Qureshi Family - Life Session Portraits Oh boy...where does the time disappear. After months without an update, here's something which should make everyone smile. The Qureshi family have been great clients of mine for some time now and when Tayyiba, Cody, and little Z-Man were in town last fall, we got the chance to take some fun family portraits.

This was actually Tayyiba & Zamaan's second photo session with me in 2009. Here's some of the previous session with his masis

With family portraits, we never know what exactly to expect, so the sessions are way more loose and playful than usual. As you can see from this sampling, Zamaan didn't leave us much chance to pose for shots...which is a great thing!

Labels: Bay Area, Family, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits, San Mateo

  Permanent Link 4:48 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Aparna & Jeff's Engagement Portraits Earlier this summer, I took Aparna & Jeff all over San Francisco for their engagement portraits and what a fun time! We got to try out some new spots on that beautiful summer afternoon so it made for some wonderful moments. It was also great since they didn't mind a little public display of affection while we were taking their portraits :)

We started out in North Beach, then headed to the Presidio, and finally to Baker Beach. With each location, since we had extra time, we were able to find some cool little spots that helped their photos to be as unique as possible.

Here are some samples!









I just love this next portrait due to the wind blowing Aparna's hair just so and especially that look in her eyes!



Aparna & Jeff, I can't wait for your wedding next month!

Labels: Beach, Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits, San Francisco

  Permanent Link 3:46 PM  5 Comments Links to this post

  Rajan Family - Life Session Portraits Mamatha & Ranjeet got married a couple of years ago and I was lucky enough to photograph their wedding in San Ramon. Fast forward to this spring and they had a son just a little bit after we had our own daughter. So it was a pleasure doing a life session focusing on their one year old son, Ishaan. We started off with some clean portraits with a background then moved onto their backyard and finally to Piedmont Park nearby. I've gotta say, photographing a child in his or her own environment is key to capturing great moments...




I went a bit more abstract with some of the editing. Since I was getting so many great expressions from Ishaan, I just had to go out on a limb with some of these photos.





The dreamy look in this next photo really just hit it for me. I knew it was out of focus when I took it, but I couldn't let go of it. I'd say it's my second favorite from the afternoon.

And what's my fave shot from this session? The next photo! The sheer joy on Ishaan's face with Ranjeet in the background is what these sessions are all about!


And finally...the happy family!

Thanks guys for inviting us to your home. We had a great time and hope to see a lot more of Ishaan as he grows into the rockstar he's destined to be!

Labels: Family, Life Session, Oakland, Piedmont, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 12:03 AM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Gellon Family - Life Session Portraits The Gellons are close friends of our's and with their son Zaver's first birthday coming up earlier this year, I wanted to make sure they had memorable portraits before his birthday. Instead of going out to a park or the beach, we decided to take advantage of Vic & Sophina's lovely home. We all thought this would not only lead to fun portraits, but make them much more personal.

I had trouble narrowing down the selection of photos for this session, so enjoy this cute and handsome young fellow!









The next bunch of photos are actually from the galf course which is in their backyard.

Labels: Family, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 8:02 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Raj & Jag's Engagement Portraits One of the most popular spots for taking portraits has been Stanford University. While it's not as popular nowadays as it has been in the past, it still provides some really classic elements like the columns you see in the background of the first photo. There are also great little spots around campus which provide for great variety. In addition to the Stanford campus, we took a little trip to downtown and had some fun walking in the streets of Palo Alto.

This shot is one of the very few where I do any really visible editing. Usually, the photo speaks for itself, but in this case, I felt that adding in the layers of texure & blur helped to give the shot some extra oomph!




When we moved onto Downtown Palo Alot, I was just in love with all the brick facades!




Raj & Jag, congrats and I wish you all the best in married life!

Labels: Engagements, Palo Alto, Portfolio, Portraits, Stanford

  Permanent Link 2:24 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Molly & Vid - Wedding Day Sneak Peek One of my favorite things about photography is sharing my work with clients. And a part of that is giving little teasers to whet their appetite for more once the full set of photos is complete. I just had to share these few photos with Molly & Vid earlier this week and I figure blog readers would love to see these too....so here's just a very few from their big day. Many more to come....

Labels: Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 5:09 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Patel Family - Avila Beach Portraits We did a fun & relaxing family session last month in Avila Beach. Where is Avila Beach, you ask? It's in Central California near San Luis Obispo & Pismo.

We photographed Tejal & Nalin's wedding last year. And this year, her big sister, Roshni, wanted to do family portraits before the first birthday of her twins. So I joined the whole family at Avila Beach close to where their mom lives. And what a wonderful day it was! The weather in mid-June had been so unpredictable, but we all lucked out and get an absolutely gorgeous day at the beach. Besides the awesome weather, it was great catching up with the whole family since I hadn't seen them in over a year. It was also pretty cool doing 3 or 4 mini portrait sessions since the whole family was there.

Here's just a few of the photos from the session:











Happy Birthday Aiden & Alina! I know your mom loves these photos...when you grow up, I expect you to love them too :)

Labels: Avila Beach, Beach, Family, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 4:52 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Shefali & Hitesh's Engagement Portraits Catching up on some Spring & Summer sessions we've had...

I met up with Shefali & Hitesh after a bit of extra planning & coordination...I live in the Bay Area, but Shefali was in San Diego and Hitesh was in Chicago. So where to meet for portraits when everyone's in a different city? Los Angeles!

It was actually a lot of fun planning this session out. Shefali really wanted to do some interesting with modern architecture as well as mix in some traditionally romantic photos. So we settled on 3 great spots in LA & the Westside...the Disney Center in Downtown LA, the UCLA campus in Westwood, and the pier & beach in Santa Monica. So let's get onto the photos!

I just love, love, LOVE the Disney Center's architecture. The shapes are just so interesting and offer a lot of options for us. And when you get closer, this awesome exterior surface of the walls just draw your eyes in.


This is one of those little nooks that I love about the Disney Center. It's such a tiny spot and it's the type of thing I love to find.





For this next shot, Shefali & Hitesh look totally calm, but what doesn't show on their face is a bus hurtling at them at full speed :) I didn't know about this bus until after I took the shot since my back was towards it. Needless to say, we ran very quickly :)

And moving onto my alma mater, UCLA is always a fun place to do portraits. It's always so relaxing there on weekends and it really lends to a more fun & relaxing shoot. Plus there's so many spots for a lot of fun stuff. Here's just a few of the spots....



And who could complain about Santa Monica on a nice spring afternoon?!

Out of the entire shoot, I have to say, this is my favorite shot. It wasn't something I asked Shefali to do, but the look in her eyes is just so memorable for me.

And with that, I'm going to end this post. Shefali & Hitesh, thanks for a wonderful afternoon of portraits. I can't wait for your wedding next month!

Labels: Beach, Disney Center for Perfoming Arts, Engagements, Los Angeles, Portfolio, Portraits, Santa Monica, UCLA, Westwood

  Permanent Link 11:36 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Mayuri & Kunaal's Engagement Ceremony You might recall a previous post on Mayuri & Kunaal's portraits. Well, the couple had their engagement ceremony back in May to make it all official. Yes, their engagement was more elaborate than many weddings, but I'm sure a lot of Indians will relate to the importance of the engagement ceremony.

