I’m pretty familiar with this family. In fact, I work with the mom and we’ve been to the birthday parties for each other’s kids. But this is actually the first time I’ve photographed them. That has happened often enough for me and it reminds me that just because you know someone well, it doesn’t mean that they’ll be comfortable in front of the camera right now. I’ve chosen just a few photos of the boys here. As you can probably tell, one brother was much more happy than the other to be photographed

This mom and daughter are really familiar with me and having their portraits taken. This is the 6 or 7th event/portrait session I’ve had which has included them and their extended family. Needless to say, I didn’t have to spend much time warming them up to capture their wonderful smiles. Just a few highlights from their fall session.

It’s pretty rare when two older children are BOTH into having their photos taken. But with the ‘L’ family it was actually pretty fun since both kids were giving me ideas about poses. It makes for a much more interactive session and it shows in how close the family is and how they appear in their portraits. Here are some highlights from the ‘L’ family’s portrait session last fall (yes, I’m still catching up!)

Continuing with updates on recent family portrait sessions, the ‘M’ Family was a lot of fun, but kind of a crazy session. As you can see, they have one older daughter and two twins which means it’s more kids than parents! It was actually pretty funny getting all three settled onto the couch or on the rug for a photo with all of them looking towards me. After the first few minutes I realized they were playing games with me by moving JUST before I was about to take a photo so that was actually pretty funny.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Contributing to charity is important for me in my personal life and I like to keep the same attitude for my professional work through Samay Studio. Every year, I try to ensure that Samay Studio allocates at least $1000 of services and monetary donations to charity.

One of the places I’ve donated services for is the South Asian Bar Association Foundation. I first learned of it through a client who’s a member of SABA. As noted on their site, one of the main ways in which the SABA Foundation achieves its mission is by awarding annual public interest fellowships to enable law students to dedicate their time, effort and knowledge for the benefit of the South Asian community in Northern California.

So SABA has an annual gala where they auction off various products & services with the proceeds going to the SABA Foundation. I’ve donated portrait services in the past and I’m doing the same this year. If you’re interested in helping out, you can attend the gala (non-SABA members are more than welcome to attend). I’m donating two family portrait sessions to SABA worth a total of $400. Hopefully they auction for a lot more so that the foundation can benefit even more!

I encourage you all to help SABA as well as strive to help charitable efforts throughout the year!

Continuing with a series of family portraits from last fall, here’s the ‘A’ family with their 4 month old daughter. Look at those cheeks!

I had a lot of fun photographing families at the end of last year. It’s actually a refreshing change from wedding photography since the interactions are so different with a family that’s relaxed and having fun in the park (as compared to couples living through the most important day of their lives!!)

So here’s the ‘T’ Family that I photographed in Mountain View on a crisp Saturday morning. As you can see, we did a little bit of posed family portraits then let the kids (and parents) have fun in the play area. It’s amazing how much of a motivator it can be to tell two little boys that they’ll get to play on the swings & slides after the photos are done! There’s a lot more to share so keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts coming soon!

Well hi there! It has been a looooong time away and I’ve got a very good reason for you. Let me introduce you to my son, Aiden. He was born on the first of this year and I’ve been rather busy with him These are copies of his birth announcement (photos taken by your’s truly). Now that I’m getting back into the swing of things, you can expect a lot more updates from me!

It’s been a little while since I posted wedding photos. Well, I’d like to share a lovely outdoor ceremony from last month. For this post, I’m focusing on just the details and decoration so you won’t see the usual examples of emotions that I normally include. Thanks to Khoa Tran for his outstanding second shooting!

The couple started their afternoon with a Hindu ceremony outdoors followed by a tea ceremony. The outdoor reception was held directly afterwards. It was such a warm evening that I think it worked out perfectly!

I just had to share a few photos I did for baby A. He’s such a darling and was just 7 days old during this first portrait session. He was just barely 6.5 pounds when born so you can image how tiny he was! Luckily, this little guy was so sleepy that we had a really easy time taking these wonderful photos of him. Welcome to the world little guy!

Following up on last week’s post about Family Holiday Mini-Portrait Sessions, I wanted to share some options for family holiday cards. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the holiday season is the time to reconnect with family after a busy year. And we all know that cards are one way to do that.

