The Way We Click BLOG

Soooo many more to come, but here is a sneak peek at my editorial romantic shoot for Mignonette Bridal!

Day two of Tasneem and Imrans traditional Muslim wedding included a Mehndi party. This is a traditional reception style dinner for close friends and family only and is almost as full of customs and ceremonies as the wedding day itself. The candle procession leads the bride to her future family, and traditional gifts of jewelry, beautiful clothes, shoes, and even a gorgeous book of the Quran is given as a gift to the bride to start out her life as a married woman. Then there is of course the stealing of the shoes… which is always so much fun to watch. The women try their best to wait until the groom is distracted and then rush in to try and steal his shoes, only to extort a large sum of money out of him and his family to get them back! This is one of my favorite customs and I think everyone’s face will tell the story of how much fun this is so much better than my words! Tasneems sister  ended up with them, and I’m fairly certain she got a pretty penny from the boys to get them back!

Preparation for this day is almost as involved as the wedding day and Tasneem was absolutely stunning. Her custom made dress was dyed from virgin fabric and each item she wore throughout the wedding festivities was designed especially for her in Pakistan. The craftsmanship of each piece is amazing, and I may have to reconsider what I want to wear on my wedding day because of it! Overall this day was a nice way to prepare for the multitude of traditions full of prayer and ceremony to come the following day. A perfect mild summer night at the Ruffled Feathers Golf Course lent itself to a perfect photo op, and finally let Imran scratch his itchy beard!

Tasneem and Imran met by chance on a retreat organized by both of their parents. Neither one was looking for love, but they were lucky enough to find that and more, each others best friend. There was one little hitch in their romance however…. Tas lived in the suburbs of Chicago, and Imran lived thousands of miles away in England! To build a life together was no small feat considering how much they had to go through to actually BE together! Being from traditional families, it was crucial to follow the beautiful traditions inherent to their muslim faith and so began an event that spanned over a week with tons of events and ceremonies. One of the first, and the first one I got to photograph started at Tasneems home with some fun Hena art (also known as Mehndi) and blessings.  Needless to say this will be a series of posts, and there are TONS of amazing images from their entire event. For now… I give you a few casual shots I took on day one of a family loving each other, and having a little fun! Check back in to see the images for days two through four!

Rachel and Miki are the kind of people that I think everyone should strive to be. They met doing volunteer work for the  Surfrider foundation which helps to clean up the worlds beaches and protect our precious water supply. The ocean is so important to both of them, and so the backdrop of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego was a perfect setting for their wedding day. The details were so thought out, from the amazing floral designs of Britton Neubacher (more about her in a future post!), to the handmade wedding dress made my Miki’s mom, to the beautiful antique candlesticks that they collected together for this day. A good deal of their guests came from New York, where they are originally from, and the amount of people willing to travel to be there for these two is a testament to how loved they really are. I felt very lucky to play such an important part of the day, and I feel that the images speak for themselves in explaining Rachel and Miki any further. I also had the pleasure of having my good friend Jaime from Viera Photographics as my second shooter which made the day that much more fun, and of course, made for some great imagery too! Thanks R & M… I think I can speak for everyone that you know when I say that what you two share, is something we all wish we had.

After Theresa, Jonathan and I met across the street from where we did their engagement session, I knew that our styles and personalities would meld together perfectly. Their wedding day was so much more than that I could have expected, and its such a rare and wonderful thing to see two people who are as perfectly matched as they are. They allowed me a big block of time to get some gorgeous portraits so this post is a bit portrait heavy, but I just couldn’t bear to edit it down any more! My favorite part of the day was definitely the ride to the ceremony with Theresa. I got to hear all about how they met and listen to her stories of how they ended up together. As good as that was though, I will say that the bacon wrapped dates at Phlight where the reception was held were definitely a runner up! From their first sight, to the Rolls Royce Limo ride, to their deeply emotional ceremony, the day was simplistic and stylish in every way. I even had to sneak into a photo with the two of them near the end of the evening!

A couple weeks ago I had the amazing pleasure of getting to spend the afternoon with one of my favorite couples, Aarti and Sunil. I can’t believe its been a year and a half since shooting their wedding, not to mention meeting one of the most awesome women I’ve ever met (who just happens to be my good friend now). As they have a new addition to their family, we figured it was time to take some new pictures to include little Layla into the mix! Shes very, well…, high energy! It was a beautiful day for a walk by the beach and to get some great casual family shots, and of course, to get slobbered on too!

About a month or so ago, I drove from San Diego to Tahoe to visit family and decided to make the trek through the desert up the historic 395 instead of fighting horrible LA traffic and looking at cows the entire drive up Hwy 5. There have always been spots along 395 that I’ve wanted to take the time to explore, so this time, alone and with my camera I explored some of the most beautiful and decrepit remnants and randomness of the eastern Sierra desert. I think my favorite part was getting caught in a flash thunder and lightning storm at Mono Lake while taking a hike down to the shore. Standing alone in that place, getting soaked, and trying to protect my camera while watching the light on the lake dance around was a great reminder that we all need this sometimes, and being outside feeds your creative soul.

So after spending two very action packed days laughing my butt off with Aarti, Sunil, and their amazing families the big day finally came. I had to get up super early to be at Aarti’s house for morning prayers and the granshanti. This was by far my favorite part of the entire three day event since it is the actual ceremony that separates the woman from her family and helps to bind her to her new family with her husband. There is such a beautiful ceremony giving thanks and asking blessings from Ganesh who is the destroyer of all obstacles in life, and involves the smearing of Turmeric paste on her face, arms, and feet which is a type of beautification process (and stains btw!). The rest of the day was equally meaningful and full of family and the love shared between Aarti and Sunil.