Everyone joined the couple at the Sunol Valley Golf Club for breakfast, the ceremony itself, and a lunch reception afterwards. Without further ado, onto the photos!











Kunaal even got down on one knee to put the engagement ring on Mayuri's finger!


Check out that bouquet! And don't forget about the groom in the background ;)




The lunch reception started immediately after the ceremony ended. And since the clouds and winds had hung around all morning, people were happy to head indoors!

Mayuri and her friends had a sweet Bollywood dance for Kunaal.



Congrats you two! Can't wait to hear about your wedding plans in Seattle!

Labels: Engagements, Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil

  Permanent Link 9:58 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Patel Family - San Francisco Portraits Catching up on one of the many portrait sessions from the Spring, here are some highlights of the Patel Family from a sunny April afternoon in San Francisco.

We started out at Baker Beach...it was Aarav's first time at the beach and above all, he was just confused by all the water and sand. So it was definitely cute to see him make new discoveries about this 'wierd stuff' :)



We then moved onto a nearby playground where Aarav really opened up. When photographing kids, I always love to catch them in moments that they just LOVE. In this case, Aarav just loves swings and playground equipment...






And just in time for Aarav's first birthday party, the family had a couple of gallery wraps made to hang in their house. We wanted to do two completely different looks so the first one with black & white photos just have a simple background. The second one is more playful and colorful.


Aarav, I'm glad we got the chance to spend an afternoon photographing you! It's going to be a blast watching you grow up!

Labels: Family, Gallery Wrap, Gujarati, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 5:15 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Engagement Portrait Session with Kinjal & Alan Kinjal and Alan were the lucky winners of our Engagement Portrait raffle last year. We started our shoot at the Embarcadero center in San Francisco and walked over to Union Square. We had certain places that we definitely knew we wanted to cover in the photo session. However, as usual, we stopped and took impromptu pictures as we made our way through the City trying to capture the essence of San Francisco.

With great weather at San Francisco and a fun loving couple, it was no surprise that the 3 hours session just flew by











Congratulations Kinjal and Alan, it was a pleasure spending the afternoon with you!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 9:09 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Bhumika & Bharat's Sign-in Book We love taking couples out on portrait sessions. We love it even more when they get to show off their photos to all of their guests! To that end, custom sign-in books are a great way to show off photos and create a topic of conversation at wedding receptions.

Well, Bhumika & Bharat just got married over the weekend, and here's the sign-in book I made for them. We printed it in a really nice 10x10 hard cover book, metallic finish on the cover & thick, lay-flat pages inside:

Labels: Album, Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 6:22 PM  2 Comments Links to this post

  Mayuri & Kunaal's Engagement Portraits A little springtime vacation meant this blog was quieter than planned! Sorry about that :)

Here's a few shots from a fun portrait session we had in Half Moon Bay with Mayuri & Kunaal. This shoot was ALL about what they love to do and what's meaningful for them. As you'll see from the sampling of photos, we started at some local stables since Mayuri grew up with horses. We went to the Half Moon Bay Ritz since that's where they became a couple. Had some fun on the putting green, and had a little picnic on the beach. All in all, a very unique session since Mayuri & Kunaal really spent time thinking about what they love about each other and what they love doing together!

On to the photos!



The stables had this AWESOME barn. And the light?! To die for!


A little wine tasting never hurt anyone...

I personally love the whole series of these putting green photos. Mayuri & Kunaal had so much fun there, it's hard not to notice how much they love each other...




I just love unplanned shots. We found some green spots along the way to the beach and couldn't help but spend some time there...


Champagne on the beach? Yes!





Thanks for a great portraits session, see you guys later this month!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 10:01 AM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Bhumika & Bharat's Engagement Portraits I had the lovely opportunity to photograph Bhumika & Bharat who are getting married next month. Even though they live on opposite coasts, they wanted to do a fun session that was all about their time in the City together.

The shoot was a lot of fun, just like the two of them. As you can see from the favorites I've picked out, we went all over the city and founds lots of neat little spots.


As everyone who know me will realize, photographs for me aren't about the location, they're about the emotions. And I've gotta say, this photo in Union Square is my absolute fave because of Bhumika's smile. I just love it!




It was actually pretty difficult to get these two to NOT smile at me :)


Busy, busy, busy...Bharat struck this pose without Bhumika knowing and she kept wondering why I had a funny smile on my face.


And who can complain about the colors of these murals! We could have stayed in this area in the Mission all afternoon if we didn't have to get back over to the Embarcadero!





Bhumika & Bharat, we can't wait for your wedding!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 3:45 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Pallavi & Neil's Reception Finishing up on Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend, here are some highlights from their reception....Enjoy!

They had a cute fuschia & orange theme going on...



I love the texture on the fondant on this cake!


Neil's cousins had a lot of fun with some dances they did for the audience.









And, of course, everyone spent the rest of the night dancing away...



The sweetest thing at the end of the night was when Neil & Pallavi's friends conspired with the DJ to play their First Dance song while all their closest friends & family did a nice big group hug to end the dancing. I must say, in all the weddings I've photographed, this was about the sweetest way to finish the night!



Congrats Neil & Pallavi. Thanks for having us at your wedding!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

  Permanent Link 9:57 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Pallavi & Neil's Wedding Following up on the previous post about Pallavi & Neil's truly multi-cultural wedding, here are some highlights from the wedding ceremony itself. The wedding & reception were held at the Canyon View Dining Hall in San Ramon. It's a beautiful venue with a view out on the hills in the back. The ceremony itself was held outdoors so the light was just amazing especially as the sun was setting.

For folks not accustomed to Indian weddings, the fact that the ceremony was held outdoors is a bit of novelty since it's actually pretty tough to find a nice outdoor location that can hold the large number of people that are usually invited to such affairs. Safe to say, we photographers are so happy when we get such amazing light ;)

Onto the photos!













The ceremony was split into 2 halves. Following her Tamil tradition, Pallavi changed her sari half way through the ceremony. Amongst other tradtions, the second half included the mangala darna where Neil ties the traditional Tamil Thali around Pallavi's neck as she sits in her father lap. This is different than the North Indian tradition which usually involves a small Mangal Sutra and the bride doesn't sit in her father's lap.


I just absolutely LOVE the look in Pallavi's eyes here! Can ya guess she's happy?! :)

And as with most Hindu ceremonies, it can get chaotic on the mandap. In this case, numerous people had to help Neil tie the thali since it was actually difficult for him to see around all the flowers, etc. It's actually pretty fun to watch & document the little things going on like this. It's not something which the audience sees since it's usually hidden behind a bunch of people on stage who are all trying to help. So many times, I feel blessed at the chance I get to capture these little moments between family members like this one where Pallavi's aunt is explaining to Neil's sister just how the knots should be tied.


Just one more post to go for Pallavi & Neil's wedding! Watch out for the highlights from their reception coming shortly!

Labels: Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

  Permanent Link 4:40 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Pallavi & Neil's Pre-Wedding Traditions As we mentioned in the previous post, Pallavi & Neil had an action packed wedding weekend with elements of both Gujarati & Tamil wedding cultures mixed in. There was a traditional North India baraat, Tamil oonjal, and lots of other tidbits pulled from the variety that is Indian Hindu culture.

So let's start off with the events leading up the actual wedding...

Of course, a beautiful blushing bride starts her day with her sisters and mother in the hotel room :)

These are actually Pallavi's sister's saris...dontcha love the colors?!







Everyone wants a sneak peek at the bride!






If you're wondering why that umbrella's there, it's not because of rain, it's part of the tradition of a Tamil groom going to Kashi for his education. The tradition goes that the groom doesn't really want to get married and would rather further his religious education. Before he meets the bride, the priest and families must convince him to get married for the good of both families. Here, Neil's coming back to the wedding milni with his grandfather who convinced him to return to his wedding ceremony :)


A little Gujarati tradition with Pallavi coming out so that they can both garland each other. It may not look like it here, but their both on the shoulders of their relatives. The game it to prevent the other from getting the garland on. As usual, a wedding day is filled with lots of little games to keep it fun!

And just to clarify, even though Neil is following the Tamil traditions and Pallavi is following the Gujarati traditions, it's actually Neil who's Gujarati and Pallavi who's Tamil. Basically, the whole family ensured that everyone participated in the various traditions and made the entire weekend a load of fun. Some people say that a marriage isn't just about two people getting married, but actually about two families coming together. That may be a cheesy line during many speeches, but I truly believe that to be the case for multi-cultural weddings.


And moving onto more Tamil traditions, Neil & Pallavi had a Oonjal (swing) ceremony...







And to finish this post off, an afternoon portrait of the bride, groom, and groomsmen. Love it!

Look out for more from their wedding day soon!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Tamil, Weddings

  Permanent Link 5:10 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Pallavi & Neil's Garba We had the pleasure of covering Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend and since it combined both Tamil & Gujarati traditions, it was a wonderful mish-mash of cultures & events.

Here are some highlights from their garba which was held at the San Ramon Community Center. Since it's a semi-circular hall with a half-dome, I always feel like it's the perfect place for garba!

We're used to capturing all the action & movement at garba-raas, but this time, let's start with some of the details. Neil's family added some cute little touches throughout the hall to make sure people know this was a Gujarati affair :)


And the unique Ganesh statue's they had were just wonderful! These were true works of art and I couldn't help but spend some extra time getting some interesting angles on these statues.

Onto the dancing!







Watch out for more from Pallavi & Neil's wedding weekend coming up on the blog shortly!

Labels: Garba, Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 5:03 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Sharan & Manny's Engagement Portraits We got the chance to photography Sharan & Manny on a really quiet weekday in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago and we couldn't wait to share the fully processed photos. We took Sharan & Manny to the Palace of Fine Arts & Baker Beach for a wonderfully fun afternoon. Even though we only met in person for the first time during the photo session, we had talked on the phone a lot before so it really helped to understand what Sharan & Manny wanted. As you can see in these photos, we were definitely going for a really romantic look and the additional processing you see like the textures, blurs, and embellishments are all about bringing out more of that in the photos. Hope you enjoy!




This weeping willow is always so beautiful, but the location is usually way crowded. Lucky for us, it was pretty quiet and we got more than enough time to get some really stunning angles. Funny enough, this is the only photo in this blog posting that doesn't have significant artistic post production done to it!

This is my ABSOLUTE fave from this session. As usual, we time our sessions knowing where the sun will be; Asad noticed this angle and we just had to stop and get some crazy cool backlit photos with some sharp sun flares. Yes, there's artistic post work done on this photo, but a lot less than you'd imagine ;) Yes, the sun's real, yes, the blur's real...just some texturing & color touch-ups added...







Sharan & Manny, thanks for giving us the opportunity to photograph your engagement portraits!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 12:09 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Sai's Arangetram Recital Album In our last post, I mentioned the custom designed album we made of Sai's Arangetram. The main objective of the album was to tell a story on every spread about a particular course during the Arangetram performance. This is sort of like doing a wedding album, but since Sai is essentially telling a story with her dance, we have to ensure we relay that story with a relatively small number of photos. Here are a few of the album spreads we included in her album.

While designing albums we think about & try to incorporate into our spreads are things like textures & embellishments as well as detailed photos for use in the background (in this case, Sai's bells, hands, etc). As you can see from the examples below, we try to take a few moments captured in our photos and tell a dramatic story.

We'd love to show some of these albums to you in person, so please schedule a consultation time with us so we can talk to you in greater detail!






As an example of laying out each spread such that it tells a story, the above spread is all about receiving blessings from Sai's Guru and family. Mixed use of color and b+w images in the spread helps to bring attention to the main picture without creating any clutter.

Designing unique layouts for each album really gets our creative juices flowing. We know this album is way for Sai's family to treasure their daughter's arangetram for years to come and compliments like "The album looks INCREDIBLE." from Sai's father inspires us to keep innovating with our album designs!

Labels: Album, Arangetram, Bharatha Natyam, Dance, Performance, Portfolio, Recital

  Permanent Link 2:28 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Photo of the Week...Again! Well, I don't like to gloat, but heck, I will :)

The previous gallery wrap montage which we featured here on the site has won "photo of the week" honors from Pieces of the Picture.

If you're curious about family photography, Pieces of the Picture goes beyond the typical photography tips type of site since it's about more than just a "how to"...it goes into a lot of the thought process and challenges to capturing a family's moments. Have a look at their site as well as their Flickr group if you have a chance.

As we've been getting more into family portraiture, we've been trying a lot of different things so that our work is fresh and can provide lasting memories for our clients. So that might mean portraits in front of a backdrop or outdoor portraits. The way it's presented, I think, makes a huge difference also. So the online versions of the montages we've shown might look great online, but I love seeing people's reactions when they see these huge wraps in person.

Here's the winning photo montage again in case you didn't see the previous blog post:

Labels: Family, Personal, Portfolio, Portraits, The Biz

  Permanent Link 6:09 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  More Gallery Wrap & Montage Goodness We've been getting such a great response on the Gallery Wraps using photo montages, I figured I'd share a personal example of my daughter Sophia. These gallery wraps have a lustrous metallic finish to them and hang without any need for a frame. It's great any where you want something a bit more modern, but as you can see with the background, we can mix it up for a wide variety of look.

This was a Valentine's Day gift to my wife and now hangs in our family room next to the couch. Safe it say it brings a smile to our faces every time we look at it!

If you're interested in a portrait session for you or your children, or you just want to create a unique enlargement like the example here, drop us a line.

Labels: Enlargements, Family, Gallery Wrap, Personal, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 2:55 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Photo of the week Well, whaddya know, a photo from the last photo shoot I posted was selected as Photo of the Week for the "Pieces of the Picture" blog. Always nice to know that people enjoy the work we do and even a little recognition is appreciated. Thanks to Tommy over there for the consideration!

Here's the selected photo:


Here's the blog post on their site about the Photo of the Week

Have a look at the rest of their blog for some great advice on photographing families, especially children: Piece of the Picture

Labels: Family, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits, The Biz

  Permanent Link 9:13 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Qureshi Family Portraits Wow, what a fun afternoon with the Qureshi sisters and their kids! I've been itching to post these photos to the blog and now that we've presented the photos to the family, I'm happy to show you some of the highlights.