The cards that I offer are really great quality press-printed cards with a luxurious pearl finish. In past years that we’ve offered them, the first reaction upon seeing them has basically been “Wow, these are so cool!” and “Wow, why doesn’t Costco make these?” Well, safe to say that these cards make a statement and will be remembered amongst the stack of cards arrive in anyone’s mailbox – way nicer than those Costco big-box cards. Here are just four of the options you can select from. Remember, these are all customized with your own photos and text so that they’re personal just for you! And don’t forget, if you’re still wondering what to do about your holiday photos, sign up for your mini-portrait session coming up this Saturday November 13th!

It’s that time of the year! Holiday family photos!

And what easier way to get wonderful family portraits than with Samay Studio’s Family Mini Portrait Sessions!

Why you should choose a Family Mini-Portrait Session TODAY!

• No boring studio backdrops
• No awkward family poses
• Just relaxed, natural photos of your family to last a lifetime!
• These sessions are short, but they still have just as much love, creativity, and artistry as every photo session we do.
  

More about your photo session:

• Your mini-session will last 25 minutes and include a mix of family group photos as well as candid moments with your children.
• The photos will be in a park setting with the option for children’s playground & benches.
• Up to 5 people can be included in the session (additional people are $25 each).
• We will have some props to be used during the session, but feel free to bring your child’s favorite toy to help ensure a personal experience.

More about your deliverables:

• You will receive your fully edited photos in a password protected online gallery where you can share your photos with family & friends (via email, facebook, etc)
• Your online slideshow will take your photos and set them to music – a perfect way to share your wonderful photos in a fun, fresh way
• You will receive a coupon for your 2 8×10′s and 3 5×7′s which you can order directly through your online gallery for shipping directly to you. Any additional orders you make will have a 10% discount applied
• Holiday Greeting Cards are available too! Inquire about selection of our holiday greeting card options. These 5×7 flat cards are printed on a beautiful pearl finished high-quality cardstock and include custom text as well as envelopes. Cards are available in packs of 25 for $30 each.
• You can upgrade your package to include:
  • Full resolution photos which you can use to print photos on your own – $200
  • Slideshow in DVD format so you can watch on your TV – $50

Sign Up Now!

Fill in your information below and we'll get back to you ASAP about your session. If you don't hear back from us within 2 hours, please feel free to email Jigar or call 650-386-6808

It’s always nice to see my work “out there”. Whether it’s seeing wedding photos that I’ve taken hanging on my clients’ walls or posted on facebook, it’s a sign that someone really loves my work! Well, photos from a recent wedding I photographed are featured in the upcoming issue of South Asian Bride Magazine!

Pick up the new copy at a news stand near you soon or buy the digital copy right now at Zinio. Here’s more info on how to get yourself a copy of this great resource for South Asian Brides!

Here’s a quick grab of the feature about decoration ideas on page 66 of the upcoming issue…

Thanks to Sadaf over at SA Bride for the feature!

If you want to see more from Sheena & Ganesh’s wedding, you can look at my previous posts here and here

Let’s face it…

• You’ve got kids running around the house…or at the park…or having fun with friends.
• You’ve got a really nice camera.
• You’ve got ZERO awesome photos of your kids having fun and living their everyday lives

If that’s the case, then this class is FOR YOU!

Family Photos are perhaps the most cherished items to remember all the little moments that mean so much. It’s the moments between professional portrait sessions, weddings, and class photos. Everyday photos capture the moments that you want to look back upon and smile, laugh, cry, and reminisce over.

This class will help you to learn how to take photos that show those emotions in an artistic and meaningful way. This class is not about taking formal portraits, it’s about learning how to photograph your family as you go about your life!

The goal is simple:

• Walk away from this class with a greater confidence in your abilities and knowledge about photography. So much confidence in fact that you’ll learn to STOP WORRYING about your camera settings and start having fun while you take photos of your family!

What you’ll learn:

• How to address your frustrations with taking photos
• How to use available light to take more natural photos
• How photo composition affects your photos
• And, of course, some technical stuff! (aperture, shutter speed, depth-of-field, camera settings, etc)

What you’ll do:

• Participate in a live photoshoot where you will be coached to improve your photos on-the-spot. Take photos, ask questions and learn how to take a simple moment in the park and create meaningful, memorable, and artistic photos.
• Review your own photos in a classroom setting to see how they can be improved.
• Learn a bunch of tips, tricks, and rules-of-thumb to keep in mind for the future

Click to Here Sign up Now!

After taking a summertime break from a lot of client photography, I’m getting ready for a bunch of weddings coming up. Before I jump back into the event photography that I’m used to, I decided to do a bit of photography that I don’t have all that much experience with: Photowalking.

The idea behind a photowalk is pretty simple – go some where, walk around, and take photos.

