It’s been a while since I’ve shot some mountain biking photos, so I was excited to meet up with Dan and Brendan at Rockville for some action shots. There’s some really fun terrain out there and it definitely got me itching to get back on the bike again…
The "High School Reunion" project is the brainchild of my good pal Ron Nabity and me - we’re taking shots of adults re-enacting painful memories from high school. It all started a few weeks ago when we did a session at Sacramento City College where we had Ron being held up for his "lunch money" - the shot came out great, and the project was born. We’ve got a whole list of painful memories to capture (helps to have been a geeky kid - lots of pain and trauma to draw from…) Feel free to hit us up in the comments with your favorite painful high school memories - maybe we can add something new to our list. Thanks to the students and instructor of Sacramento City College Photo 392 class for posing!
Stay tuned for more painful memories…
Last time I shot with breakdancer extraordinaire Vince Horiuchi, he mentioned that his mom wanted to take some family photos, and specifically said she wanted some "fun, creative" shots. I was pretty excited about this idea, since I’d already met Vince and his brother Kurt, both talented dancers and martial artists, and naturals in front of the camera. The rest of the family didn’t disappoint, and we had a great time with everyone hamming it up and enjoying the last of the fall color out at the UCD arboretum.
I photographed my first Pakistani wedding along with my second shooter Erika, and we had a fantastic time! The colors, the dancing, the food - it was all completely amazing! Nazli and Umer are a great couple, and so much fun to work with - they were always smiling and their upbeat, positive attitudes never faltered. Their friends and family were also great to be around - I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to eat so many times - they practically pulled the cameras out of our hands and forced food upon us… not that we were complaining - I knew there’d be some amazing food, since every time I spoke with Nazli, she spent at least a couple of minutes telling me how great the food would be - food is a big deal to her family, and I fully support that! The first day of the wedding took place in San Ramon and Fremont and consisted of the Nikah (the religious ceremony) followed by the Mehndi (traditionally a ceremony for the bride during which her hands and feet are elaborately painted with henna). The religious ceremony was of course completely different from the typical wedding ceremonies I’m used to photographing- the men and the women were separated (at first in separate rooms, and later on opposite sides of one room), and Nazli and Umer were separated as well until after the ceremony was over. It was a very intimate setting, with everyone sitting together on the floor of the mosque, and and it felt like everyone was really involved in the ceremony instead of just spectating.
At the Mehndi party, Umer and Nazli’s friends and family performed some wonderfully elaborate choreographed dance performances. Umer’s nieces were especially adorable, and obviously inherited their talent from Umer’s sister Saira, who danced as well. There was also a ritual involving the stealing of Umer’s shoes, which were then sold back to him. I couldn’t quite figure out the significance of that particular ritual, but it made for some great photo opportunities.
On Saturday, the festivities (and eating) continued in Sacramento. We started out at Nazli’s parents’ house for a session with the bride and groom, before heading over to the Platinum Palace for the reception. The decorations and table settings were stunning, including a huge spread of carved fruit and three delicious looking cakes… and of course, more delicious food. This event was a bit more formal, and everyone, especially the bride and groom, looked spectacular.
Tons of thanks to Nazli and Umer for including us in their celebration and introducing us to the wonderful world of Pakistani wedding festivities!
I had a blast on Saturday shooting a combination engagement/family portrait session with Victoria, Jeremy and Tyler. Victoria and Jeremy are actually already married, but their ceremony will be in Montana, so they wanted some "engagement pictures", and they brought along their adorable three-year-old daughter Tyler to share in the fun. They even spent some time the night before coaching Tyler to make a "pretty face," which paid off with some great smiles. We spent the first half of the session wandering around the arboretum chasing ducks and making duck noises - and then Tyler got a break and mom and dad brought out their best "pretty faces."
I teamed up with the very talented Tim Engle to teach a photography workshop at Preston Castle, in Ione (outside of Sacramento). The workshop was fantastic - we had a great group of twelve photographers, and Tim recruited eight top-notch models and a crew of stylists and make-up artists. The castle is a fantastic location - it served as a boy’s reformatory in the early 1900s before being shut down, and now they’re trying to restore it. It’s in a state of major disrepair, with crumbling walls, eerie, barely lit hallways and lots of creepy nooks and cranny - what better place to bring a bunch of pretty models… and, of course, a guy in a clown suit! I was teaching all day, so I only got to take a few pictures (which was KILLING me! I wanted to shoot so badly…) But I had a fantastic time instructing - I was very happy to combine my love for photography with my love for teaching. You can see some of the shots the participants took here.
Jean-Yin and Al toured around Sacramento last week to find spots for their engagement session, and decided they wanted to get dressed up and take some pictures in the Capitol. We had to jump through a few security hoops (when he saw the change of clothes they had brought with them, the guard asked if they were moving in…) but it was well worth it - the Capitol was a fun building to shoot in, with some beautiful architecture, and of course, the Governator’s office offered a posing opportunity I just couldn’t pass by. Al was a great sport - although he admitted he wasn’t really much into having his picture taken, you never would have guessed… what a guy! Thanks you two for a fun afternoon!
I knew I would enjoy working with Jackie and Mark when I first met with them and they asked me if I would mind shooting their engagement session at the UC Davis library, which is where they met. Having spent many happy hours in that library as an undergrad at UCD, I was very happy to return for an awesome engagement session. The library theme continued for the most beautiful and cleverly detailed wedding I’ve attended - the table settings consisted of author’s names and corresponding quotes, and the seating cards were "old-fashioned" cards from a card catalog (if you’re under 30, you might have no idea what those even look like, so you’ll just have to check out the pictures…) and the gorgeous cake was in the shape of three stacked books. The tone of the wedding was hardly librarial though - DJ Rick spun a great selection of tunes, and Jackie and Mark danced it up with their friends and family. Thanks to my second shooter Jeff Aldeghi for helping me capture this beautiful wedding in style.
Marissa and Wally might be the best smilers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. As I was going through their pictures, I just noticed smile after smile after smile. And they’ve got plenty to be happy about - they had a beautiful wedding at Wally’s parents house in West Sacramento (they got married under a tree in the backyard with their initials carved into it - how cool is that?). Wally’s Dad built most of the place himself (and he performed the ceremony, and he’s got a really cool moustache). This was a really nice, personal wedding. At one point, my second shooter Erika and I were discussing how lucky we are as wedding photographers: we get to hang out with a bunch of people having a great time, celebrating and honoring the love of a happy couple. Thanks to Wally and Marissa for letting us be a part of your wonderful (and very happy) day.
I met up with Nazli and Umer in San Francisco where we spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening shooting their engagement photos near the Palace of Fine Arts and the Presidio before moving over to Baker Beach to catch the sunset - these two have a great sense of humor and are a joy to be around. They weren’t going to let a little thing like low-flying fighter jets distract them (it’s Fleet Week!), and we had a great time shooting in the diverse locations the city has to offer. I think I made them kiss about 262 times, but they didn’t seem to mind too much. When we got to the beach Umer’s sister and brother-in-law and his adorable nieces arrived to join us for some family portraits on the beach. We finished off the day with dinner in one of their favorite Pakistani restaurants - a delicious ending to a beautiful day.