As we've been doing some work outside of the usual Indian weddings, I've found family life sessions to be so enjoyable. There's a very different vibe with an entire family interacting with each other. And notice that I called these Life Sessions, not portraits...after all, the time we spend with these families is about capturing their lives together, not just about posing for a camera. So during these sessions, we do the usual group portraits, but most of the time is spent finding those family interactions which are so special and will be remembered forever.

Anyways, onto the photos! I know the family from Tayyiba's wedding about 3 years ago. We covered many of their events and so it was a great chance to see the family again, especially how the kids have grown and to meet the newest member of the family, Tayyiba's son, the little Z-Man!

Enjoy the photos!

We started off at the Ferry Building in San Francisco....
Talking about family interactions, this is one of those moments which are so common between a mother and her child. I decided to take this simple moment and make it a bit more special with some extra post-work, tying in textures & illustrations for something which highlights that special bond.


Little Inaaya was a bit shy when posing for her pictures, but she just loved showing me her dancing skills! So here's a few shots I took while she showed me how to dance.




From the Embarcadero, we moved onto Baker Beach. The sunsets there just can't be beat!









And this is an example of the unique montage enlargements we like to provide. It's a way to take a wonderful photo and turn it into something really special that will look great in the family room, living room...anywhere you please!

Labels: Family, Gallery Wrap, Life Session, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 2:05 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Reena & Kedar - Wedding Reception Following up on the previous post, Reena & Kedar held their reception on a warm summer afternoon...the relaxed atmosphere just seemed to fit them so well...






I mentioned before that Kedar's music was the doorway into his soul. Well, he actually performed at his reception and he definitely rocked the house!





Hmm...should we be worried about competing photographers?! :)

Rather than heading straight to dancing to DJ music, everyone started off with some garba-raas.
No photoshop here! Just having some fun with camera technique.



Reena & Kedar, thanks for having us at your wedding! Congrats!

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 10:27 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Reena & Kedar - Wedding Ceremony Her eyes are the window into her heart.

His music is the doorway into his soul.

Reena & Kedar showed us so much of their personalities throughout their wedding days. As you'll see in these photos, Reena has just about the most expressive eyes I've ever seen. And Kedar is so talented with his guitar. Both of them were so Zen throughout the day and it made this summertime wedding all the more enjoyable. They were married at the San Jose Holiday Inn near downtown. They have this lovely courtyard in the middle of the hotel so it made for a really nice outdoor wedding in the gazebo.

On to the photos!


Reena and her bridesmaids got ready in her hotel room.


The next two photos probably say all I need to about Reena's expressive-ness. That smile and those eyes are the sign of a happy bride!



As I mentioned, these two were so zen throughout the day so we were able to spend a good deal of time taking couples portraits before the wedding. We had a bit of fun by playing some games between the more serious portraits.


Reena's bridesmaids wore coordinated saris. And they were just as ready for a great day as Reena!

Mid-summer baraat in the sun? No problem for Kedar's family...they were ready to dance!




Here's a few moments from the afternoon...













Stay tuned for more photos from Reena & Kedar's reception...

Labels: Gujarati, Hindu, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 10:05 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Kalpana & Ramesh's Wedding You saw their engagement portraits in the last blog posting. Well, here's Kalpana & Ramesh's wedding ceremony. They had a very traditional Telugu ceremony at the Livermore Hindu Temple.

The temple is always so wonderful on a clear summer morning. I love the stark colors, especially against the deep blue sky.








As I mentioned, the couple had a traditional Telugu ceremony, so Kalpana started with a Gauri Pooja.






And if you've never attended a Telugu ceremony, you're really missing out! Kalpana and I spent some time before her wedding going over the little details & traditions that were really for her and her family. And sure enough, we had some fun capturing these little moments. From the jaggery on the heads, to the oodles & oodles of rice & flowers, I've gotta say, the Telugu traditions are so unique to Hindu ceremonies.


















The next couple of shots are of people you don't usually see at weddings - the children of the bride and groom! This first shot is Ramesh's son, who just had a blast throughout the ceremony. He clearly had learned about all of the details of the wedding and kept asking his dad about the little things going on.

The other thing I loved about this was that Kalpana's daughter and Ramesh's son were spending the ceremony enjoying the traditions together. Both were clearly elated to have a new sibling. Gotta say, cute & precious isn't normally used for kids this age, but that's exactly what describes them.




Kalpan & Ramesh, it was a pleasure photographing your wedding. Thank you for giving me the privilege!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:42 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Kalpana & Ramesh's Engagement Portraits Kalpana & Ramesh came to us last spring looking for coverage of their wedding and some classic engagement portraits. The Stanford campus fit them perfectly so we took them out last summer for one of the more classic portrait sessions we've done in a while. But, as you'll notice in the photos below, we tried to mix things up with a variety of stuff over the course of the shoot.

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 11:11 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Gurjeet & Jessie - Reception Finishing up the posts on Gurj & Jess's wedding weekend, the couple had their reception in Woodland near Jess's home. And since the wedding day was so jam packed, they held the reception the next day. This made for something where everybody just couldn't wait to party up.


We had some time for portraits so we actually went to nearby UC Davis and had a relaxed photoshoot amongst the trees & by the water. It's always great when the schedule allows for all these extra moments!







And of course the hot color of burnt orange...everyone seems to comment on how great it looks at Indian functions, and I couldn't agree more...













And the dancing! What Punjabi wedding would be complete without lots and lots of dancing! Can't ya tell that Gurj had been itching to get onto the dance floor? :)



Jess' brother was having a lot of fun crowd surfing...



Congrats you two! We had a pleasure photographing your special weekend. Can't wait to make your album!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 5:05 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Gurjeet & Jessie - Wedding Day As I mentioned in the previous post about Gurjeet & Jessie's wedding weekend, they took part in just about every Punjabi & Sikh tradition. This meant a really amazing weekend...and lots of photos!

So this post focuses just on their wedding day...get ready for a bunch of photos!


We started day off around 6am...I was with Gurjeet in San Jose, Asad was with Jessie in Vallejo...talk about travelling the entire Bay Area!








The families then came together at the Gurdwara in San Jose...always a lovely location since the light is just amazing! And something I just love about Sikh ceremonies is how serene the entire wedding is. Yes, there's a lot of joy & celebration, but overall, it's a very quiet & serene time...very different from most Hindu ceremonies which can be rater chaotic.


















And so the madness starts with the doli! Traditionally, the groom comes to the bride's house to fetch her and the bride's cousins tease the groom (and try to extract cash!)


Whether it's Sikh or Hindu, when it's time for the bride to leave with her new family, it can be really emotional. As I've said before, I now think about this a lot more since my daughter came along...



For this final shot, I like to call it the ZeeTV shot since it always seems to appear on ZeeTV soap operas when there's a wedding. In this case, Gurjeet was welcomed into Jessie's home for the the Paani Bhaar.


Look for another post shortly on Gurj & Jess's reception!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:57 AM  3 Comments Links to this post

  Sunny & Gary's Engagement Portraits We've been amiss lately due to some travel that both Asad and I have been doing. But getting back into the swing of posting some highlights from our recent shoots...

We actually took Sunny & Gary out back in July a little while before their wedding. Now that the fall chill is upon us, it's actually kind of nice to see these warm pictures :)

On to the photos!

Although we only met Sunny & Gary for the first time at the shoot itself, it was actually really easy to get into the swing of the photo session. We normally start things out a bit slow & formal, but I quickly realized that there was no need for that.

We started the shoot over at The Palace of Fine Arts and then moved on to Baker Beach. Something about Indian skin tones, blue tones in clothing and the Palace of Fine Arts just goes together....









We actually spent way more time at the beach and for good reason. They were game for lot of stuff including getting wet in the water.




This shot obviously has a lot of work done to it with the color tones, textures, etc, but it spoke to me even before I started editing it. It's actually posted on Flickr and it's one of my most viewed shots there. Asad actually took the shot and I wouldn't be surprised if he counts it as one of his annual faves :)




This is one of those serendipitous shots...totally unplanned and unposed (just a bit of shoe arranging), but it's one of my faves from this year...and it's a nice way to end this post.

Sunny & Gary, congrats on your wedding!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 12:54 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Shweta & David's Reception Following up on the last posting, here are some photos from Shweta & David's Wedding Reception which was held at the Summit Center in downtown San Jose.

We actually started off with some evening portraits in the Fairmont. We just love tying back portraits to the event venues so whenever possible, we utilize great spots inside or outside the wedding or reception location. Of course, the lobby of the Fairmont is outstanding so no complaints from us :)


Look at David all dapper in his tux. Love the silver...

Later on in the evening we actually did an impromptu photo session on the balcony of the Summit Center. With the sun setting & San Jose City Hall in the background, there's no denying where the party was at!
Since there's two of us covering the wedding, we have the chance of capturing the anticipating before the couple make their grand entrance. A last glance at each other before Shweta & David make their arrival...

Just a few shots from the night...



They had this wonderful cake which just made for great photos...

And with floor to ceiling windows, the colors they chose really lent a bright airy feel to things...


Just a few from their first dance...



And finally...time to get the party started!

I had a lot of fun playing with the lighting. The DJ had some crazy lights going on, so we were able to get some fun starlight pops into our photos.



Shweta & David, thanks for giving us the opportunity to get to know you and cover your wedding!

Labels: Portfolio, Portraits, Weddings

  Permanent Link 4:05 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Shweta & David's Wedding Getting back to posting some recent weddings, here's a peek into Shweta & David's Wedding. If you recall, I posted some of their engagement portraits here. I must say that we love it when we're able to do both a couple's wedding day as well as their engagement portraits. It really builds on the relationship we have with our clients.

Anyways, onto the photos...

We spent the day in downtown San Jose...starting at the Fairmont and then heading over to Summit Center which overlooks City Hall.

A bunch of morning photos....the schedule for the day allowed for a lot of time before the wedding to get all those wonderful getting-ready shots as well as the details of the outfits. Since Shweta had a few outfits throughout the day, I had a lot of great stuff to work with....





I just loved the simplicity of Shweta's bouquet...
They made this really modern yet classic gift box wrapped in a nice silk material. It matched the colors used throughout the day. Burnt orange is one of those new classics. While it's really popular now, I have a feeling we'll be seeing it for years to come...
To top off the box, they had this cute little topper of our lovely couple. And no, the rings weren't stuck onto the box :)

In case you wanted a closer look at these rings. You can never go wrong with Tiffany's, huh?

Moving on to the ceremony....




Since I had been with Shweta all morning I knew she really just wanted to get things going. She was really calm, but just couldn't wait. I love the look on her face her as David places the garland around her neck.



Finishing off the first part of the day, we don't normally post many of the formal portraits, but I just *had* to share this portrait...Since the agenda allowed for it, I took Shweta & David around the Fairmont on a location hunt. We found quite a few places and got some great shots. My fave was this corner. It had the chaise & mirrors I had been hunting for. I wanted to get that wonderful bouquet into the photo too. And so amongst the many other shots we got that afternoon, this has gotta be one of my favorites...





Look out for more from their wedding in an upcoming post!

Labels: Portfolio, Portraits, Weddings

  Permanent Link 4:12 PM  2 Comments Links to this post

  Neera & Trushar's Engagement Portraits Back to the portraits!

Just a few shots from a shoot we did in June in San Francisco. This was before the usual summertime fog in The City so the colors & light were just so wonderful.



We started off the formal shots at The Palace of Fine Arts. Even though there's a lot construction going on there, we still find several great spots. And even though we shot at mid-day, the light bouncing off the Exploratorium was just wonderful.

I think these next two shots show off Neera & Trushar's personalities better. Getting out of the formal outfit and onto the beach on a nice hot day can certainly help loosen things up ;)



And speaking of small worlds...if you read our last post about Manisha & Ashwin's reception theme of Vegas...I mentioned that they were introduced to each other by mutal friends. Well, it was Neera & Trushar that introduced them to each other...aww how schweet :)

Anyways, it was a wonderful afternoon photographing...especially since we got to cool off a bit in the nice cold water! Congrats guys! Hope you love the shots!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 5:25 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Manisha & Ashwin's Wedding & Reception As promised last week, here are photos from the rest of Manisha & Ashwin's weekend. The entire day was lovely with the venues serving perfectly for what the couple wanted...an elegant outdoor wedding and a raging party at night! The wedding was at the lovely Bella Montagna Estate which had a beautiful view of the Santa Clara valley. The evening fun was at the Doubletree in San Jose. It's a place we always love since the staff (and Daljit in particular) do a kick-ass job and help everything run more smoothly.

We started the day off at Manisha's house where she along with all her friends & close family were getting ready. It was sort of the mad-house with so many mulling about, but Manisha was particularly enjoying the lead up to her wedding.




Manisha had a pretty sweet antique Stutz limo to take her to the wedding...

In the meantime, Ashwin was getting ready amidst a bunch of activity as well. Since Ashwin comes from a Punjabi family, the morning of the wedding was quite busy for them with Pagri tying (Turban), Sehra Bandhi (Tying of the tassles on his turban by his sisters), etc, etc.
The baraat was a short one, but check out this little captain! He rode along on the horse with Ashwin till near the end where he walked and danced out the rest of the baraat.

A moment I just love from weddings is when the bride & groom see each other for the first time in their wedding outfits. For Hindu weddings, this is generally on the mandap right after the anterpath is drawn down to present the couple to one another. Manisha had a particularly great reaction which was just the start of the fun for the day.

Now, if you've followed this blog, you know that the Kanyadaan (which the bride's parents give her away) usually has photos of hands joined together, etc. In this case, Manisha's father had some fun and stole her away from her groom!

Just some other details & moments which Asad and I loved from this outdoor ceremony.




We had a bit of extra time for some creative portraits...just one of the shots from the afternoon...

As a new father, I can't help but put myself in the shoes of the bride's father during the vidaii (when the bride traditionally says goodbye to her family and goes to her groom's family). It's a touchy time since tears are flowing so we try to be pretty low key while taking photos. I just love this shot of Manisha's father as Manisha looks on in the background.




Moving on the party at night....we were presented with a Vegas theme. Since Manisha & Ashwin met through mutual friends while partying in Vegas, what's more appropriate?!

The night was complete with flower filled martini centerpieces...


Decks of cards for everyone...
And a yummy looking cupcake cake!
And judging from the fun they had throughout the day, Manisha & Ashwin weren't about to let up on the fun...they entered the hall with their first dance, then proceeded to knock everyone's socks off with a choreographed number.

No, it wasn't a ballroom number...

They went onto wowing the crowd with a bunch of different dances including some bhangra, garba, and....

The Soulja Boy!

I've never heard a crowd roar so loud as when the steel drums from the song started up and both Manisha & Ashwin started with some dips. Can you tell we love it when a couple has fun with their day?!


Just love this shot becuase of Manisha's look...see her crouching down there?

Cheers to a great couple! Thanks for having us at your events and congrats to you and your families!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 2:32 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Manisha's Pre-Wedding Events Yes, we do indeed do other things besides engagement portraits :) But don't worry, there are a ton more engagement portraits to show off!

For a change of pace, here are some wedding related photos from about a month ago. These are from Manisha's pre-wedding events at her home in San Jose. Their wedding photos will follow in a bit...

The first part of the morning was the Ganesh Pooja where Manisha's parents basically welcomed the upcoming events (Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, wards away evil spirits). Her uncles also did some of their thing like planting a "tree" outside the house, etc. Gujarati culture at its finest :)





And then Manisha made her entrance and promptly got pasted! As tradition dictates, Manisha's aunts applied tumeric paste (haldi) on her skin. It's supposed to make a bride's skin glow, but the aunts always have some fun with it.


And then moving onto the vidhi itself where Manisha & her parents did the needful before the wedding day.



And, of course, we can't forget the Grande Dame of the house, Lily! It was her birthday and she had a great time getting pet by all of the guests. She did get a little impatient near the end when she was ready to be walked. Who can blame her! Hindu weddings have so much going on, any dog would get bored! :)


Anyways, more to come from Manisha's wedding day...

Labels: Grah Shanti, Haldi, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 4:40 PM  3 Comments Links to this post

  Shweta & David Engagement Portraits Wedding season is upon us and, as usual, we're finding it tough to keep posting here on the blog since we're wrapped up in events & post-production. Anyways, we'll certainly try to do better with keeping things fresh here ;)

So onto Shweta & David's engagement portraits. The happy couple is actually getting married today! So in advance of that, we went out to San Francisco. North Beach and Baker Beach were the neighborhoods of choice on this shoot.

Washington Square is always a nice little spot to start off the afternoon with. Since the weather was great, it was actually pretty crowded and finding sight lines without sunbathers was a challenge!


Look at David all dapper in his suit!

We found this closed down cafe/restaurant that still had a bench outside. The wierd thing is that the restaurant still had all of the tables with ready place settings..glasses, napkins, silverware, etc. It was like they had set everything up for the next day and then just decided to not open up! Anyways, we got this great little spot just off of the street.



Can ya say GLARE! Lovin' it!

Oooh, textures. Couldn't help adding some with this shot.

A private moment as we pretended to change lenses :) No matter how much our couples want to get candids, we still try and mix it up to give them something they don't expect...
Can you believe Baker Beach was packed with sunbathers and kids playing in the water? We still found a few angles where we had a clear view all the way to Golden Gate Bridge. Beautiful day!

I love how the light bounces off David's shirt back onto Shweta. Talk about sun kissed.

And finally...kissing in the sun :)

Congrats guys! Can't wait to see what you guys have planned for today!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 8:04 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Rina & Amit Engagement Portraits As wedding season has been ramping up, we've been doing some engagement portrait sessions for couple with upcoming ceremonies. So we'll be posting a few of these before posting another wedding...

Starting off with a wonderfully cute couple we shot in the North Beach and Embarcadero areas of San Francisco. They were up for anything and even got a bit wet while posing in a fountain at the Embarcadero....

In the last post, I mentioned that the programs during wedding receptions have changed over the years. What our clients want out of their engagement portraits has changed quite a bit too. We still capture the more standard posed portraits which the couple's parents will want, but in the three or four hours we spend with our couples, we're really trying to show their personalities and express something unique through these portraits...So you'll see a lot of stuff which may not fly at a wedding reception, but it's a direction that we just love and hope our clients continue to ask for more of!



Love the texture on this shot from Washington Square.



And as you head off into married life, what's wrong with a little playing on a playground slide?!


The funny thing with this shot is that Rina & Amit didn't know this graffiti actually spelled out North Beach until after we took the shots.




We spent a little time getting to know the couple over some coffee. And we ended up with some awesome-tacular light at this sidewalk cafe. Just gotta love unplanned stuff.


Ahem...can you say romantic?
Or would that be steamy?!





I just love that little bit of sun peeking through on Rina's neck.


And my fave shot of the afternoon...of course it has to involve glare. Meanwhile, Rina was getting her legs soaked from the fountain right behind them. They could only hold this look for so long until they both cracked up from how wet they were. Gamers, I tell you...our clients are gamers!

Congrats on your engagement guys. I can't wait to capture your ceremony!

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 7:57 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Tejal & Nalin's Wedding Things have been a bit quiet on the front here since I (Jigar) just had a baby! As we're settling down, we're still catching up on some of the recent events we've covered.

In the last post, we showed you some of Tejal & Nalin's pre-wedding events. Now on to the wedding day itself....

To this day, I always wonder how the bride does it all...starting with make-up before 6am and ending the reception after midnight.

Ready??

Set??


Go!!


Welcoming Nalin...as we've mentioned before, this is the time where it's like a crush of humanity! So many people want to see what's going on. And with so much built up excitement, there's hardly room for the photographers!
But we still squeeze in for the shot ;)

Check out this cool Antharpath. The Antharpath is the cloth which separates the couple when the bride first arrives on the wedding mandap. Generally, the couple holds hands underneath this cloth, but this Antharpath was designed with a heart-shaped hole right in the middle. Aww...how schweet!


Hook Em! Longhorns all around! The groom, his sister, and seemingly everyone else in attendance were Texas alums.

A quieter moment as the bride's mother was waiting for her daughter to say her goodbyes. As I've said previously....sometimes these moments even bring tears to our eyes.

And moving onto the Reception...



Speaking of Longhorns...808 in the house!
Look at the cupcakes! Yum!

The traditional shot of the couple entering is getting them head on as they're waving to the crowd. While we make sure we get that, I just love trailing the couple as they enter and get the reaction of all of their guests.

The agenda for receptions has changed since we started doing weddings. There used to be speech after speech after speech interspersed with a couple of performances. Lately, couples have been skipping the lengthy speeches or performance for more fun stuff. In this case, the Tejal & Nalin played a game where they had to tell everyone who would have the final say on various moments in a married couple's life. Very rarely have I seen the entire reception hall so noisy....everyone really had a lot of fun with this one. That definitely makes it more fun for us as photographers too!

Just love Tejal's expression here

Definitely a Texan at heart...

On to the partying!

Congrats guys! I know you had a great time all weekend. Best wishes as you enjoy married life!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:48 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Tejal & Nalin's Pre-Wedding Events As most people would probably already know, Indian weddings can last days. In fact, that's one of the first thing non-Indians might say is something like "Man, they take so long!".

