outcome. 😀

  2. fyi, sales and artist at most of the bridal house not really communicate well. i learned that they need to do lots of customers to keep up profits. so, bridal house look more on quantity rather than quality unless you’re paying a higher price with better packages. some choose to do prewedding photo excluded the bridal house. the problem with freelance professional photographer that they only take outdoor shots and maybe studio shooting if requested but they don’t have collection of bridal wear. some photographer will cost more but the quality can be assured and money well spent. the photographer will be dealing with you face to face to let him know your preference without that fake empty promises from the sales person. i can suggest you to reject that sets of photos and demand them to redo the photo again. I don’t think they will mind that.

    Peter:
    It has been a while since we collected the albums and I do not want to go through the hassle of having to argue with them.

  3. brother… you look …THE MAN….. It is very nice and natural…. take more pics and cut the lousy one out.. which leaves you with gems like this that you will cherish for all times. Err… that earing is photoshop inside one kah ? If not, wahlau bila so hip d ? Congrats brother !!

    Peter:
    That is one of the few that I like. Thank you.

    That ear stud the real deal man! I got my ear pierced 15 years ago.

  4. I like the bling bling on your ear 😀

    btw, my colleague had her’s at De Paris too. I’ll pm you her Friendster site when I see you on MSN. It’s the exact same photo she had (lol) and she enjoyed that very much coz she did not have to stand at all.

    Congrats once again 😀

    Peter:
    That was supposed to be De Paris’ signature pose.

    Thanks.

  5. Hi Peter,

    Have not been logging in to read blogs for a long time, but was definitely very pleased and happy to learn of your marriage. This was the BIG QUESTION that kept me wondering since years ago but did not dare to ask. Hee hee.

    Truly, my wife and I are both very, very happy for the both of you, and we (incl our newborn baby!!) would like to wish you all the best and many years of happiness together.

    BTW, your post is something which I have been waiting for for a long time —- some proof to confirm our decision was right in not subscribing to the mainstream idea of wearing fancy costumes and having an equally exaggerated background when we took our wedding photos a few years back.

    When we told the photographer then, he went dead silent for a moment wondering which planet we both came from. Like you, we had also wanted something natural, and pleasant — not photos showing the Eiffel Tower in the background, when we have not even been to France!

    Peter:
    Thank you for your wishes.

    Despite reminders that we do not want fancy designs and weird backgrounds, the photographer still went ahead with it. We have a few with winter scene and other garish background.

  6. Hey.. Peter,
    I do like the one you posted up here though.. 🙂

    Peter:
    Wuan and I like that the most. The same cannot be said for the rest. Thanks.

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