Rachel & Dusty: The Slideshow
6.12.08 | Wedding Photos
I have finally found the time to upload Rachel & Dusty’s slideshow…finally.
Happy Thursday!
June, 2008
PUG Meeting
6.11.08 | My Life
I cannot even believe that I forgot to blog this earlier…
After attending WPPI in March (see my post about that here), I made the decision to begin using a great service for photographers called Pictage. If you are one of my clients, you are, or soon will be, familiar with this service as I am now using Pictage for all of my print order fulfillment and online gallery hosting. My experience with them so far has been great, and I have also had great feedback from my clients about how it is easy to use and convenient. So far, this decision has proven to be a great one!
Another perk of now being a Pictage member, is all of the extras they offer us photographers. One of those extras is the monthly PUG (Pictage Users Group) meetings that are hosted based on region. A couple weeks ago, Meg and I attended our first PUG meeting. On the agenda was all kinds of ::ahem:: ‘fun’ talk about taxes and how to deal with them as small business owners. And while I’ve never been fond of the business stuff (numbers, tax forms, blah, blah, blah), I realize how important it is to understand it all when running your own business. We are all creative types… its hard to get us to really be enthusiastic about taxes, but it’s crucial. So, I am so glad I went. I learned a lot about how to run my business more efficiently with regard to taxes, etc.
And, of course, the night was a great excuse to get together with Meg! Since we no longer live together, we don’t get to see each other nearly enough! So, we met for dinner and wine before the meeting with her cousins. Good times.
Thanks to Jules Bianchi’s post about the meeting, I have some photos of the event! Meg and I are in two of these photos, but you have to search for us. 
Toward the end of the meeting, Jules talked Meg and I into being “Studio Spotlight” speakers at two PUG meetings in the fall. The “Studio Spotlight” features one photographer per PUG meeting who speaks to the group about whatever topic they choose. Traditionally they show some of their favorite images and then speak a little about how they approach photography, shooting a wedding, workflow, or whatever they choose. It’s pretty intimidating to speak to other photographers, but I’m very excited for the opportunity. If it’s one thing I’ve learned about being a photographer, I have to break out of my comfort zone in order to improve — and this will definitely be out of my comfort zone!
Jasmine & Keyur's Wedding
6.9.08 | Wedding Photos
Last month, I had the amazing experience of photographing Jasmine & Keyur’s wedding, a traditional Hindu celebration, with Kim Fox. It was a long day, to say the least! Festivities began at 6am (that’s right! AM!) and lasted until about midnight… and though I never would have thought I could make it through a full 18 hours of shooting, the day was so interesting and exciting that I didn’t even find myself very tired toward the end of the evening.
The colors were amazing. The bride and groom were sweet and fun. The traditions I was able to witness were fascinating and educational… and the day was full of happy people celebrating. Because of all of the different festivities throughout the day, and because of the amount of time we spent shooting, I’ve never shot more images in one day in my life! Editing was a daunting task, but I made it through and here are some of my favorite images from the day.
Keyur. Bright and early in the morning.
Great shoes. Often us photographers overlook the groom’s shoes… but these were well worth photographing!
A detail of Keyur’s turban.
The happy groom.
The lovely Jasmine. I just love the ornate details of Indian brides.
More beautiful bride details.
The ceremony began with an incredible parade through the neighborhood that consisted of all of Keyur’s family escorting him down the street to Jasmine’s home. This is a shot of Jasmine’s family doing the ceremonial welcome to the groom.
This was the moment after the a cloth was dropped and Jasmine and Keyur saw each other for the first time during the ceremony.
I moment of prayer at the end of the ceremony.
Then it was off to a nearby park to do some portraits of the bride and groom before the second part of the ceremony.
I love this shot.
And this one…
A detail of the traditional henna on Jasmine’s hands. Such gorgeous patterns and designs! It is tradition to hide the groom’s initials in the henna, and the groom is supposed to find it after the ceremony. I love that!
Kim and I found this field of bright yellow flowers and immediately were determined to get a shot there. It took a bit of maneuvering as we had to be careful to not get Jasmine’s dress caught on a twig. But, it was so worth it because this is my absolute favorite shot of the day… and maybe even the whole year so far. I am in love with the colors and the expressions, and just the feeling I get when I look at this image…
I always love to try to get some interesting shots of children at each wedding. This little guy was just precious.
After a not-so-quick change of clothes, and a little downtime between events, the happy couple made their grand entrance into the reception.
The first dance.
The rest of the evening was filled with touching speeches, great dances (both choreographed and spontaneous) and a lot of fun and great food. Needless to say I was exhausted for the next couple days, but it was so worth it to be part of a such an amazing celebration.
Congratulations, Jasmine and Keyur!