Mel & Dom - Couple portraits by the beach
Feature 1
Recently I attempted something different, something a little out of my usual comfort zone of shooting digital, in a controlled studio environment.
I tried out a shoot with my friends Melodee Tan and Dominic Neo, at one of the places they usually hanged out, East Coast Park.
Inspired by some shots I've seen on the r/analog subreddit community, I wanted to try shots with a couple. But I wanted it to be more natural. While I did posed them, I mostly wanted to be behind the scenes, as though I wasn't there. So, I told them, just talk to each other like any other day, and I'll try to capture some moments.
Ironically, some of the poses were referenced from wedding photographers, something I always told myself I had no interest in, but hey, never hurt to try it out.
Its also one of the few times where I am more deliberate with my film cameras. Usually, I'll be shooting random street scenes, but working with the aspect ratios of the camera itself is definitely a unique challenge for me.
That's what I liked about the TX-1, with the panoramic ratio, compositing it feels like a different challenge. Its more fun, when you have to take into account how to make a shot from left to right look interesting.
I wanted to keep it simple, no lights, just a camera and the lightmeter on my phone.
I took no digital shots so I really had to hope that the film developed nicely without issues. I think this is one of those times that make film really that much more 'magical', when you have no idea how they'll turn out and you've only got so many shots to take.
Overall, I'm really happy with the look of the images. It was a really fun experience to try out something a little more different for me.
Thanks Melodee Tan and Dominic Neo for the wonderful experience!
Developing and scanning was done by the lovely folks at Shalom Colorlab
Here are some of the references you'll find I've used to shoot these shots:
