Around 200 km from Bangalore lies a small town called Mettur.
It’s situated in the valley of the Stanley Reservoir which was constructed in 1934 which is a major reservoir for Tamil Nadu and also houses a major hydel electric plant. Most employment here revolves around the hydel plant or the dam itself. This also happens to be my native place where my dad grew up. I learnt that one of my many cousins was getting married and I thought it was a good idea for me to land up there with my camera. This trip was also very special as I had precious cargo in the back seat of my car, my 92-year old grandmum who may not have the physical strength to make another trip to her homegrounds again.
Here are some of the shots from the wedding.
A very emotional moment as the grand old lady of the family, 92 years of age, makes a 200km journey to bless her young great grand-daughter. This may be the last time she has the strength to make that trip home, so the joy on her face moved us all to tears.
The couple hold hands and exchanges vows. Typically, the minister will bring the Bible up to the couple and with one hand on the Bible, the couple will exchange their vows.
The couple hold up a platter with the thali to be blessed by the priest. This is a practice that is more common with the Hindu community, but is common place in South India Christian weddings. The thali in most rural parts of India is a cotton thread that has been colored with turmeric (yellow) or with kumkum (red). A small gold ornament at the end with an embossed cross is tied with the string.
The groom ties the thali and fastens it with three knots. Some couple may also exchange rings in addition. In some parts of India, the thali is also referred to as the mangalsutra.
The groom gets ready to garland his bride.
The shy bride looks up only with her eyes as the formal part of the nuptials is concluded.
The beautiful mehendi adorned hands filled with bangles folded together to thank the Lord.
The newly married couple share their first naughty moment, their first secret (just guessing)!
Seeking blessings from the elders, a very standard Indian custom at all weddings.
As a photographer, the experience from this wedding was a little emotion when it involved my grandmum, the need to be invisible during the wedding rites, yet to capture the most important moments. The challenge with the light from the videographer; I used this light to my advantage by going over to the opposite end everytime he wandered to where I was positioned. This allowed me to rim light the couple and produce some nice shots without the use of my flash.
I used a 55-200 mm for the most part as you have to stay out of the way and yet get close to the action. A stark difference between weddings in cities and this one at a village was the clear absence of the zillion family photographers climbing one of top of the other up front and spoiling the moment. This was purely because not many people owned one (I suppose) and the knowledge that the event is being covered by a Pro. That was truly refreshing and made my job so much easier and less stressful.