But the beauty is in the challenge of doing something new and finding something unique. I’ve done a few photowalks in the past and I typically use just one non-zoom lens to force myself to find interesting angles. If you’re curious about the details, I normally use a 50mm f/1.4 lens on my Canon 5D Mark II. Here’s some examples of a photowalk I participated in going through the Stanford University campus quite a while back. Click on the picture to see a bunch more from that day:

A few weeks ago, I participated in a photowalk organized by Adobe where we went from their San Francisco office over through Marina Bay and China Basin. And rather than use my 50mm lens, I decided to challenge myself to shoot just wide angles. Here are a couple from that walk:

And finally, yesterday, I lead a photowalk in Downtown San Jose where I really wanted to change things up…so I used JUST my iPhone 4 the whole time! Talk about challenge! Here’s one photo from the walk, click on the photo to see a bunch more:

So what’s my point with this post? Well, even as a pro who’d taken over 250,000 photos in his career, I still need to challenge myself by stepping out of my wedding & portrait photography box. I choose things like photowalk and also limiting the gear I use on these walk. If you’re in a rut and wondering how to improve your photography, maybe you should something as simple as walking outside and looking for things to photograph.

If you’d like to give it a shot, but aren’t sure how to get really started, just ask me…I’ve always got advice Or join me the next time I go out…I’m happy to have more folks on the photowalks I lead. And in the meantime, read-up on photowalking here by following this link.

I went to a meetup group yesterday in Oakland run by Jules Bianchi, a San Francisco Bay Area based wedding & portrait photographer. This was a somewhat special meetup since it offered an opportunity to get to know Dane Sanders. While I’ve read Dane’s “Fast Track Photographer” book and have watched several of his podcasts, I didn’t really know what to expect. I jokingly call Dane the Tony Robbins of Wedding Photographer since he aims to be very motivational and tries to get people to search their souls for their own inspiration.

While that description of Dane might seem bad, I think you have to take things as they are and make the most of it. There are some who hate everything about the big names in the wedding & portrait photography industry. And there are some who obsess over every detail about those big names. It’s a huge spectrum and I’m sort of a fence sitter.

So I went with an open mind and found a couple of great takeaways.

Dane presented his talk as a “conversation” which I didn’t believe at the beginning. That’s usually just podium-talk for having a Q&A session and lots of rhetorical questions. But in this case, I was surprised by how much direct conversation he had with audience members…doing what I would call mini-introspection sessions. It turned out to be rather beneficial just listening to the conversation that I eventually participated to some degree.

He commented about a couple of things which got my mind running. The first was about getting tough. Dane was talking about the idea of being too soft on new photographers. The second point was about making a declaration to help yourself move forward.

So let me take the 2nd point first. I decided to talk about “lack of time” and not using that as an excuse or crutch to prevent me from actually doing things. Yeah, it’s an oft-talked about thing. You’ve gotta make time and just do it, yadda, yadda. I decided to be somewhat more realistic and specific. If I have an idea or thought, I need to set aside the idea of “if I only had more time” and actually do some legwork to determine how much time it would actually take to get it done. After that legwork, if I determine I really don’t have time to do it, then I need to leave that idea by the roadside and keep on moving. I can’t let myself get hung up on the idea and leave it as just another dream. So I’m trying to be realistic and note that I won’t have time for everything, but also not letting myself use the “lack of time” as a generic reason to not do certain things.

The 1st point is something which I think photographers and creative professionals need to take to heart and it’s something which I spoke to Dane about briefly after the event ended. And that’s about being too soft on ourselves. I specifically thought about a hypothetical excuse summarized as “It’s different for photographers”. I sort of see this every time I read tweets or facebook comments breathlessly noting how awesome, amazing, or unique some business or personal method/process/goal is. I think it gets on many people’s nerves and they eventually just see these breathless comments as a herd following a rockstar.

Leaving the whole rockstar and herd notion on the side, I think we need to think a bit more from the outside in. Not just from outside ourselves, but outside of the photography industry. Think about whether the business practices of successful photographers are unique to the photography industry. Think about whether the work & personal ethics of successful photographers are are unique to the photography industry. More often than not, those practices and ethics aren’t unique to photography.

And it’s something which I think a lot of people need to come to terms with because they use it as a crutch to not improve themselves and their businesses. As an example, Dane mentioned something last night which I summarize as “how long are you going to be an *aspiring* photographer? At some point, you’re just a photographer. Join the club”

Seriously, how many times have you met an *aspiring” plumber? Or an *aspiring* programmer?

