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  0 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  0 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 com