Behind the Scenes Video of a Magazine Shoot

I had the pleasure of doing a collaborative shoot for California South Asian Bride Magazine recently and it was a lot of fun! I made this short video for a few reasons. The first reason is because I think “behind the scenes” videos are cool and as a photographer I can learn a lot from watching them. Another reason is because I think it is a glimpse into my world, my work, and my passion for collaborating with other artists for one common goal and that is to create stunning images. The final reason is because I wanted to start practicing using Apple’s new editing software, Final Cut X, which up until recently was missing a lot of features. Since the latest update included the features I would consider mandatory, I felt now was the time before wedding season starts to get my feet wet and start playing around with some of these personal type short videos, before we start editing wedding films with it. So ultimately I used this project as a learning experience so I could add these new tools to our work.

The video was shot in my studio and at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. Most of it was done held with the a 5D Mark II camera, as well as a Canon Powershot camera that I wanted to test out and basically had it mounted on a light stand. The clothing designer, Renuka, held it a few times to get some shots of me in action but otherwise it was all shot and edited by myself.

I won’t post any of the final images here, although you can see some of them in this short clip. However, once the magazine is out in circulation I will be sure to upload the finished spreads for everyone to see.

We have some more awesome fashion, South Asian inspired shoots coming up and I hope to film those as well! If you are interested in learning more about our studio photography in the San Francisco Bay Area, don’t hesitate to drop us a line at info(at)weddingdocumentary.com

Photographer: Vijay Rakhra

Hair/Makeup Artist: Kanchan Kapadne

Clothing Designer: Renuka Rajagopal 

Jewelry Designer: Nandini Saraiya

Models: Shruti Rajagopal and Sonia Kakkar

Baby Alessandra

wpid6254-Carole_Alessandra-4-Edit.jpg

“What a friggen cute baby”! That’s what I said out loud when I saw baby Alessandra. She is four and a half months old and is the baby of my past wedding clients, Carole and Joey. She is so adorable and was so fun to photograph. She made the best expressions and didn’t even cry once. I can tell this little one is going to be very strong. She is going to start crawling and talking any day now.

Can’t wait to photograph her again! Enjoy some of our favorites.

wpid6254 Carole Alessandra 4 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6256 Carole Alessandra 7 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6258 Carole Alessandra 14 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6260 Carole Alessandra 49 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6262 Carole Alessandra 51 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6264 Carole Alessandra 70 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6268 Carole Alessandra 132 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6270 Carole Alessandra 159 Edit Baby Alessandra

wpid6272 Carole Alessandra 165 Edit Baby Alessandra

Introduction to My Recent “Film M’bemba Fakoli – A Musical Journey Through Guinea, West Africa”

My two greatest passions in life are photography and drumming. That is why I feel so blessed to be able to combine the two b y maing films in West Africa, where I have been intensely studying the drumming for nine years.

In January of 2008 I was commisioned to make a performance DVD of some of the greatest musicians from Guinea, West Africa, including Bolokada Conde, Fadouba Oulare, Lansee Kante, Koumbagna Conde, and many more. We filmed in many villages in towns over the course of a month using 3 high definition cameras and a high end audio recorder.

The editing took almost a year due to having such a busy wedding schedule in 2o08 but the DVD is now complete and for sale at many retail outlets through the country. The name of the film is “M’bemba Fakoli: A Musical Journey Through Guinea, West Africa” and you can view the introduction to the DVD here.

[vimeo width="900" height="600"]http://www.vimeo.com/2572523[/vimeo]