My point is that using the term “aspiring” is just one of the ways that photographers allow themselves to make excuses. One way to get around that is to think about whether a non-photographer would use similar reasoning or excuses. More often than not, they wouldn’t…so why should a photographer use the excuse?

We should get tough on ourselves and recognize that we, as photographers, aren’t “special” just because we’re photographers. The business tips & tricks, the inspirational seminars, all of it…they may be designed for the eyes & ears of photographers, but they’re not unique challenges to just photographers – they’re challenges for all small-business owners. Maybe if we recognize that, we’ll take ourselves more seriously and get tough on ourselves as professionals.

So I mentioned this briefly to Dane and while he agrees with this, he’s of a bit different opinion on the matter of making this point to photographers. I personally think it should be duly noted when it’s relevant, while Dane thinks it’s not worth the trouble and it’s better to just focus on the business/personal growth rather than tell people that XYZ is important to the success of ANY business, not just a photography business. That’s fine, but I was glad to have some of this back-and-forth with Dane.

So to close out on this long post, I think we do need to step outside ourselves and think a bit more about the excuses we make for ourselves and how we should get more tough on ourselves. I personally use the “lack of time” excuse. I think a lot of people use the “but it’s different for photographers” excuse. Either way, we need to drop those excuses and move forward.

If you haven’t checked out “The New Indian Bride” yet, you’re missing out on a great blog by a recently married Indian woman. Since she just got married, I think she offers some great insight into planning & executing a wonderful wedding day.

This week features articles about photography and I’ve been featured for the initial article about tips to get great wedding day photography. We’ve skipped over the part about questions to ask when selecting your photography or tips on how to make the final decision. Those tip lists are really all over the web…just google it and you’ll find tons of results. Instead, we’ve focused on some things to keep in mind as you lead up to your wedding day.

Check out the article here

Not surprisingly, the biggest theme is communication with your photographer.

As a creative professional, my clients generally give me full reign to ensure their photos and album layouts look great, but it’s still really important for me to know what’s on my bride’s mind. I will usually get a great understanding of this through many conversations with my clients, but the tips listed should give you a great idea into the conversations you SHOULD be having with your photographer (and your videographer and other vendors). If there’s something really passionate about or concerned about, just let your photog know. It may open up a lot more discussion, but every word will help ensure you and your photographer are on the same page and will likely lead to better photos.

Following up on the previous posting about Sheena & Ganesh’s pre-wedding festivities, I wanted to share some of the moments from the big day. The activities moved from Milbrae over to San Mateo Marriott for the wedding and then to the Burlingame SFO Marriott for the reception. You may recall seeing Molly & Vid’s wedding photos from the San Mateo Marriott as well and it’s indeed a wonderful courtyard location for an afternoon wedding ceremony.

And I can’t proceed further without a thanks to AK Sandhu for second shooting with me!

And another call-out to Sheena’s aunt, Indra who actually served as the wedding planner/coordinator!

Sheena had this amazing custom designed wedding outfit brought over from India…by a designer not to be named here

As you can see here, Ganesh had a blast during his baraat! Once Sheena’s family welcomed him into the hotel, some of the Fiji specific traditions began, like the Dwaar pooja where you notice Ganesh and Sheena’s father sitting across from one another.

And let’s not forget that Ganesh’s family is Tamil so there was also an Oonjal ceremony before the start of the main wedding ceremony. I actually really liked how the families meshed their unique traditions into a single event.

As the evening approached, I took Sheena & Ganesh out for their portraits in their reception outfits. Purples were the highlight color for the evening!

Now before proceeding further, I’ve gotta comment on the decor. As you can see in some of the photos, there were flower elephants, peacocks, and an amazing array of other decorations. None of it seemed over-the-top, but the families clearly spent a lot of time ensuring these elements made a lasting impression. Those charger plates with the peacocks on them were actually custom designed favors which the guests got to take home with them. Oh, and if you’re wondering why there’s a Cabbage Patch Doll on the sweetheart table…well, Sheena’s cousins actually arranged to have Sheena’s “lost” Cabbage Patch Doll flown to India and outfitted in an outfit identical to the one that Sheena wore for the reception. Pretty cool and thoughtful!

And finally…who could forget that cake! WOW! The cake actually took well over 30 mins just to assemble on-site and it was worth the effort. The peacock menagerie, as I like to call it, had so much detail in it and the colors really popped. I noticed guests coming over to look at it most of the night!

