Tag: ‘Southern California’



Shefali & Hitesh’s Engagement Portraits

Monday, July 13th, 2009

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!

Nishi & Devang’s Engagement Portraits

Thursday, July 19th, 2007

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?

 

All Images Copyright Samay Studio 2005-2010
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