Meredith + Ethan :: Wedding
Published on August 13, 2010
Since our very first meet, Meredith, Ethan and I readily connected and I knew right away they were in love and were made for each other. You’ll should remember them from their Engagement Session post I’d blogged a while ago. Meredith and Ethan were very modest and they gave utmost importance to photography and especially they are a big fan of details and photojournalism, which kept me motivated to the fullest.
On the day of the wedding, they both looked amazing! The wedding was well planned and a generous amount of time was set aside just to capture their portraits. Besides the sweet couple, their bridal party were equally co-operative and fun to work with. M+E had a crystal clear vision for their special day and it did turn out beautifully as expected.
Adding on, the florist, “A Love’s in Bloom” had done an astounding job with the purple themed flowers that enriched the beauty of the day. The Venue ” Martinelli Event Center” was an amazing setup to photograph a wedding; the vineyard was green as ever, creating the best contrast with the bright blue skies. In addition the awesome violinist, Saveri B. filled warmth with her beautiful music at the ceremony. And the special day can’t end better without the cake, the wedding cake by “Queens cake” was not only eye capturing but tasted awesome.
Overall, the wedding day was simply astounding and what made it very special was the support of their loving family and friends. Wishing Meredith and Ethan a very happy married life!
A big THANKS to Rosaura Sandoval my second and Jason chan for assisting at this wedding, appreciate all your help guys, it couldn’t have been any better! :)
Their first look was very touching and one of my favorite part of their day! I always encourage my brides for a first look if possible, it helps getting our portraits and formals done before the ceremony and saves us from the time crunch.
My favs from Rosi
Though I had a lot of favs from Jason, I always loved his eye for details, which is so me!
Here’s me with my amazing friends/crew Rosi & Jason. We for once had a chance to take some quick shots of one another, wish some one could have taken a group shot of us all three together :)
Vendors:
Florist:
A Love’s in Bloom
925-408-6702
alovesinbloom@aol.com
Cake Artist:
Queen’s Cakes
408-832-7715
queenscakes@live.com
Venue:
Martinelli Event Center
3585 Greenville Rd
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 371-8200
Music:
Saveri B.
Violinist
607-592-3835
Pasadena , California 91730
Make up Artist:
Exquisite Faces
1858 4th St
(between N St & M St)
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 456-4882
Keerthika’s Bharatanatyam Arangetram
Published on July 19, 2010
I seldom photograph events, but when I was called upon by my friend to photograph his friends daughter’s “Bharatanatyam Arangetram”. I was totally up for it, specially coming from South India myself, this is a cultural thing and something that’s close to my heart. I totally respect this dance, as like any other dance this takes years of practice, stamina and utmost dedication. Keerthika was performing almost non-stop for 3hrs and was flawless, a big kudos to that! A big thanks to my friends Mahesha and Ramki for having me partake in their family event and for the golden opportunity.
A quick Wiki info about the background history of this dance:
Bharatanatyam (Tamil: பரதநாட்டியம்) is a classical dance form originating in Tamil Nadu, India. One of the oldest of the classical dance forms in India, it is also known as the fifth Veda. Bharatanatyam is usually accompanied by the classical music. It has its inspirations from the sculptures of the ancient temple of Chidambaram. Bharatanatyam, as the name depicts is the combination of:
BHA- Bhava (Expression), RA- Raga (Music) and TA- Tala (Rhythm) Bharatanatyam is a traditional dance-form known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses. Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by many dancers all over the world.
Click here to learn more about Bharatanatyam!
Judy + Tony & Ryan :: Family Portraits
Published on July 13, 2010
Another great family session with my good friend and ex-colleague from PayPal, Judy! When I asked Judy & Tony what you looking for in this session, they’d mentioned that they always had pictures of one another and never a good family portrait, specially after their new special addition to their family Ryan their baby boy! I so hear them and it did SURE ring a bell for me, as I go through that all the time :). So that was our our main objective for this beautiful completely laid back family session.
I usually have a hard time making kids smile, specially looking at me :), but J+T thought me a trick that makes Ryan grin all the time, its his nick name “BOOGIE” as in booger LOL. As mean and funny as it may sound the magic word works, every time I call him BOGGIE, he goes smileeeeeee :) That was easy…., gotta think of one for my lil daughter now!!!
