December : the month for weddings.

I'm fainting from the shoots this month, and it's hardly over.

If I had to conclude one thing about being to so many weddings, it would be this: It is NOTHING like what I want a marriage to be.

Sounds negative? Not so.

A wedding isn't about a couple specifically. Not the ones I shoot anyway. It is about the CELEBRATION of a couple that is getting married. It involves ALOT of people, and if the wedding tonight is anything to go by, the amount of people is 500. 50 tables. And the celebration is, well, for one day, for 498 of them anyway.

As for the remaining two, the celebration is for more than just one day, and it's certainly more than celebration. If I'm starting to sound like I know all about marriage, then I will say now that I wouldn't have a clue, except that I have an ideal, and it's my blog to write anything I want, as long as the press doesn't come in and see that I've been defaming the government.

May be a long-winded way of saying that age-old phrase "A wedding lasts a day, but a marriage lasts a lifetime".

But now, I wanna talk about photography, lest some of you start thinking I'm feeling like it's time to get married. When I shoot nowadays, I aim for the quality of photos I can produce. I have been pushing myself for better images. I won't start to define what "better images" mean, but suffice to say, they take more effort to get. I am doing this because it is a challenge and it betters my portfolio and hence credibility and/or potential income since I shoot weddings for a living.

Then suddenly I wonder, why is the betterment of my skill overshadowing the passion that once was; the passion of "recording" love in my images? I believe it is simply because I do not see "love" at weddings. Weddings are about a few hundred people celebrating. The love goes on for days, months, years after the celebration is over, or at least we hope it does, but I'm not there to capture that. So out the window goes the notion of "I want to capture love". More aptly, it should be, "I want to capture the moments of the celebration of love".

So what happens if I still want to capture love? I mean, we shouldn't give up so easily right? Cannot do it one way, gotta try another way?

The only way I can capture love, is not through my camera, but through my heart.

It was, and will always be, that simple.

To all my couples and friends getting married, I hope you celebrate for many many many years. Everyday being together is a celebration only the two of you share.