Man, I’ve been waiting to post these photos since before I even downloaded them from my camera! And I finally get to share them with you all.

Smita & Vikas just got married over the weekend and I was holding these wonderful portraits so they could surprise their guests with a lovely slideshow. Now that the couple are married I can give you all some peeks into this wonderful session. I actually took portraits of Smita several years ago at Stanford. Now that she was getting married to Vikas, they wanted some relaxed portraits in San Francisco. So we started off at the Palace of Fine Arts for some formals, then moved onto the Letterman Arts Center, and finally to Baker Beach. All of that was scheduled around the Laker finals games which were in full force at the time!

During the session I kept finding new “session favorites” even before looking on the LCD and I couldn’t help but chimping with Smita & Vikas during the session to show them how great things were looking. This actually lead to a really interactive yet casual session. We mixed some poses with some downtime where I just quietly took photos of the couple as they whispered to each other. I knew I was doing my job when Smita asked me “Are you taking pictures of this?” as they were hugging and talking to each other. So now you see why I’ve been anxiously waiting to post these!

So let’s jump right into these as I’m sure you all will love this couple as much as I did…

Congrats Smita & Vikas, I hope you enjoy your portraits for years to come!

As long as I’ve been passionate about photography, I’ve been a voracious learner. I openly learn from people who I think have something to offer. Case in point is that I subscribe to a whopping 144 different weblogs ranging from technique blogs to other wedding photographers’ blogs. By keeping track of so much out there, I really feel like I’ve improved my photography end-to-end by leaps and bounds. And for the last couple of years, I’ve really tried to make it a point to share my experiences and learnings from wedding & portrait photography with others. I mean, what have I got to lose? Call it “Paying it Forward” if you will, but it’s all about offering something to others.

So last month I lead an outdoor portrait workshop with 11 colleagues in San Francisco (North Beach & Baker Beach). Since it’s something I’m quite familiar with, I felt I could help others learn some tricks to taking better outdoor portraits. I tried to break things down as much as possible to make sure I could actually deliver against what I was offering to my students.

Before the photo shoot, I held a discussion session about what folks should prepare for with a portrait session including goals around style & location. I didn’t want to dwell on equipment and settings since I felt it would get us away from most important part of the photo session – the couple. I used this presentation as a guide to help everyone focus and reference what I thought were the important things to keep in mind.

You can download the powerpoint presentation here.

After the session, I followed up with each student to ensure they had some specific examples of portraits which they wanted to refer to during the photoshoot. Yes, I had them all do homework I required this because I wanted the students to find what THEY loved and not just try to re-create photos I’ve taken. Not surprisingly, the students showed me a pretty wide variety of reference portraits.

Well, with ALL that said, here are some of the results!

I’ll start with some photos which I took during the photo session. While taking these photos, I was trying to provide specific points for the students to keep in mind and show where & how I position myself for the photos. Again, I tried to stay away from camera settings, but was happy to clarify how to accomplish a shot from a technical nature.

Here’s a selection of the photos from the students. As students were taking photos, I would chimp with them and ask about their settings and most importantly, if they were getting shots that they liked. I was also trying to setup poses/shots for each student based on their personal goals. I’ve picked 3 photos from each that I think represents their time & efforts very well. The photos were taken by the students, but I did the final editing:

After the photoshoot, I’ve spent time with students to go over their experiences before & during the photo shoot. I really want to understand if they learned what they had hoped for and how the session could have been improved.

I certainly found this session very challenging! I know there were just too many students at the session to really give each student the time I think they deserved. Many times I made the mistake of basically just telling the students “okay, go for it” and simply let them shoot away. This confused the students and the couple being photographed. A huge creative concern for me is that I ended up relying too much on poses during this session. My usual portrait sessions are a mix of poses & really casual/romantic stuff. With so many students, I tightened up a lot and just went to “winning poses” for the couple. Certainly, the poses aren’t bad, but I do think the variety of photos and the more casual nature of my usual portrait sessions isn’t represented with how I lead this larger session. I have other areas of improvement I’m still mulling over and I’m collecting feedback from the students about this.

In retrospect, I have a MUCH better understanding of how tough it is to run a formal learning session (call it a workshop if you want). While I put a lot of time into the planning, I still think I have a many improvements I can make to such sessions. I know the students appreciated the time & opportunity and I’d like to ensure that any future learning sessions I lead provide the most for everyone’s time & effort.

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to thank our models, Krystal & Deven for their time and patience with us! They were real troopers with the posing and the weather. It was quite cold & windy out on the beach. While I’m used it (I was in a t-shirt & shorts), I think I was the only one out there so unaffected by the cold! I wish you two the best with your wedding later this year and I hope you enjoy your portraits for years to come!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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 10×10 hard cover book, metallic finish on the cover & thick, lay-flat pages inside:

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!