PUBLISHED ONOctober 27, 2024 6:40 AMByDrima ChakrabortyTwo weeks ago, local video game streamer Julynn Lau announced that she was engaged to her partner Benjamin Loh.
The scene was picturesque, with the proposal taking place at night on a beach with candles and a light-up sign reading "Marry Me" behind them. There was also a drone display with hearts and the silhouette of a man proposing to a woman in the sky.
However, in a video uploaded Oct 24 on Instagram and TikTok, she shared more about what really went on behind-the-scenes with the unnamed photography crew hired to shoot it.
"POV: Your photographer thinks she's the main character of the proposal and missed the most important part of the engagement," the in-video caption reads.
As the couple looks up at the sky, presumably to see the drone display which is out of frame, a voice can be heard saying: "You can just kneel down already, kneel down."
A male and a female voices continue talking in the background and when Loh asks Lau if she'll marry him, the man can be heard saying: "Wide shot, wide shot, wide shot."
They continue talking through his speech and her response, saying that they've missed the chance to take shots of the drone display but that it's fine as long as they get shots of Loh.
"Why are they talking over him at this point? They are louder than us," the caption reads.
Lau, clearly in the moment and emotional, even gets asked to move her hair out of the way and turn her face towards the camera for the shot.
She added that Loh had paid over $4,000 for their photography and videography services, and them talking over the couple is why they had to put a voiceover on the video they shared of the proposal previously.
"If this happened to your proposal, what would you do?" she asked.
Lau added that there was more she could talk about in a second video. AsiaOne has reached out to her for more information.
Netizens were dismayed by the photographers' actions.
"Why is she ruining THE moment? It's once in a lifetime," one wrote on Instagram.
Another commented that the pair seemed to be amateurs but charged too steep a price for their services.
Photographers also chimed in in support of Lau.
"Not every shoot can be guided by shooting directions," a TikTok comment from one read. "It's important to adapt to the situation, especially during emotional moments, to keep things as natural as possible. Posing can be saved for later, after the critical moments have passed."
"You capture the moment as it happens to the best of your ability while remaining at a distance," a wedding photographer commented on Instagram. "Then if you feel like you didn't get the ideal shot, where you could perfectly see her face or whatever, recreate the down-on-one-knee moment after the fact.
"Don't ruin the actual moment for the couple as it's happening."
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