Bugis Makassar Wedding Photography Experience

The experience of photographing Bugis Makassar wedding weddings

mrfdn – A few days ago I got a job.

Job, yes, that’s the term for the children here in the photography environment.

The job I got was to be a documentation team in a wedding event.

Because I live in South Sulawesi, this wedding was held with the Makassar Bugis custom.

Joining me in this job is to help my friend who is a wedding and prewedding specialist photographer.

September 9th wedding date may be a sacred date for all photographers here. How about in your city?

Then I was offered for this job, and I accepted. At the same time, learn and practice directly to photograph Bugis Makassar wedding events.

Noted :: this is my first time doing wedding documentation. This was my first step in starting a commercial photography business using my own camera.

I’m not a good photographer at everything. From this job I started to learn to get down in the commercial world of photography.

Well, I will try to write down what my experiences were during this Bugis Makassar wedding.

The first day of the Makassar Bugis wedding procession

Mappacci

The first day in the traditional Bugis Makassar wedding procession, usually carried out with the mappacci event.
Mappacci in Bugis language means to clean, so that later the bride and groom can clean before entering the marriage ceremony to start their new household.

The mappacci event was held by women.

In general, this mappacci event is held on the night before the wedding ceremony. Done in his own house. And attended by parents, uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, and the closest relatives of the bride and groom.

Photographers are getting ready to capture the moment during this mappacci event. Where the bride and groom will sit somewhere while putting his hand on the pillow in front of him.

Then one by one the people in front of him will come forward to give a prayer to the bride and then wash the hands of the prospective woman with several objects, one of which is henna leaves, which have been provided which will make the palms of the bride and groom turn black.

Photographers have to take the moment. The challenge is that the photographer must find the right place to take the picture, and the photographer must focus on the person who is giving the prayer/mappacci rather than the bride.

The next challenge is because this event is held at night, use an external flash. Do it with bounces.

However, at Bugis Makassar weddings, it is very famous for its colorful colors.

Almost every Bugis Makassar wedding decoration is paired with striking colors such as red, yellow, green, purple, black, white, and others.

When you get a white ceiling this will be good for you. However, if the color of the ceiling where we do the bouce flash, the color of the flash light will also change so that the color of the photo also changes.

After the mappacci event was over, everyone who was selected had given a prayer to the bride, then continued with a special session between the photographer and the bride and groom to do some interesting poses.

Because earlier during the Mappacci procession, it was very difficult to get a moment for Mappacci photos, so now the photographer directs the bride and groom with some interesting poses and looks beautiful on the camera.

The bride can show her hand that has been packed earlier.

study

Meanwhile, on the same night, at the residence of the groom-to-be, a recitation was held.

The recitation program is usually not as busy as the mappacci event held by women.

Photographers only need to do photo documentation as usual. Take a picture of the recitation event.

In the final session after the recitation program has ended, the photographer must direct the pose for the groom.

Some poses can be done by taking a dashing style for the groom, for example while holding the holy book, while reading the holy book, and so on depending on our creativity.

The first day ended that night. Now is the time to get ready for the wedding ceremony which will be held the next day.

The second day of the Makassar Bugis wedding procession

Marriage contract

The procession of the marriage contract is usually carried out in the morning at 10 o’clock.

Before the wedding ceremony begins, the photographer must get ready at the bride’s house. Come early by picking up some bride preparations.

The bride is usually already dressed as a bride and will wait in her room. There the photographer must enter and take some initial moments before the marriage ceremony.

The photographer will arrange for the bride to pose. Usually the photographer will have a duet with a videographer, and another special videographer for live weddings.

Arrange the bride and groom an interesting photo angle, as if with a happy expression waiting for the groom.

Aim also while holding the bracelet or accessories he is wearing.

The make up of the girl will look very beautiful so our photos must also be good, this is where we have to learn to adjust the pose of the bride like a model. Not just plain documentation.

So that the photo looks good later when it has been printed and installed in the wedding photo album. These photos will forever be remembered by them. And that moment will never be repeated.

After that the photographer must get ready to wait for the arrival of the groom to the bride’s house.

The groom came with a large motorcade.

