Henna edition || Monica & Karim's wedding

It seems like I haven't been posting forever. I just don't have any idea how my weeks go by so fast. We just bought a new, super fast computer(I wish it was an iMac!!!), I was busy for setting up my new system. I am also using Lightroom 2 for RAW editing now. I have to say that I liked Lightroom over Bridge.

I finally had a chance to go through the pictures from Monica and Karim's wedding at Lake Tahoe. I worked with Doug Miranda on their beautiful wedding at Squaw Valley on July 26. I must mention that I am very lucky so far to have super nice couples to shoot with. Their wedding was absolutely gorgeous; bright and vibrant colors and many personal touches made the event even more unique! Monica and Karim also incorporated some traditions from Karim's Indian heritage. One of the attractions of the event was Henna tattoo. A brilliant henna artist was present at the reception to entertain guests with her beautiful henna designs. Some of the highlights are below.

Bride's hands full of henna -

One Long weekend

.... and two beautiful weddings!!!

Saturday I drove up to Tahoe to second shoot a wedding with Doug Miranda. The ceremony took place at the Squaw Valley and the reception was right off of highway 89 by the river. The weather was beautiful up there! It was a stunning location for a wedding. As we all know, one cannot go wrong by picking Lake Tahoe for their wedding location.
(Pictures coming soon)

Then on Sunday I was at Fort Wayne, Indiana for my childhood friend Urmila's wedding. I flew out there and got busy immediately. We have been friends from KG school, almost all our lives. We have managed to build this unbreakable relationship that can only last forever. There was no way that I wouldn't be with her on her special day. It meant a lot to both of us. The wedding was a small one with the families only, held at the Fort Wayne Supreme court. Then we went out to a cozy dinner to celebrate the occassion.

I got back to Sacramento this afternoon and haven't had a chance to go through all the images. But I wanted to share a couple pictures from the pre-event blessings ceremony. This is a traditional Bengali event where friends and family of the bride and groom bless the couple before they begin their new life together. This is my most favorite event of all. A very colorful and a fun occassion to bring in the joy of a new begining.

A few from the wedding day of the cute couple Urmila and Gene -

"How to achieve your childhood dreams"

This post is for Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Pausch passed away today; he was sufferring from terminal cancer and had only few weeks to live. I wanted to post his last lecture "how to achieve your childhood dream" that he delivered in last September. You can tell from the video that he was funny(and nerdy), intelligent(of course) and had such positive view of life. I admire him for who he was and what he left behind. His lecture inspired me, motivated me even more. I hope this will be inspirational to you as well.

Caution: This lecture runs for over an hour! But the nerd in you may enjoy it :)

Have a great weekend.

Roenna & Chris || Engagement

It was another busy but an exciting weekend for me. Jason and I went to San Francisco on Saturday to photograph Roenna & Chris's engagement session. It was also the first time I met them. They had chosen the perfect location for the shoot - the place where it all began. It was in the San Francisco State University.

What a fun couple they were! I love when couples take it easy and have fun during the shoot. We started near the student center and walked our way to the Business department and ended at the Humanities building where they actually met for the first time. We had a chance to get into one of the classrooms and take some fun shots.

The campus was so beautiful. It was a cloudy and cold day too. Coming from Sacramento and not bringing any warm clothes with me, I was pretty much numb by the end of the shoot. There were colors everywhere; greenery of the trees, bright walls and windows, etc. We saw a beautiful corner with steps and yellow walls in the background which turned out to be a cool spot for pictures.

I am excited for Chris and Roenna's wedding in January 09. It will be in Oakland and I know already that it will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to their wedding. Roenna & Chris - I hope you two enjoy these engagement teasers.

Introducing Lily

Couple of months ago I photographed Katarina's maternity session. Last week, on the 9th, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Lily Ana. It was such a delight to hold the newborn for the first time! She was gorgeous!!! Mom and baby arrived home on Saturday. Sunday I went by their place to say hello to the newest addition to our neighborhood(they are my neighbors). Of course I couldn't leave my camera home! I had a chance to capture a few precious moments of little miss Lily.

This is my fav; I couldn't get enough of those tiny toes :)))

Mandy & Ryan Bunnell

I finally had a weekend, totally dedicated to my home and self. I had a chance to do things that I had been planning on doing ever since we moved into our new house. Now I only have hundred more things to do!

I'm back to the blog world now with Mandy & Ryan's wedding story. Two weeks ago I photographed this beautiful couple's wedding at Kissler Ranch(KR), Grass Valley. I had no idea that a place like KR existed right off of highway 49. The owner of the place Josh and Joey Kissler were really nice. Josh was also the officiant at the wedding.

I met Mandy and Ryan through Melanie, my photographer friend, of Essence Photography. I was shooting this wedding for her studio. And I can't thank her enough for introducing me to this beautiful couple. We clicked just llike that on their engagement session. Everybody in this wedding(and when I say "everybody", I mean "everybody") was extremely nice. The groomsmen and the bridesmaids were super fun, the parents of the couple were uber cool! The DJ for the night was Bobby, another cool person I met that day! The father-daughter dance was a memorable one. Mandy and her dad put together an awesome show with the revolutionary songs from the 80's.

It was a priviledge to know Mandy & Ryan and to be a part of their big day. I wish them the very best for their new life together. Here is a slideshow with the highlights of their day. Enjoy!

Shooting nightmare

I know I have been a bad blogger lately(shame on me!!). The truth is that I was taking a short break to enjoy the long weekend with my friends and my husband :)

I'll be posting wedding slideshows and e-shoot images soon. Thanks to my regular blog visitors for being patient with me. I want to leave you with a note that my beloved Canon 20D(my second back up) stopped working in the middle of an event causing me a momentary heartache. But again, it's an older one that I needed to let go at some point. The good news is that it started working the next day for whatever reason. Does this mean that I'm back to eyeing on that 40D again??? May be :))))