Umm...yeah.
.
..
...
But, the next thing they say might is "I'm sure they're so much fun though!"

Ain't it true!

Tejal & Nalin brought us down to the Pismo Beach area to cover 5 events spread across 3 days and boy, did everyone have a blast. With most people flying and driving in from all over the country, it was really like a destination wedding...even though the destination was Tejal's 'hood.

So let's start off with the pre-wedding events


With over 800 people attending various events...Tejal's mom really held it down and made sure everyone enjoyed the weekend. Of course, she had lots of help, but as photographers, we've just gotta hand it to the parents of our couples, this one especially. They always do so much to not only please their guests, but also to make their photographers welcome in their homes!





The details of pre-wedding events are always interesting and definitely less well understood than the main wedding ceremony. These are where specific family culture really varies. Even amongst Gujaratis, the order of things and the littlest details will be unique depending on which part of the state the family originates from.


One of the most fun elements of a wedding weekend is the bride's Haldi ceremony. In Gujarati culture, this is referred to as the Pithi. Starting with the aunts who are usually a bit more docile...

To the friends who make sure the haldi gets ALL over...

Ending with the bride getting her friends back for all the haldi loving attention :)


Moving onto the garba raas...it's all about the movement and the craziness of running around with sticks!





More to come soon from the rest of Tejal & Nalin's wedding weekend....stay tuned!

Labels: Garba, Grah Shanti, Haldi, Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 3:44 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Chanden & Val's Wedding In the last post you saw some of Chanden & Val's engagement portraits. Well, here are some from their wedding & reception.

The wedding was at the Fremont Gurudwara.

Chanden chose a bit of a unique color for a Sikh ceremony, but then again, both Chanden & Val don't follow convention, now do they?



Rarely do we see an actual doli any more during weddings, so it was a bit of a surprise to see this one. Chanden had a great time being pushed by her brother and male cousins. The rain caused a bit of a problem, but, hey, as the bride, she was dry as can be....




The rain really caused a bit of havoc for portraits since we were supposed to head to the Japanese Friendship Garden. Since it was pouring by the time we reached Downtown San Jose, we took advantage of the lobby at the Fairmont. Hmm....really posh hotel with wonderful ambient light & flower centerpieces just like Chanden loves?! Yes please!



For once, we had a lot of "down time" so we had some fun with the couple, the bridesmaids and the grooms men...

Don't mess with the bride!






Moving on the reception, we were at a really unique location, The Corinthian Center which is in Downtown San Jose. It allowed for a unique entrance for the couple high above their guests on a balcony where they opened the night with their first dance...





Since we've been doing weddings for a while now, we've begun to see some once-popular trends become less common. One of those trends which used to be at EVERY reception was dance performances. We used to get at least one if not two or three at every reception. Nowadays, couples usually have a speech or two and get right into the dancing. In this case, Chanden's cousins showed off their skills with a little medley...


Here's to another lovely couple. Congrats Chanden & Val!

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 10:24 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Chanden & Val's Engagement Portraits Getting back on track since the beginning of the year, we've got quite a few events which we've neglected to include on the blog.

Starting off with Chanden & Valery's engagement portraits. What's great about our clients is that we seem to be on the same page about adding creativity and unique elements to something as common as couple's portraits. In this case, instead of going with something like the Palace of Fine Arts or the Golden Gate Bridge as a setting, we finalized on the Ferry Building/ Embarcadero area in San Francisco. It fit their desire for an urban feel with lots of things to interact with. We had talked about doing something in the Mission District, but they wanted a little different and this area really clicked with them as soon as I mentioned it. With such a bubbly couple, we definitely didn't want to stick them in the middle of a lonely park...walking the streets of San Francisco is definitely more their style.

If you haven't been there, the first thing you'd notice on the weekends is that there's a lot going on in the area. We actually took these portraits before Christmas, so not only did we have the hub-bub of the farmer's market, we also had the crowds looking to skate on the ice rink behind the Embarcadero. So much action is not usually what a photographer wants during engagement portraits, but we took it as a challenge and ended up working in the crowds where possible.

Anyways, onto the portraits!


Many photographers try to stay away from the sun when it's so high in the sky...Our philosophy? Work it! Getting that glare can be something really unique with little extra attention. Chanden & Val were definitely up for it.


What better way to show off The Rock?! This shot was actually pretty organic in the sense that I worked it out with the couple on the spot and it ended up being something none of us planned in advance. I love it when we can brainstorm ideas with our couples. It's something that we always encourage, but rarely do we have clients who listen to our idea and then very quickly respond back with a variation. Gotta love it!


San Francisco always guarantees a great variety of shots and well known landmarks. What's more is that it's a bit different every time we shoot there. If you're wondering..that's the Bay Bridge in the background. Visitors to the Bay Area always think it's the Golden Gate Bridge for some reason....

Central Park? Well, that's the look Chanden wanted to go for. Just scoping out the area around North Beach and the Embarcadero, we found a little park nestled in between the taller buildings. Perfect fall/winter feel.

Talk about glare! Walking along Market Street, I thought the sun was just something we had to include in this shot.


At the end of our shoot, most couples are usually pretty tired. Taking pictures isn't an easy thing! At this point in our shoots, we usually have to slow down and give really specific directions to our couples. In this case, Chanden & Val were indeed tired, but more than anything else, they were just so relaxed. We had gotten the exact types settings we had talked about and they knew any extra shots were just gravy. So I let them relax and just stood back. This candid shot is something I just love getting since it's all on them and without further direction from behind the camera. All in all, a fun shoot.

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio, Portraits

  Permanent Link 4:22 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Amar & Parveen Colors. Rich, Amazing Colors.

That's about all Asad and I could say upon first looking through the photos from this wedding. It was the first Sikh wedding we had done in a while and the first one in Sacramento. It was so hot out there my main flash failed at 11am from the heat! And that was just after the milni! Thankfully we always have back ups though :) Not to mention that it was such a wonderful day and so much natural light streamed in that flash-less shots were so much easier than with the usual hotel banquet hall wedding.

Anyways, onto some photos...


The colors that the couple chose were rather different than what's we've seen, especially during a Sikh wedding. Obviously though, this unique pink went so well with the gold.


You know what I love the most about this shot? Parveen's cousin looking through the window. Doing weddings, people are almost always aware there's a photographer with a big camera around or they're completely trying to ignore the guy with the big black camera. So it's hard to get a shot which is some where in between that "Take a photo of me!" and "Oh, pretend like he's not taking a photo". Anyways, this time, I feel like we got one of those rare in betweens.



During one of my first Sikh weddings I took a shot similar to this and it's still one of my faves for it's meaning. In Hindu culture, the bride and groom have their dupattas tied to each other. In Sikh tradition, the couple hold their ends of the dupatta. Actively holding the dupatta throughout the ceremony just seems to hold so much meaning where the couple if confirming that they are indeed entering their marriage of their own accord.

And regardless of the meaning, I just love the shallow depth of field :)




Another big difference with Sikh tradition is that the couple does their darndest to keep looking down and not smile throughout the entire Anand Karaj. No matter how much in love they are, it's so rare to see the couple smile. Very different than most Hindu ceremonies where the couple is smiling & talking while on the mandap.




