What is Mehendi ?

Asian Weddings whether be it a Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Gujarati or Punjabi are considered to be very sacred and sanctified affairs.

Mehendi ceremony is one of the most important pre-wedding rituals specially for the bride and her family. It is fun filled ritual with lots of singing & dancing.This ceremony is mainly celebrated by the bride’s family. The ceremony is usually held at the bride’s house or at a hotel a few days or on the eve of the marriage ceremony. It has a very festive feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs.

A henna artist applies mehndi to the bride’s hands and feet. There are few places in India where it is a ritual that the first motif of henna or mehendi is applied by the bride’s sister-in-law whereas in some places this is done by the bride’s mother. The designs are very intricate. Popular motifs of the bridal mehendi are concshell, flowers, kalash, peacock, doli and baraat patterns. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or initials of the groom are applied.

These close-up shots were taken with the Nikon D3 + 105 VR Macro Lens. This lens is my favourite close-up lens and giving incredible results. The lighting set-up was a SB900 mounted on a lightstand with a Lastolite Ezybox 80×80cm. This set up is quick and easy to use. Even though we were running a bit behind schedule, I was still able to set up & shoot in a very short time. Bridal portraits will follow soon.

This is the set up I will use at a wedding, either a Lastolite Ezybox or an umbrella. No matter how pressed I am for time, I do make time for these shots as they are
very very important. If you miss them here, you won’t get the chance to shoot them again.

More images to follow soon from the wedding.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Oz

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