Judy is not only a Visual Designer, she’s also an awesome “Wedding Jewelery Designer”. Friends and brides out there, interested in custom wedding jewelery, please check out her work at “Twinkle Jewelery“, you’ll be in awe! :)
Lucky me I received a lil gift of her piece of art, which I proudly presented to my wife SSSHHHH….! Above all, these guys gave me a HUGE box of diapers from Costco, which would probably not make me buy diapers for Daphne (our baby daughter) for a month at least. Always under estimated diapers, didn’t know the actual value of them until we had our baby, it’s disappearing lightning fast. So kind of you guys, greatly appreciate it, we should schedule another session next month LOL! Thanks again for the opportunity, favors and the super hospitality my friends, I am so honored and glad to be part of your special moments :)
Here’s some of my favs from this session, please ENJOY!
You could so tell Judy is a designer, she matched all their costumes so well…:) Ryan on the other hand was so over all this by now, he wanted to call it a day ASAP, he couldn’t convey this better than that cute yawn LOL
J+T conveying a huge “Xie Xie” to me in that last pic, which made me speechless…, kidding not really LOL :)
Jennifer + Christopher :: Wedding
Published on July 10, 2010
Jenni & Chris’s wedding was the first of the season for me and it was an amazing start indeed! It was on fun wedding, not just the couple starting from their family to their bridal party were super cool and fun to work with. I was referred by Jenni’s cousin, Leslie Dela Vega an amazing photographer from New York, it’s always a honor when being referred by a fellow photographer! :)
Never on earth knew that Jenni was such an AMAZING dancer, their first dance was choreographed entirely by her and they both rocked.
Don’t believe me…? check out their video here.
Thanks for having me guys, it was so much fun to be part of your special day :)
Thanks a lot to to my good friends/associates Liem Nguyen and Jason Chan for all their help at this wedding.
My favs from Liem…
My favs from Jason!
More favs from Liem again, had similar versions from mine, but loved the way he used ambient light, another reason for me to opt for a 50mm 1.2 hahaa…
This wedding was happening inside a dark cave beneath the vineyard, as much as it was super cool the lighting here was super challenging. I took a deep breath of relief only after I heard from the event planner that it was okay to use flashlites, so we quickly setup our off-camera gear in time
Loved the detail shots from Jason!
The Band sure rocked and kept everyone moving.
That’s the first dance I am talking about, OMG…!
Vendors:
Venue/Coordinator: Meritage Resort & Spa Lisa Crowell
Cake Artist: Michelle Marie’s Patisserie , 707-575-1214, info@michellemaries.com
Officiant: St. Catherine of Siena Church
Florist: Beau Flowers , 707-224-7993, info@michellemaries.com
Musician/DJ: Eldon W. Bell , 707-224-7993, Eldon@fivepoint0.net
Daniela+Octavio+Ava & Andres :: Family Portrait
Published on July 7, 2010
A few weeks ago I was called by my good old friend and ex-colleague Daniela, to photograph her family on the occasion of their new arrival their new baby boy Andres. This session was so relaxed and fun and I kept capturing the moments as I was chit chatting and recalling memories with Daniela about our past work place. Baby Andres was not informed early on about the session so he was in the middle of his mid-day nap :). So Daniela, Ava and I headed to the park to warm up for our session, no wonder she has more pics of herself here, if only her brother knew what happened LOL.
Ava was such a sweetheart and was completely comfortable with the weird me with a huge camera running around her. I was so visioning our soon to come baby daughter at this time. Couldn’t just wait for such a fun moment with my family and our new addition.
Later joined the group were the men of the house Octavio and Andres, who fit right in. I enjoyed watching this happy family having fun and that’s another reason for me to love my job I am always amidst happy people, fun and touching moments!
Daniela & Octavio thanks for the opportunity, you guys made me so welcomed and at home, I didn’t feel like working at this session, since you guys made it so easy!
So cute how Ava covers her mouth with one hand whenever shes laughing hard and gets super excited, I’ve only see grown ups doing this :)
The siblings have already started sharing secrets, loved the way they bond together here!
OMG……, Andres is a bundle of expressions, all these moments were probably just in a minute or so. I fell in love with his adorable lil spike and he carries it so well! LOL. The last expression in this collage is mi muy favorito, more like Quepasa!!
