Master Class Series - Taj Mahal (Planning and Execution)
- Praveen BN (Founder | Team member | Modala Hejje
- Feb 14, 2018
- 7 min read
It has been almost a week now that we published our recent work : The master class series : The Taj Mahal photoshoot photos on our website. We got very warm response from our fans and followers. While for people who know us, this perfection was no surprise, for rest of the world a lot of details in the photos were just unimaginable. Almost everyone asked us the question : How did you beat the crowd? You are really lucky to be in the right place at the right time to have such clear images. Some went as far as to ask the photographers and couple and their parents : Did they really go to Taj for shoot ? It looks so perfect that I doubt the photographer took snaps with green screen and then replaced the background with Taj Mahal snaps.
We do understand why people might enter this puzzled maze in their thoughts. The photos are too good to be real :) . But let us share with you few behind the scenes effort that eventually led us to this calculated and expected results. The results you see are no luck, but a deciplined planned execution of photographers and couple dream.
6 months to the date of shoot
We start every construction with a blueprint, so did we. We formed a whatsapp group between the photography team and the couple. The discussion went on for couple of days just to set the right expectation and to understand how much this photoshoot meant to the clients. We knew right at the begining, the expectation bar is too high and we had to totally relook at the way we work on projects and this was certainly no ordinary project. As the clients, as well as the photography team were super exicted about the shoot, it took around few hours time for either side to accept the fact and let the fact sink in - Yes this is happening !!!
5 months to the date of shoot
When the initial set of discussions went through, the expectations were set - no props, no childsplay but an elegant photoshoot which really sets out the purity of feeling the couple share, which reflects the maturity in thoughts and sybolizes the love the couple share. With these discussions, once mindset were set, we then started hunting for clothes for the couple. This discussion again, went on for couple of months ( nearly 2 to 3 months) between the team and the couple. Couple would decide on something and then when they looked at the initial expectation, the selected clothes just did not seem right. As the whole execution had to be carried out in budget initially planned, finding the right clothes was not an easy task. The photography team as well as the clients started exploring all the options, from buying clothes from branded stores, to buying for a one time use, to renting the designer clothes from different ventures. Our team recommended a lot of options we could notice to ensure that the couple had all the options available with them.
At the same time, our team was busy gathering all possible details about the previous shoots done at Taj Mahal, their learnings, all the pit falls, hidden truths, tips and tricks shared by other photographers based on their experience over internet with the help of various blogs. This was one of the most crutial activity which was done. We would reveal the reason on its criticity in sometime.
4 months to the date of shoot
While these discussions were going on, for the expectations we had, we started asking questions to ourselves :wouldn't it be easy if we could show clients some reference images as to how the photos would turn out based on the different kind of attire the couple put on for the shoot? With this question in mind, the Modala Hejje team starting hunting for the reference images on internet and other social media platforms. We went through 500px, facebook, instagram, pinterest, flikr and tens of other websites. we found the best option for sharing the reference images was through proper planning of what can be expected, shot on different days (hence grouping the images by days of shoot). Rather than creating a folder with all links or pirated reference images, we found that pinterest was the best solution to plan the reference images. We created boards based on the number of days planned for shoot initially - 3 boards for 3 days, and started pinning different dress code options and showed how the photos might come out.
2 months to the date of shoot
By this time we knew what we had to work on and clients were busy with their selection of attire for the shoot based on the sample images. As we wanted to be sure that everything is calculated and nothing comes as a surprise, we planned for a location scouting activity around Taj Mahal.
For those of you who do not know what is location scouting in photography, it is an activity where the team sets off to check the location for the possiblities shoot can be planned and executed, All the constraints like the weather, the geographical challenges, the shooting restrictions, and recent developments ( maintenance of the monument ) etc etc.
