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Shrina + Biren | Garba Night Photography

vijay — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:47:43 +0000

When it comes to multiple day Indian weddings, the Garba night is one of the highlights for us! Garba nights are a sea of colors with dresses fanning out creating beautiful patterns to almost trance like polyrhythms that are performed by a band usually consisting of three people. We normally do a photo shoot with the bride and groom and their respective families before the formal start of the Garba. When the bride and groom enter they light the Diya which is a candle made of ghee butter or vegetable oil. Once it is lit the band begins to slowly play and the Garba begins. Later the music becomes faster and the dancing becomes more intricate. Finally, towards the end of the evening, sticks called Dandiyas are used in a dance where lines of people will dance and click their sticks before moving down the line to the next person. This dance creates amazing photos because people usually have very joyful expressions and for people who are just learning, it can be a really fun and new experience that they get into once they get the hang of it.

Later in the evening, but before it gets completely dark, we like to take the couple out for more photos where the sky is very blue and using flash adds some drama to the portraits. I really loved the large oak trees on the property and decided to use those as a framing device for these portraits. Something new I tried was using a tripod to blur all the dancers and then just keep our bride Shrina still next to the center altar. After a few shots of that I had her move into the foreground to do a similar photograph but where where she was more prominent.

We hope you enjoy these beautiful Garba Night photographs that were taken here in the Bay Are and if you need a Bay Area Indian Wedding Photographer please contact Wedding Documentary Photo + Cinema!

Shrina + Biren | Hindu Wedding Highlights at Oakland Rotunda

vijay — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:37:33 +0000

Wow! What an amazing time we had with Shrina and Biren over three days of wedding events last month! Click on the link below to view their traditional Hindu Wedding that took place at the beautiful Oakland Rotunda! It was our first time shooting here and we love this place! The cool glass dome ceiling and patterned floor are perfect for wedding events! It’s also big and can hold a lot of people so it is the perfect Bay Area venue for Indian weddings!

We loved that Shrina and Biren chose the song “Good Life” for their highlights reel. It really expresses them as a couple and their personalities. It’s a perfect wedding song and as much as we like Indian music for soundtracks we think choosing a song that has meaning to the couple and great lyrics is a better choice.

We would love to hear your comments so drop us a line below and we look forward to sharing many more films right here on the blog this summer!

Shrina’s Pithi and Grah Shanti in Fremont

vijay — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:14:59 +0000

The day before her wedding Shrina did the Pooja known as Ganesh Pooja at her home to remove any obstacles from the wedding events. She offered Ganesh milk, sweets, and blessings to Lord Ganesh in exchange for his blessings. The part of the event known as Pithi is where her mother, aunts, and friends rub tumeric based paste on her feet, knees, arms, shoulder, and face to make her skin radiant and beautiful for her wedding day. All these traditions are part of the traditional Hindu wedding in the state of Gujarat where both the bride and groom’s families come from.

The colors were rich and vivid and the perfect lighting in their backyard made us very happy because everything turned out so beautifully! We hope you enjoy of our favorite photographs of this Pithi ceremony and Ganesh Pooja below!

Custom Designed Leather StoryBook Wedding Albums

vijay — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:12:26 +0000

Photography is really only part of the equation of what we offer at Wedding Documentary Photo + Cinema. In addition to receiving a complete set of edited photos from your wedding day, we also custom design Wedding Albums! Our finest quality albums are these large 12×12 Leather bound books that are hand crafted in the Unites States. Each page is rigid true photographic paper that lays flat and is coated for longevity and beauty! Our clients have a choice of either a standard black box for their album or an upgraded linen box that is even more durable and has the same cover photo from the album on the box.

All of our albums are sure to impress your family and friends. Having images on a CD is good for safe keeping but will never replace the look and feel of a contemporary wedding album that will become the centerpiece of your coffee table.

For wedding album questions and pricing please contact us today! Scroll below to see two recent wedding albums that we shipped out. One Sikh wedding album and one Hindu wedding album. Both feature gorgeous paper and perfect binding. Your memories should last forever and so should your album!

Shrina’s Mehndi Night in Fremont, CA

vijay — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:20:23 +0000

You probably saw Shrina and Biren’s awesome wedding photos at the Oakland Rotunda but now we want to show you some of the pre events that happened before the big day! Two days before the wedding Shrina had her Mehndi done by Ravie Kattaura, one of the Bay Area’s most sought after Mehndi artists. Shrina had a beautiful geometric design put on her hands and feet and got a cool photo session while the Mehndi was still dark and fresh! Family and friends partied the night away and took many rounds of shots and screamed “Opa!” every time! Scroll through to see just a few of the images and remember to always have photography at your Mehndi because you will want to preserve this time in your life forever!

Binita + Carl | San Francisco Engagement Photo Shoot

vijay — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:05:05 +0000

Wow! Binita and Carl are amazing! We cannot wait for their big day this July at the San Ramon Marriott Hotel! They will have an Indian Fusion wedding and include aspects of both their cultures of India and Haiti. We know their big day is going to give us a ton of great photo opportunities.

We did the Engagement Session at the Palace of Fine Arts and then went to Baker Beach. These two locations offer so many photo opportunities that it is too hard to ignore. Scroll through to check them out and please be sure to leave a comment at the box below so we know you stopped by!

Shrina + Biren | Indian Wedding at Oakland Rotunda

vijay — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:14:11 +0000

Shrina and Biren’s wedding was an awesome experience! Every single event was so much and everyone there was super cool and fun to talk to. Meeting all these wonderful people was the best part for us!