And, of course, what’s a wedding without a little dancing?! Since Ganesh is a lawyer and Sheena will be a doctor, the party started off with a little MD/JD dance-off. Thanks to DJ Bitsy for keeping the crowd jumping all night.

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of photographing Sheena & Ganesh’s wedding weekend. With multiple events and traditions spanning 3 days, there was a lot going on. Here are just a few highlights from the weekend.

I had known both Sheena & Ganesh through previous clients who are friends of their’s and since I had also photographed their engagement portraits, when I arrived at Sheena’s house on Thursday night, it was great just catching up with them. Meeting the rest of the family was also great since that helps to put all of the traditions in context. In this case, Sheena’s family is Fijian Hindu and Ganesh’s is Tamil Hindu so there were a variety of elements combined into a weekend of fun.

If you’ve ever been to Fijian Hindu events, you’ll notice that while many of the rites seem familiar, there’s just a bit of a difference as compared to, say North Indian Hindu traditions. Yes, there’s a fire, there’s flowers, turmeric, and coconuts, but have a look at the photos below and you’ll see some of the unique elements!

Many thanks to the talented AK Sandhu for second shooting with me!

Check back in for highlights from their wedding day!

Okay, so this post won’t be full of every deep, dark secret of mine, but the title is very appropriate since I want to share a posting from another website called Neo Indian which is about the “confessions of a newly returned Indian”. My friend Seshu shared a link this morning on twitter to this article (along with a few others as I noticed throughout the day)

Have a quick look at the posting, it’s not too long, but I find it quite hilarious: A foreigner’s guide to traditional Hindu weddings

There are so many little jokes that I could quote from the post (Vuvuzela’s, anyone!?), but I wanted to provide you a bit of my take on attending Hindu weddings both professionally as the photographer, but also as a guest…

Now, if you’ve ever been to a Hindu wedding, I’m sure you found it chaotic, but in the end, a crazy-hectic-fun affair full of every emotion under the sun. As a wedding photographer who covers a boatload of Hindu weddings, I can attest to the truthiness of neoIndian’s description of Hindu weddings. To be honest, if a Hindu wedding isn’t crazy and hectic, I feel like bride, groom, and their families missed out on the fun. That’s not to say such weddings aren’t well-planned, but the cultural elements surrounding these weddings are as much a part of the tradition as the religious rites. Let’s face it, a lot of the things that happen during Indian weddings are kind of strange and nobody can easily answer why they’re done. But seeing the fun, hilarious, and ridiculous aspects of these traditions are part of what makes Indian weddings so much fun to be a part of!

Yeah, there’s the fun of stealing the groom’s shoes (not just a Hindu tradition, mind you) and dancing during the groom’s procession, but there’s so many side things going on. Whether I’m hired to cover the event or attending as a guest, I’ve lost track of the aunties who whisper that the priest is “doing it wrong”…meaning he’s not following the family’s tradition when it comes to weddings. Or the mother-of-the-bride who has to keep asking someone else about what they’re supposed to do next. Or what about the complaints that the priest is dragging the ceremony on too long? Especially on a hot summer afternoon, everyone finds it a bit difficult to listen to un-ending Sanskrit prayers. Sure, many priests try to liven it up by telling jokes or just by explaining the rites in common English, but the truth is that Hindu weddings are just as much about family & friends getting together for a long-weekend of fun & laughter as it is about a man and woman beginning their married lives together.

Ask most elders at a Hindu wedding about why certain rites are to be performed and you’ll receive one of two answers: The long answer will hark back to centuries old tradition carried on by many generations (half of which is ad-libbed). The short answer will be “I’m not sure beta, but isn’t it so wonderful?!” followed quickly by “So what do you do? Are you a doctor?” Since I’ve been to so many weddings in my life, I can probably explain the origins or details of most types of Indian wedding traditions, but the bottom line for me is that the weddings we all have a love/hate affair with are about enjoying the time with family & friends. And now that we live far from most of our family, my wife and I can attest to the fact that weddings are a time to catch up and re-connect with our loved ones and strengthen those bonds. To be honest, if it weren’t for weddings, I don’t think we’d ever see some of our family members. That alone is a great reason to attend. That alone is a reason to enjoy the wedding in the context of a larger family.

So if you’re attending an Indian wedding…don’t worry that you can’t follow or understand every rite being performed on the mandap…don’t worry that you might be standing some where inappropriate…and don’t get intimidated by all the people wearing such expensive wedding attire…each one of them is there to celebrate the vows of the couple getting married, but each one is also there to celebrate their family & friends sitting in the audience with them!