Wedding Documentary Photography and Videography Blog

Sandhya and Zach were separated by the entire country leading up to their big day. Sandhya was down in San Diego finishing up her residency while Zach was in Brooklyn. They had to communicate through phone, email, and the occasional visit that only happened about once a month!

I felt honored to do the engagement session with them because they had not seen each other in a long time, so it was true romance unfolding. They seized every moment and cherished it. They are both very smart, loving, and caring people. Makes me feel truly blessed for being able to do what I do.

Since the start time of this wedding was about 6:30 am, I decided to stay the night, as we covered another event at the same hotel the night before so it worked out to just stay there and wake up early without doing a 45 minute drive half asleep.

Both the wedding and ceremony were held at Canyon View Dining Hall in San Ramon, a convenient location for Hindu ceremonies where people can go from outside to inside with ease and everything is one place. It’s much easier maneuvering gear at this venue so I like it from a techy perspective. The view is awesome and I saw a big furry jack rabbit on the grounds so that was a nice way to start the day! The people there are super chill and easy to work with as well.

There was a little break to get ready for the reception but they we headed back over to the hall for lots of speeches, performances, dancing and partying. All in all, it was a perfect day and I love the photos below. Thanks for checking them out!

What an amazing day! I loved this wedding so much! It was my first time going to San Diego and I can see why everyone says it’s so great. I could definitely live there. The weather was nice and they don’t have that fog hanging over the ocean all the time like we do here in the summers.

Nupur and Tanmai’s wedding took place at the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla. A really great place with a ton of windows and retractable shade. Right before the ceremony the light coming through the windows was horrible, with a bright highlight on both chairs where the bride and groom were to set. Suddenly the coordinator for the Hyatt asked if “we would like the shades down”, and within two minutes we had perfect diffused soft light back right before the ceremony was to begin. I wish every location had a contraption like that!

Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic so the horse got to the venue so late that the Baraat was just ending. Luckily though, Tanmai got carried by some friends and it actually ended up being more entertaining than a horse. No matter how many Indian weddings I shoot, I still am always afraid it could kick me as I circle it with a steadicam etc. So horse, no horse, either way is fine with me.

Nupur did a great job choosing the colors, flowers, decor, and more! That’s why I included a lot more details in this post. Some of the room shots are actually HDR photos (combining of multiple exposures for more dynamic range). Otherwise, it was pretty dark in there. I really don’t like using 1600 ISO but in ball rooms you got to……Unless you use strobes! And yes, I had some but I feel sometimes the cross lighting patterns with strobes in big ball rooms are more distracting than a bit of grain.

We have a beautiful film coming out of Nupur and Tanmai’s wedding and I will be hosting it here on the blog when it’s ready. For now, enjoy some beautiful photos from San Diego!

This was the wedding I was looking forward to most all season. The reason being it was Nupur’s big day! I had the pleasure of photographing her twin sister’s wedding last summer and this time I was going to get the chance to do it all over again and photograph their families, who I dearly adore. They are all so sweet, fun, and welcoming. Definitely the best experience for a photographer to work with such great people.

This was actually my first real trip to San Diego as well. I had only driven through prior to this on my way down to Mexico so I made sure to keep an extra day after the wedding for visiting the San Diego Zoo. I was also looking for a special bird from Guinea, West Africa called “Dibon” in Malinke, but it is known as the Northern Ground Horn Bill. Unfortunately, the bird was actually at the Wild Park and not the zoo so I think I need to go back again soon! I was not really quite ready for all the walking at the zoo so I was especially tired after this weekend. I even threw away my shoes because after all the walking I knew I had gotten everything out of them that I could.

The night kicked off with this Sangeet, which is a party for all the family and friends that are in town for the wedding. People mingle, there are lots of speaches, performances, and musical numbers to entertain the bride and the groom. Typically, once the bride and groom enter the hall for the Sangeet, it can be difficult to get any portriats of them outside so we do these right before their entrance to ensure we have some nice photos of them before they spend the evening with their friends.

This was right down at the Harbor, very close to downtown at the Marina Village. We had a blast that night and then geared up early for the all day wedding and reception that followed. Stay tuned for lots of wedding and reception photos coming this week!

An extraordinary three day wedding comes to its final installment with these Valima photos from Mehvish and Omar’s three day event. The first two nights were at Chandni in Fremont and the third day was at the SFO Marriott in Burlingame. All of these events were so special and I loved how Mehvish’s outfit, hair, makeup, and everything changed each night with the color theme and all.

The reception is called Valima and is the first time the bride and groom are formally announced to the world as a married couple. It is a time of celebration, toasts, cake cutting, dinner, and lots of dancing! This room was huge with a ton of tables with elegant black and white decor. The food was Chinese with a Desi twist and DJ Salim rocked the night away with a ton of Bhangra, American, and Bollywood beats.

This is definitely one wedding I will never forget and I hope you enjoy this photo set!