Joy’s Wedding-Behind The Scenes

How do I put into words the overflowing emotions that swirl within my heart when I give away someone whom I have held since birth? From the moment she was born, to her 1st words, her 1st steps, 1st day at school, high school then university graduation, 1st day at work, her heartbreaks, victories, and celebrations. How do I come to grips with the fact that as much as it breaks my heart, after 27 years with me, it was time to let her go and allow her to start a new chapter in her life?

On Nov. 18, 2023, my 2nd daughter got married. My eyes tear up knowing that she will no longer be home with us. When I walk by her room, I will miss seeing her slippers outside the room. I will miss her during our mealtimes when she is home from work. I will miss the random knocking at her door or her random knocking at my door just for some random chitchat. I will miss our fights/arguments and then apologizing and making up as we realize that we are both after the same thing, just coming from different directions. I will miss our bonding time over music, singing, praying, and watching the NBA – following the Boston Celtics games. Family mealtimes, vacations, outings, bonding time, and grocery trips will not be the same anymore. I can never listen and sing our mutual favorite song without breaking down.

On the other hand, I rejoice greatly because God is the author of her life. She is like a book, with each new season – a new chapter written by the Lord for her. Now as she enters the next season of her life, God is writing a new chapter. God loves writing love stories and He wrote this new chapter of love for her and prepared for her a godly man. A pastor whose love for the Lord, whose compassion and deep empathy towards all is so much evident. It gives me and my wife great comfort and confidence that her husband, Renz, will love her with all he is, just as the Lord has designed for marriage.

It will take time for me to adjust, God has created a special bond and love between fathers and daughters that is so strong, and so deep that words fail me when I try to describe it. Although she is now someone’s wife, she will always be my little girl, my “fave second daughter”, my “p-nomia” girl, my Daryn Joy.

So I tried to capture in photos what I could not in words. These photos are my attempt to preserve the last moments I have with my daughter before she officially becomes a wife. I had the unique opportunity to unofficially shoot behind the scenes during the preparation for the ceremony. This was the 1st time for me to take these kinds of photos. My eyes blurred and teared up so many times while shooting these. These shots are raw, emotional, poignant, happy, and symbolic – like the one where she stood by the door in her wedding gown, looking down and then looking forward, exiting her old life and stepping out into the bright new chapter of her life. Then there is the one where she looked back and smiled before walking out to the staircase, then pausing by the stairs, she looked back again and smiled at me, as if saying “Papa, don’t worry, I am happy, I will be ok.“. Then there is the one where she stood behind her groom as he prayed for them and after which she looked at me once more, smiling from her heart, beaming, so radiant, so beautiful and so full of joy. I knew then that this was what the Lord had written for her, from this day on she will be known as Mrs. Daryn Joy Go Raquion. Renz’s wife, but still, forever still, and will always be, my daughter, my little girl.

I hated it when attending other weddings and the unofficial photographers – aka uncles/aunties and inconsiderate guests would whip out their phones or cameras and get in the way of the official photographers. That was why I consciously stayed out of the way of the official photographers. This is where the Fuji X100V truly shined and delivered. I was able to snap photos of my daughter during the preparation unobtrusively and of our family as we bonded in these last moments of my daughter’s singlehood and all the while, still be in the moment with her and my family. I shot all these in RAW+fine Jpg but ended up not touching the RAW files. I was delighted with the Fuji jpg files. The Kodachrome 64 film recipe (listed below after the photos), I chose from Fuji Weekly, was perfect for the mood I wanted to capture. I just did light exposure and alignment adjustments in Lightroom for some photos.

I deliberately kept the camera and took no photos during the ceremony itself because I wanted my undivided attention to be on her and be in the moment. And I am pretty sure the official photographers (Oak St. Studios – https://oak-st-studios.com/) will do a much better job than I can in capturing and preserving the occasion. Check them out, Jonathan and Maika, the principal photographers, are really good.

Here are some of the photos I took (except for our whole family shots which were taken by Maika using my X100V), do let me know what you think, both positive and negative so I can improve. Thank you and God bless.

Kindly click on the photos to view the full and uncropped version.

Kodakchrome 64 recipe (for Fuji X-Trans IV sensors) from Fuji Weekly
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: 0
Shadow: 0
Color: +2
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +1
Clarity: +3
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
White Balance: Daylight, +2 Red & -5 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)