Who doesn’t want to marry their best friend? This lovely couple is marrying each others’ best friend. Isn’t that sweet? Jackie and John were the perfect couple for a state fair engagment session. They love festivals, food, and so much fun to be around! Had no idea how we spent several hours there. The best part was, they were treated like royalties there, and since I was with them, I enjoyed the royal treatment too. Really! No one seemed to want to charge them for the tickets even after insisting on it, random people helped me with crowd control. It was extremely crowded that day, but everything went very smoothly. How nice is that!

I love the expression on John’s face.

 

 

She went out with her friends one night, and her eyes locked on this one handsome guy hoping he might approach her that night. He didn’t. She couldn’t stop thinking about him the whole week, and decided to go back to the same place the following weekend with a hope that that handsome guy might show up. And………..he did! They’ve together ever since, and now ready to tie the knot.

I had no idea about the weather up in flagstaff that weekend, and it was pouring when I got there. Even though I was nervous, I was extremely excited that I could have a photoshoot in the rain like a romantic movie. The best part was, Amala was so ready to rock this shoot in the rain. Isn’t that amazing! I love it when great minds think alike; however, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We still managed to get a few shots in the rain, and words cannot explain how much we had. At least I had.

Check out Amala and Ed. Aren’t they gorgeous?!

 

Almost a decade ago, a girl noticed a guy at a restaurant, and told one of her friends that he looked pleasant. The friend did something that every should do. Went up to the guy, and told him about her friend. A decade later, here we are. Katie and Jason are all set to tie the knot in November.

Since it’s so hot in Phoenix, we’ve decided to drive up to Prescott, enjoy a fine day, and do a fun and relaxed engagement session there.

 

At the lake, we’ve decided to play a fun game so that I could capture their expressions. They each had to write something on the board, and then surprise each other. Both of their notes have some funny stories behind it. I love their expressions after seeing the writing.

 

 

Have you ever had one of those shoots when you just don’t want to end it? That’s exactly how I felt. Elaine and Gilbert are such a beautiful and fun couple. Even though they are from Phoenix, luckily they were in LA for a couple of days. So, we’ve decided to do the engagement shoot in LA, and not worry about the extreme summer  heat.

 

What a fun Saturday! Can’t explain how fun it was photographing Elaine and Gilbert’s engagement session. Here’s a sneak peek. More coming soon. Stay tuned.

Rich and my brother Adnan are like BFFs. Adnan always talked about how fun Rich is, how wonderful he is, what a great buddy he is and so on. Finally, I got to meet him and his wonderful girlfriend, and I am truly glad I did. They are one of the most fun couples I’ve ever met. Look at these photos. We had a blast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were so gorgeous that we ended up causing a traffic, and passerbys asked us if they were stars. I am not kidding. a lady asked if she was a model and another person asked if they were stars. Adnan and I felt amazing as the paparazzis, and Lady Gaga started singing in my head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn’t sure which one to pick so I tried a black and white and a color one. Please let me know which one you prefer. If neither then feel free to send me a message.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a photographer, I don’t like the next photo because of the lighting, however, I love how in love these two are. Look at them. Priceless.

 

 

 

 

Who doesn’t want to look great in their pictures, right? I know I do. It might sound like nothing, but there are a few things that you can do to help you be prepared for your session, for some wonderful shots. These are a few tips that I always give to my clients, and I’ve heard some positive feedback.

       *Get a good night’s sleep

       *Avoid sun exposure or excessive activities the day before and the day of.

       *Drink plenty of water to improve skin texture. Bring along bottled water to keep you refreshed and energized.

       *Make sure your clothes are ironed.

       *Make sure your socks match your shoes. Avoid white socks if your shoes are dark color.

       *Make sure your teeth are clean.

       *Think about if you want a formal portrait session or a casual / natural portrait session.

       *Please make sure your shoes, hands and feet are clean and ready to be photographed.

       *You and your family can color coordinate for a portrait session. If you have more than 1 child then only the children can match their colors.

       *You should wear something that represents your personality and style to portray the real you in your picture.

        *Make sure you bring extra sets of clothes for your children and for yourself. Bring extra pairs of comfortable shoes just in case if you have to walk on dirt road to reach the location.

        *Please bring your child’s favorite toy, food and water, anything that will keep your child busy and happy.

        *Ladies, don’t forget to bring your makeup for touchups.

         *Relax and enjoy your session and be open to trying out different poses and locations.

 

I found out about this workshop offered by Chris Leigh Studios a couple of weeks ago. I am glad I signed up for this workshop. I needed more help with exposire locking and sun flare shots. We were able to practice various types of shooting in different lights. I wish I had a flash. We learned more about flash too; however, while everyone was trying to understand their flashes and taking pictures with their flash, I challenged myself to accomplish same quality picture using natural light in the same situation.

It was great because I got to meet some wonderful people, and the intimate setting was wonderful. After shooting at Tempe Beach Park in the morning, we went to Chompies for breakfast. We discussed marketing, more technical sides of a camera, got to know each other and so on.

Here are a few pictures from the workshop.

 I was practicing sun flare but ended up getting this gorgeous rim light photo.

I attended an all day workshop by Create Better Images (Award winning photographers Jennifer Bowen and Kimberly Jarman). I am so glad I attended their workshop because it completely changed how I used to shoot and post process. Nailing my exposure was something that I used to struggle, but learned some amazing tricks from these two pros. And I got to meet some wonderful people there too.

We got to shoot some pictures with some beautiful models. First we photographed a beautiful family.

After we were done shooting the beautiful family, we photographed a newly wed, fun couple. They were so photogenic and so wonderful. Look at them. Aren’t they beautiful !

Christine and Quenten make such a great couple. Their love for each other is evident in each picture. I didn’t have to ask them to pose. They made the session so much easier for me by simply enjoying each other’s company. We picked Old Town Scottsdale, AZ for this photoshoot and discovered so many beautiful spots.