Yeap, that's pretty much what happened at our pre-wedding photoshoot 2 days ago! I woke up at 520am, and Suyen my hair & makeup artist arrived at 530am to get everything going! Man, I've not woken up this early before in my life just to get my makeup and hair done. I must say I really admire Suyen as well as every other makeup artist whose job starts at wee hours in the morning when majority of Earth's humans are in deep sleep. Yet when you see them, they already have their own makeup on, and they look fresher than anyone else ever would at 530am in the morning.
If you're looking for a good makeup artist who does hairstyling as well, I'd highly recommend Suyen. She's so punctual, very professional, ever so friendly and most importantly, I love her makeup style! It's elaborate enough to enhance your features and overlook look, yet at the same time it's simple enough to make sure you don't look like a totally different person. For someone who doesn't put on makeup on a daily basis, the last thing I want is to be unrecognizable because of my makeup. I'm so glad I found her to be my makeup artist. She'll be doing my actual day hair and makeup as well :)
So, yes. Back to the shoot! Once my make up was done, we departed from KL around 8am and arrived at Pasir Klebang at 10am.
The weather was perfect. Even though all of us ended up being burned by the sun, we really thank God for the perfect weather for the shoot. It wasn't scorching hot and we didn't even see the sun, actually! It was a sky full of clouds. But we could feel every degree of its heat nonetheless. We shot from 1030am to 130pm. 3 hours of direct contact with sunlight. So just imagine my already tanned skin getting two tones darker. Yeap, that's me now. Hence, the post title.
The 'desert' place can't be accessed by car, so we had to park by the road side and continue the rest of the journey by foot. It took us about 15-20minutes to get to our desired destination.
Our amazing photographer, Vincent Cheng!
A big shoutout to the guy on the left who so willingly offered himself to assist us with the shoot on a working Monday. He brought his colorful umbrella, bought us breakfast, water and was our official porter throughout the shoot - just helping us with the bags & everything else. How blessed we are to have such a friend like him! If you're reading this, Teo, we want you to know that we really love you and we're so grateful for your time and your love. You're the best photoshoot assistant ever!
I must admit that when we first got started with the shoot, I was so awkward with my poses - especially when we're told to kiss each other! We've never kissed in public and definitely not with a camera pointing at us! The awkwardness level was extremely high, but after doing it for a few times in a row, you just sorta get a hang of it I guess? I told myself to 'just do it' because the heat on our skin was real and ain't nobody got time for shyness.
One thing I really loved about Vincent was how he directed us with our poses. He would give very specific instructions without making the poses look too mechanical or 'serious'. That's really an art that he has very well mastered. My favorite instruction from him was "Ok, now laugh uncontrollably!" I would soon burst out in a genuine series of laughter just by thinking how impossible a task it is to laugh uncontrollably outta nowhere. And by doing so, I just proved that this method actually works! Well, at least for me. Hahaha.
We found this hidden gem somewhere in between the mountains of sand. The reflection on the water is just unbelievable. I can't wait to see the outcome of the photos we took here!
A sneak peek of the polaroid photos we took throughout the shoot! Loved every single one of them.
My love.
My beloved man. The very person whom I can always lean on (literally and figuratively speaking) no matter what happens. When asked by Teo on a Facebook live interview (lol) on "what (his) plans are for the day", he replied:
"I'm gonna try my best to magnify Gladys, and make her look the best."
Those were the sweetest words. Thank you for always prioritizing me above yourself, and for always making sure that I know how good you think I look. Thank you for going outta the way to make the shoot such a memorable and priceless one.
We shot from 10am to 6pm, with a couple of hours break in between to indulge our dehydrated selves with the famous klebang coconut milkshake, heavenly nasi lemak ayam and chicken rice ball - the must-eats when you're in town.
And here ends our pre-wedding shoot adventure! We can't wait to see the photos. What's next? It'd be designing our wedding invitations and assembling our bridal party - and of course, saving up for the big day!
It's been such an enjoyable journey thus far. Of course we have our stressful days, but we're learning to focus on the things that are truly important, that is each other and our marriage ahead :)
Signing off,
The (very) sunburnt bride-to-be