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!