The Guru Granth Sahib is such a work of art. Something about the Punjabi script in this format just looks great.

And besides, I love the shallow depth of field...again :)




The West Sacramento Gurdwara was so large and spacious that it offered wonderful opportunities to get really interesting angles. And again, the mish-mash of colors really just adds to the depth. These are gonna look great in a nice big wedding album!




Though more sparsely decorated than the Fremont Gurdwara, this location, again, offered so many cool angles.




And the reception. Man, what details. Though it was definitely over the top, the decorations were just so...amazing to look at? Monograms are nothing new for couples nowadays, but in this case, they were interspersed throughout the hall and looked really nice.

Not to mention the custom made cookies :)




Note for people planning their wedding decorations: Really colorful floodlights shining up on the walls look awesome. In this case, the gold lights really added wonderful accents to the red which both the bride & groom wore that evening. A little extra ambient backlight lead to these deeply colorful shots.

And so...with the end of the summer season, we're still catching up on posting to the blog, but we'll continue to provide tidbits into the work we're doing. Thanks everyone for continuing to read. And please post comments! We'd love to hear more about your thoughts on our work.

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:56 PM  2 Comments Links to this post

  Sharmila & Suneel Woah...a month just passes by like that. Catching up on the blogging, here's some tidbits from Sharmila & Suneel's big day.

Starting the day off with hair, make-up, and a little champagne. Can't say that it's a bad thing :)



A beautiful location at the house of a relative. We've done outdoor weddings before, but this one seemed to cover every little detail. The more I see these bright colors, the more I like them for such festive affairs and Indian weddings.




Just as the bride was getting ready to arrive, there was a little drama with one of the flowergirls. To be honest, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. It's not surprising that a five year old who has been standing in the heat for an hour would get tired or nervous when she's about to be the center of attention. In any case, the flower petals made their way to the aisle and the ring was delivered to the mandap!



The day just ended up being one of those perfect balances of warmth & breeze.



One of the great things about most Hindu weddings (in our perspective) is all the little details with items on the mandap. Some times it's a Ganesh carving or the priest's prayer books. In this case, the mandap was very empty. It was a very modern wedding and the details were in every aspect of the decorations, but the ceremony itself was quite simple. Totally different challenge from a photography perspective since we really love capturing all the details. So here's just one of those details of the couple holding hands.



The traditional exit shots you get at Western weddings just don't always happen with Indian weddings. In fact, the bride almost always leaves crying since the Vidaii (the bride finally leaving her parents' family for her new family) is just part of the tradition. So it's a nice change to see such elation on the bride's face as she leaves the mandap!



Not have a traditional type of hall for the reception really let the couple dream up an awesome look for the evening. A tent with open doorways on such a nice day led to such a nice warmth as the sun set.



I love getting candid moments like these...almost like I had posed them, but hey, they just kissed spontaneously! As a photographer, finding these moments without being intrusive can be tough, especially with Indian weddings when the couple just doesn't get much time to themselves or to just think for a moment.




And, of course, the couple having a little fun with their speech. Good stuff!



And as a Bruin, how could I forget the 8-clap! The bride's friend busted out the cheer to the chagrin of the groom's Trojan buddies.



Somehow lifting the groom (and sometimes the bride) onto your shoulders has become a tradition. I really can't say why, but hey, it's a moment to themselves :)

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:55 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Nishi & Devang's Engagement Portraits It was a pleasure taking these portraits....I've known Nishi for 20 years! And the wonderful Westside weather didn't hurt either :) Starting in Marina Del Rey and making our way north through Venice and ending up in Santa Monica was a great afternoon. The completely different environment definitely got my creative juices flowing and Nishi had to remind me that they loved taking photos, but they had to get going to their evening plans...talk about an ethusiastic photographer!

Anyways...enjoy....


The Venice canals...a hidden gem on the Westside...amazing that they're nestled just a couple blocks from a major street with tons of traffic!


What always makes me smile is the expressions that couples have on their faces when they're having a great time. This usually happens during wedding receptions when the newly married couple are dancing together, but I just love Nishi's smile in this photo. Spontaneous and fleeting...just love capturing that.


Obviously much more posed...the setting sun, beach, and ocean in the background? Makes me want to go right back and take another couple there. Traveling photographer? How about traveling clients?!


Loved the lines on this wood bench and the people nearby conveniently got up just as I wished there was more space on the bench to get a slightly askew shot. Photographing people, I tend to forget about lines, but I just had to get this bench into their shoot.

How can you do a shoot in Santa Monica without looking out on the Pacific?

Labels: Engagements, Portfolio

  Permanent Link 1:51 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Deepa & Neel's Wedding We mentioned Deepa & Neel before when they sent a sweet thank you note after their wedding. Well, here finally are some of their photos....

With so many people coming from out of town, this wedding party was ready to dance! The day turned out just perfect outside and these photographers were definitely not complaining :)
After several smaller weddings, it was a nice change to have such a big event. It's also nice when they all line up for a nice photo-op and we don't even have to ask :)
One of the toughest things regardless of the wedding size, is any ceremony where everyone wants to look. Hindu ceremonies are notorious for being events that come and go without the guests taking notice, but one part where everyone cranes their neck to see is the milni - literally "the meeting". Amongst the crowd, the bride's mother greets the groom and conducts a short prayer. After a wild baraat, this is considered to be the start of the wedding ceremony. And so your friendly neighborhood photographer has to make himself invisible, yet be right next to the action. Lest the photos are of people's backs, rather than the bride's mother welcoming her new son-in-law. With several hundred people pushing and on tip-toes, photography "on the ground" takes on a new meaning...just ask our knees :)
Check out Deepa's mendhi...she was concerned it wouldn't turn out dark enough...the color came out to be such a nice match with her outfit and jewelry.


I think of the sindoordara to be one of the bollywood moments. It is when the groom places the sindoor (vermillion) on his new bride's forehead (well, the part in her hair actually). So why is it a bollywood moment? Well, it's something that's a very common part of Indian film and TV, but it's not really something which means anything to the couples...it's just another part of the ceremony, for all intents and purposes. But of course, it leads to nice photos :)
Okay, okay, my cake snobbery is quickly fading. Just look at it! So pretty!

Now here's a cool idea..instead of flowers for the centerpieces, edible arrangements! Yum! The funniest thing was that the guests had to be reminded several times throughout the night that the centerpieces were actually edibles. Ha!
I'm always supportive of guests bringing their own cameras to these events. Especially when it results in a nice coincidence like this....amazingly, it's quite rare to catch another flash in our own photos.


And finally...just a little trickery with shutters and extended exposures.

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 9:55 PM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Keya & Jiggar's Wedding As we start posting recent work, we'll have a lot of stuff from weeks and months ago going online. Not sure what'll work in terms of the number of photos posted, but feel free to leave some comments about this...we're definitely looking for feedback as this blog evolves.

Let's start with Keya & Jiggar who had just about the smallest Hindu ceremony we've covered.

Labels: Portfolio, Weddings

  Permanent Link 11:21 PM  1 Comments Links to this post