In this wedding procession there are 2 photographers on duty, one special photographer takes wide photos, and the other specializes in taking narrow/detailed photos.

The two photographers awaited arrival at the groom.

Upon arrival, the groom’s convoy will be greeted with traditional Bugis Makassar dances.

They brought many gifts, in the form of dowries, into the bride’s house. Don’t forget to take a picture of the gift-bearer/dowry.

The dowry gift was immediately placed in the bride’s room. Meanwhile, the groom will be directed to the place of the marriage ceremony.

One photographer will take a photo of the parcel arranged around the bride. After that, return to the place of marriage.

Photographers, videographers, and live videographers will get ready to capture the most sacred moments. At this time it is very stressful for the groom to do the Ijab Kabul. Photographers will usually coincide with the family of the bride and groom who also take part in this wedding moment.

Then a photographer is in charge of taking details, using a rather long lens. The main thing is to take details of the groom’s face, his hands, the bride’s parents, and other unique moments.

Another photographer will take the wedding ceremony procession wide so that it looks crowded in the event.

The groom will mention the sentence of consent,

I accept the marriage….

Until everyone says it’s legit.

The bride and groom are legally husband and wife. Then proceed with the signing of the marriage certificate.

Mappasikarawa

After the marriage contract is complete, the groom will go to the bride’s room.

The photographer must have been there waiting for the groom to arrive.

Then this procession is called mappasikarawa, which brings together the two parties. The two brides will pair each other’s rings, at this moment it is very crowded.

Not just photographers and brides, but all families will enter this area. Plus those who do instastory and instalive.

Very narrow and very difficult to take the moment mappasikarawa well. This is a big challenge in capturing the moment.

After the event is over, it’s time to take photos with the bride’s family.

Mapparola

At the Bugis Makassar wedding. After the marriage contract is done at the bride’s house, the groom will take the bride to his house.

This procession is known as mapparola.

At home the groom is waiting for the family to welcome the bride and groom to come.

So are photographers.

Again the photographer had to arrive at the groom’s house first.

To take this moment. Do not miss. At the groom’s house, the usual documentation photographs are usually held.

The groom and bride will sit on the aisle that has been provided. Then the men’s immediate family will take pictures with them.

After the mapparola event is over, usually in the afternoon, the photographer can then rest for a while.

Wedding reception

Wedding receptions are usually held at night, where invited guests will arrive. Usually done in the building / ballroom.

If the event is taking place in a building, the photographer must be there before the bride and groom arrive.

Photographers will take the moment of their arrival. Continue while heading to the aisle. After that, the bride and groom and the bride’s parents will stand on the edge of the aisle.

Guests who come will shake hands with the groom and bride.

Photographer’s job

Photographers with wide lenses will only take the moment on stage.

Such as shaking hands with guests, meeting old friends, and requesting photos with the bride and groom with guests.

Photographers with longer lenses will take the moment.

His job is to travel around the wedding area to take the moment. Such as the arrival of guests, the moment the guest writes a guest book, the moment to eat together, take photos of the close family of the bride and groom, serve photos with friends who are the guests of the bride and groom. Usually the moment of a friend’s wedding becomes a reunion of friends first.

A loyal photographer standing in front of the aisle stage will serve a group photo between the bride’s family and closest friends. Usually equipped with lighting lamps with white umbrella accessories, so that the light distribution of the lamp is wider.

The final pose of the bride and groom

At the end of the event, after all the invited guests go home. Before the building is closed, usually the bride and groom are directed again by the photographer to take a special last pose for the two of them.

These photos are usually to be printed and then displayed in their homes.

Here the photographer must be able to direct the bride and groom to pose a little stylish, so that it looks cool and not stiff.

Usually done with one light with a softbox modifier, then with additional bareflash to create a dimensional effect on the photo.

Finished

After everything is finished. The documentation process is complete. It’s time to go home and secure the wedding documentation files that have been taken.

All files will then be sorted for inclusion in an album for printing, while all photo files will be provided to the client.

The point is that the photographer must be there first at every important moment, don’t miss it.

That’s my experience photographing wedding documentation / wedding Bugis Makassar bride. At first I thought this was a very tough job, but it turned out to be not so difficult.

How? Interested to start photographing weddings too?

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