Photographing a Kodava wedding in Coorg

How is a Kodava wedding different to photograph?

The first difference is who is in charge. In a Kodava wedding the ceremony is traditionally conducted by the elders of the family and community rather than by a priest, so the people a photographer needs to talk to beforehand are the elders, not an officiant. The second difference is where it happens: often at an ain mane, the family's ancestral house, or at a community hall or an estate, with a lot of the day outdoors.

Practice varies between families and between halls. What follows is the widely described shape, not a rulebook. Ask the family elder for your own order and send it to the photographer in writing.

What should the photographer know about the dress?

It is the first thing people will look at in the photographs, and it is distinctive. Kodava men wear the kupya, a long dark robe, tied at the waist with the chele sash, with the peeche kathe dagger tucked into it. Women wear the sari with the pleats at the back and the pallu brought over the shoulder. Both need full-length frames as well as close ones, because the shape of the dress is the point. A crop at the waist loses the chele and the dagger entirely.

The moments to plan for

1. The groom's arrival. On arrival the groom cuts through banana stems, baale birudu, before he can enter. It is quick, it involves a blade, and people crowd in. One camera on the groom's face and one wide on the crowd.
2. The ceremony with the elders. Blessings are given by elders and family members, often one after another. This is slow and repetitive, and it is also where every grandparent appears. A second shooter can make sure nobody is missed.
3. Ganga Pooje. The bride goes to bring water from a well, and members of the groom's party dance in her path to delay her. It is the most joyful sequence of the day and the hardest to shoot well: fast movement, a crowd, and often uneven outdoor light.
4. The dancing and the meal. Kodava weddings tend to carry on well into the evening. Decide in advance how long coverage runs, because the best candid frames often come late.

What light does Coorg give you?

Mostly daylight, which is good news, but estate daylight is uneven. Coffee is grown under shade trees, so a courtyard or lawn can be patches of hard sun and deep shade within a few metres. Faces moving between the two need an exposure plan, not an auto setting. Late afternoon is kindest; midday in an open courtyard is the hardest.

Rain matters more than in Bengaluru. The southwest monsoon hits Coorg hard from roughly June to September, and even outside those months showers are possible in the hills. For a monsoon wedding, the photographer needs covered positions scouted in advance and weather protection for the gear. The Coorg location notes cover seasons and access.

How do you photograph the dancing without losing it?

With a fast shutter, a second camera and a plan for where the dancers will go. Ganga Pooje moves along a path, so one photographer can walk backwards ahead of the bride while the second stays wide and slightly elevated. Motion blur can be beautiful on purpose; it is not beautiful on the bride's face in the only frame of her laughing.

For a wedding film, dancing is where sound matters too. The drums and the singing are what make the sequence feel like the day. Ask whether the film crew records separate audio, as a film needs.

What should the family agree before the day?

• Which elder can give the photographer the order of events, and roughly when each one happens.
• Where Ganga Pooje takes place and the route from the house to the well, so it can be walked beforehand.
• A covered fallback position in case of rain, for both the ceremony and the portraits.
• A named list for family portraits, with someone from each side who knows everyone.
• How late into the evening coverage should run.