Hong Kong Pre-Wedding Photography: A Wong Kar Wai-Inspired Cinematic Love Story in Pittsburgh
There's something about the romance and blur of a Hong Kong Pre Wedding session that is gaining momentum in Pittsburgh. If there is a city that this is so perfectly well suited for such a gorgeous style, it's Pittsburgh. There is no shortage of spaces that have that industrial neon nights kind of feel that take this style and give it the yinzer touch.
TJ and Sheree -
These two don't follow anyones rules about tradition or expectations. They were so expressive, experimental, and thoughtful in their approach leading up to their wedding. They wanted everything they incorporated into their day to be anchored in who they are together. We started their engagement with a Pre wedding session at Arsenal Bowl in the Lawrenceville neighborhood in the northeast part of Pittsburgh.
We brought in creative lighting and used Arsenal Bowl's vintage decor, velvet details, and atmospheric lounge/bar area to blend the color pallate of a Hong Kong Pre-wedding style with the romance of Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong Cinematic framing and mood.
I mean look at how it turned out. Hong Kong Pre Wedding with an industrial rust belt vibe that immerses you in an entirely new aesthetic you didn't know you needed.
Awais and Eeman -
When Eeman started planning her wedding she quickly realized that there would be several events across several locations, not to mention continents. The first event would be a Nikah and this is where Eeman and Awais wanted to set the tone of the images inspired by Hong Kong Pre Wedding energy set in the Strip District between Lawrenceville and Downtown.
We typically see Hong Kong Pre Wedding style in evening and blue hour, but we decided on a warmer light for this project. Eeman felt more drawn to a warmer more vibrant style and this is the beauty of taking inspiration from a style and making it your own. Hong Kong Pre Wedding at Golden Hour at one of Pittsburgh's most iconic spaces.
Hong Kong Cinema Photography
What makes these two sessions unique is that we took an visual aesthetic and merged it with a style of cinematography that produced images that look like stills from old film movies. We worked together to bring personal style, cinema color and techniques, film + digital photography, and lenses that evoke a nostalgic and vintage romantic cinema energy. We leaned heavily into step-printing inspired short videos by movies like In The Mood for Love, and Chungking Express to immerse the story in a a world inspired by cult cinema wedding photography. Going deeper into what cinematic can mean for your pre-wedding inspired photography.
Pittsburgh Hong Kong Pre Wedding Photography
While we can try to imitate a Pinterest style in your photography, there is real magic to taking a visual aesthetic and adapting it to your story, your inspiration, your own vibes to tell your story in a way that feels intentionally cinematic. Here cinematic isn't just a color palate, we used real movie references to create imagery that looks like stills in a letterboxd review for your silver screen opening weekend.
Cinematic photography isn't surface level for me. It's the core of my story telling.
If you have a movie you want to make your story into, I'm booking limited dates now.