Based on all the information gathered online, we knew it was already restricted location at various levels and shooting here to create the Modala Hejje experience to our clients was not easy at all. We came to know about the restrictions on the camera flashes in side Taj premises and tripod and other support stand restrictions via online research. Thanks to the location scouting activity, we got to know that travelling was much more than expected and energy level would be lower, so the 3 day shooting was lowered to 2 days. We also came to know that not just in the premises of Taj mahal, but even in certain areas where we wanted to take photos, any light stands, modifiers were not allowed. For a full professional photoshoot, permission from Arheological department is required. This was no surprise but the area that was covered under restricted zone for the stands and others put a serious restrictions on the plans we had in mind.
Lastly, we also came to know how the crowd moves in Taj Mahal. Not just he quantity but the areas where the crowd moves at what time. Our team skipped lunch and snacks just to sit and observe, make note of the crowd movements, opening times, the crowd strength in differnet places at differnt timezones. The location scouting was split in days to be sure that we have these observations not just within the premises but also outside the premises for a bigger landscape of Taj with the couple. This played the most important role during the shoot.
1 month to the date of shoot
This was the time the couple and the photography team sat together to exchange the progress, learning, do final moment decisions. When the restrictions were revealed to couple, the couple was anxious as to what to expect as all what was expected before did not seem possible for execution due to restrictions on lighting. Couple did an extraordinary things -- put complete trust in the photography team and let them lead the shoot. The dates of the shoot, the dressess for the different days of the shoot, the places where we would be shooting, the time of each shot that would be taken were all planned. The blueprint was finalized!!
THE DAY - TIMELESS MEMORY IN MAKING
After the couple and the team reached the hotel, couple had one single question to the team - which attire to wear, what time should we be ready. Our team took the entire dinner time on the date of arrival to discuss out the plans for the shooting based on the current conditions. The dress and time of shoot were agreed.
On the day of the shoot, the couple were all excited and followed exact instructions passed by the team. It was a team work. Couple and the team wanted one and only one thing - Best memory and a masterpiece which both would cherish. Below mentioned things made all the difference in the shoot which helped us acheive the results :
1. Beating the crowd - standing in front of the queue on both days, be there at the entrance 30 mins before the queue even starts taking shape ( specific gate of Taj as differnt gates open at different times ).
2. First things first - Soon after the gates opened, after the security check, rather than getting lost in the beauty of Taj, both photographers and couple took the right decision to put the photoshoot on top of their list. They moved to specific location identified by photographers and started shooting. This ensured that the small moving crowd could be waited and avoided in the frame.
3. Timing the leisures (timing and quantity) -As it was well planned shoot, the leisures for lunch and everything else were well planned (at max crowd movement time). Enough leisures were planned to ensure that couple had energy and freshness on face for the next session.
4. Let photographers lead entirely - As photographers need specific lighting, specific direction of the light, intensity for the planned photos, our team needed the couple to be dressed, energized and be ready at specific times to travel to specific location and be ready for the shoot. 100% belief and trust kept on the photographers by couple made entire difference.
The Finishing Touch
The last missing piece of the puzzle was the editing. Having had the complete trust, even though the shoot was pre-wedding, the couple never demanded for a single pic to be delivered in hurry. Neither the quantity of snaps or the timing of the snaps were demanded by the couple. Having had enough time to work on the snaps, our lead photographer - Madhu put his entire time & skill at work for this masterpiece. Part of the crowd which was captured in the frame, were removed in editing to be sure that what was imagined is what is acheived. There were times when the existing mastry went obselete. the team reskilled on the go and achieved the result the couple wanted to create for themselves.
Do you wish to know how the images eventually turned out ? Check out the entire album by following the link below :
The is what the couple had to say about the whole experience ( Clients : Praveen and Pratima )
Read how the entire planning and effort unvelied, from the couple themselves here :
What do you think about the entire shooting experience ? do you wish to know something else in specific ? How well do you think the photos eventually turned out ? Comment your thoughts and experience below and shoutout your appreciation to the masterpiece by Modala Hejje. We would be sharing shortly the location scouting experience of our photographer in the upcoming blog. Stay tuned :)
