I had a wonderful opportunity to shoot my friend Mark's wedding on Saturday (11.10.2007). Mark and Jennifer were absolutely wonderful! I had a lot of fun shooting their wedding. Jennifer was one of the most relaxed bride's i've shot in a long time, even though we were running 20 minutes behind, but she stayed cool (like the other side of a pillow).

The weather cooperated perfectly so we decided to go by the beach to shoot the romantics. We ended up at Heisler Park near Las Brisas for about an hour and the weather was perfect!!!

Here are the results:
















Thank you for viewing!

Michael

09.02.2007 - A very, very HOT wedding and uncomfortable at times due to the heat.. It was my first Hindu wedding, and I really didn't know what to expect. I've shot lead for over 20 weddings for Harvard Photography and this one was a little different. Aside from the ridiculously hot day, the wedding ceremony itself ran a total of 1 1/2 hours. The language barrier also made the shoot slightly difficult since i really didn't know what moments were important to capture. Luckily, the videographer was Indian and was very helpful. Every time something important was about to happen, he would whisper the meaning of the event.

The wedding ceremony and reception took place at the Anaheim Hills Golf Course and Country Club.


This was a pretty big wedding party with eight bridesmaids and ten groomsmen.





Here's the adorable couple, Seema and Dustin.


Here's Seema's henna tattoos.


The thing I love most about Indian weddings (aside from the food) are the colorful clothing and the intricate jewelry that is placed upon the bride. Here's Seema's head jewelry.



This was the start of the wedding ceremony, (which I will need to get some clarification from someone who is familiar with Hindu ceremonies). Anyway, i think this is a part of the ceremony where the women of the bride's family would line up in front of the groom and each one would walk up to the bride, place some money into a napkin that the groom is holding and wave (in a circular motion) a lit candle and a small jug of water to cleanse the groom (I think).









Again, the ceremony lasted 1 1/2 hours and was my longest ceremony to date.





The best man was responsible for wiping the sweat off of groom's forehead (yup, it was that hot!)

















The cake table and cake were beautifully decorated.






Here is Shaniya (Seema's cousin), a very beautiful young lady. Unfortunately I missed her singing from the ceremony the night before, but I hear she did a great job signing for Seema and Dustin.






The cake cutting was cute. One one hand, Dustin takes his time and care to slowly feed Seema her piece of cake. On the other hand, Seema takes her fork and almost impales Dustin's nose.



Here's the toast of the bride and groom.



One thing i did notice, was Dustin and Seema never kissed each other on the lips. Now, im not sure if it was due to tradition, but the couple never kissed on the lips, but rather Dustin would only kiss Seema on the forehead. Even at the end of the ceremony, Dustin only kissed her forehead. Im curious to hear the reasoning behind this.

Here's my ring shot.



One unusual event occurs at the end of the reception. At one point everybody is happy, dancing and enjoying the music. An announcement is made and all of a sudden then the mood changes as the final blessing is given by the parents to the new bride and groom. The music stops, a sorrowful mood fills the room. The bride's family (parents, siblings, close relatives and friends) start to cry as they say goodbye to the bride. Seema, then continues to hug and cry with everyone (her friends and family) in the room.




I was astounded by the sudden change in mood from very happy, to all of a sudden very sad. I definately need to find out more about Hindu ceremonies.

Again, it was a VERY hot day, and shooting for 10 hours straight doesn't really make things any easier. On the good side, the ceremony and reception were all held at a beautiful location.

I am glad to meet Seema and Dustin and wish them the very best.

Thank you for viewing!

Visual Exposure

I've been feeling a little down lately, so i figured i would catch up on some blogging..

Here's a wedding i did on 07.07.07 (I know, a little late).. Yep, the lucky day for this year, and I was glad to meet Juliet and Marcus on their wedding date. They were another fun loving couple, and it almost came to the point that I had to keep Marcus away from Juliet during the romantics, cause he couldn't stop kissing her neck and holding her from behind.. it was sooo cute thoug! :)

This wedding was a bit difficult, and another one for Harvard Photography. The difficulty came in a very compressed wedding timeline, and I shot this wedding alone (meaning, no second shooter) and the heat didn't really help any. Overall though it was a fun wedding, and Juliet was relaxed as ever, while Marcus was the one who played the stressed out groom. :)

Here are some shots during the day:

Here's the view from the grooms hotel room.


and this is how the guys celebrated before the wedding..




Here's Juliet with one of her cute flower girls.




And here's Juliet rocking a cool panther tattoo..


Juliet being a goof-ball.. :)


A cute picture of Juliet.


I think I caught her at a wrong time.. All the cheering up in the world, couldn't get the cute baby to smile for my camera. sadness!! but, she's very cute when she's not sporting the angry eyes.


One of Juliet's other flower girls (she had a total of three). She was very ready to pose for the camera.


This being my first time to the Bowers museum, i was pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful this place was. I was impressed, and i plan to visit when my schedule permits.










Look at those beautiful eyes!!


a 07.07.07 toast @ 7:07pm.. WOW! that's alot of 7's..


The hall where the reception was held.




There were alot of beautiful places to shoot Juliet and Marcus for romantics, but the Bowers Museum hosted two weddings on the same day, and I didn't get a chance to shoot the couple in the Spanish style courtyard near the main entrance. It was very beautiful and i wished i had an oportunity to shoot there. Oh well, hopefully next time.

Thank you for reading!

Cheers!
Visual Exposure