Their wedding took place at the Oakland Rotunda and is a great venue for Indian weddings with its multi-levels and glass dome ceiling. All the getting ready shots and the first look were taken at the Oakland Marriott. Scroll through the photos below and drop us a line in the comments section and tell us what you think!

Angel + Eric | San Jose Engagement Photo Session

vijay — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:38:23 +0000

Angel and Eric met up with us a couple weeks before their wedding for their engagement session! We chose San Jose because we knew the weather would be perfect and we would be away from the SF cold and fog. It was a perfect day at the Japanese Tea Garden and next door historical site that displays what the “old town” was like back in the day. I knew the ice cream shop would be the perfect stop for some photos, as well as, the cool walls, blown glass windows, and awesome doors!

Angel wore a beautiful Sari and Eric wore his formal military uniform. Eric served two tours in Iraq and I am so thankful for his service to our country. Even though Angel and Eric come from different cultures they are perfect for one another. As a reminder, I have a half American and half Indian background myself so photographing fusion weddings is always special to me. I think about how their children will grow up relating to both cultures and will look back at these images and love to see their parents looked before and on their wedding day!

For the Japanese Tea Garden we did something more casual and I love the color blue Angel chose for her dress. We had a great mix of sunlight shots, open shade, and and rim lighting in the park. We are excited to share the wedding photos here on the blog next week so stay tuned for more!!!

Pooja + Archish | Monterey and Carmel Engagement Shoot

vijay — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:56:38 +0000

The following post is something that I shot about a year ago but never blogged! It was an awesome shoot with Pooja and Archish in Monterey and Carmel. I love this area and it was a beautiful day over there. We had a great time going all around to get these shots.

The Engagement Photo Session is such an important part when having a professional photographer document your event. It is the time to get to know them, learn how they communicate, and get images of yourself so you can choose your favorites and let the photographer know so they can get a better feel of what you like and the expressions that you like. An Engagement Photo Session is ideally a mix of many types of photography so you get variety. On your wedding day, with how fast things move, you may not get more than 20 minutes of posed photos if you have not really budgeted a lot of time for it.

For Engagement Photo Shoot information contact us today at 408-656-1014. We look forward to hearing from you!

Palmdale Estates Bridal Faire 2013

vijay — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:51:48 +0000

I feel a little weird saying this since we have been photographing and filming weddings since 2004, but I have never ever had a booth at a bridal faire before! We have received countless calls, emails, and flyers over the years asking us to participate in these mega shows where thousands of potential brides flood the floors searching for vendors but we have never ever been to one. I think part of it was that I really liked being found solely by word of mouth when I first started. I was anti-advertising. I wanted those that found me to be close friends with other past clients of ours. I felt that we were providing such a good service I almost wanted it to be a secret.

Fast forward 9 years and we finally did our first Brial Faire two weekends ago at Palmdale Estates in Fremont, CA. This is one my favorite outdoor venues, and is the best outdoor venue in the Fremont Area. We are always so flattered and thankful that Veena and Leann recommend us to the brides that get married there so we made it a priority to have a booth here when they graciously asked us to be a part of this special event.

What makes Palmdale standout is their friendly staff in my opinion. They are like a big family and so cool. I always enjoying photographing events there because we get to see the same great people over and over again. They make events special for all their couples and really know how to handle multi-cultural events such as Indian and Muslim weddings as well.

We had a nice booth right at the entrance and we displayed our albums, canvas prints, parent albums, and mini albums which were a big hit with all the faire attendees. Perhaps the biggest draw at our booth was my dancing dog. It is a speaker inside a dog and he dances when you connect your phone/iPod and play music. I myself saw it at a trades how recently and so I bought one knowing that for occasions such as these, it is a great conversation starter!

I really enjoyed walking around to all the other vendor booths and getting to know them. Some of them we have worked with before, but others we hadn’t or we never got to meet and chat in person much. This is especially true for florists and cake makers who sometimes get in, set up, and leave quickly at the weddings we photograph. I made a point to get photos of each vendor with their booth at the show. I think I got everyone. If I didn’t I apologize. I even forgot to get a photo of myself at the show. At least I got a shot of my son Ashanti who has the henna dragon on his arm that was done by Neeta Sharma, one of the Bay Area’s best Mehndi artists.

Palmdale showcased their excellent food, that I didn’t get a chance to eat this time but I got images of it! They also staged a mock wedding so guests could see what a ceremony is like in the “Sunken Garden”, which is one of the most popular spots couples get married at Palmdale. They have multiple options which is nice compared to other venues. All the participants in the mock ceremony were either employees at Palmdale Estates and the groom and officiant were both DJ’s!

What was especially nice about the Palmdale Estates Bridal Faire was that all the vendors are on the preferred list at Palmdale Estates. These are people who have done multiple weddings at the venue and out of all the vendors in the Bay Area, these are the ones that Palmdale Estates prefers to work with. Weddings are a team effort and when you have a great team, you can throw a great event! That is what separates this show from the mega shows at Convention Centers etc that let in anyone that can afford a booth. You get lots of sub par quality when you do that so that is why these venue specific shows are really nice.

All in all our first Bridal Faire experience was a lot of fun. It was great to meet potential brides who came to see us, as well as, to meet people who would have never known about us, had we not ben there. We look forward to attending more bridal faires in the future and can’t wait to shoot some fabulous weddings coming up soon at Palmdale Estates including one this Sunday!

Tech Specs: I shot this entire event with a Canon 5D Mark III and a 50mm 1.2 L Lens. No cropping and no photoshop. Just basic Lightroom adjustments.