suzanne & abdel rahman: san ramon wedding
July 27, 2011 | Filed Under wedding posts | 20 Comments
back in december 2010, i was unhappy that i had to miss suzanne’s actual wedding ceremony at home in north carolina. i had known suzanne and her little brother farris since farris was my fourth-grade student, back in my super-brief teaching days at al-iman school in raleigh; suzanne was a couple of grades ahead of him, but at such a small school where i knew half the parents anyway, i knew her there as well. this was in the late 1990′s – after i moved to maryland in 2000, i didn’t see much of suzanne at all again until meeting her at our friend yasmin‘s wedding last year. she’d grown into such a graceful, calm-spirited, lovely young woman… hopefully you can see some of that in these pictures, which were taken at the reception given by the groom’s side of the family at crow canyon country club in danville, california (near san ramon), earlier this month. suzanne was breathtaking as a bride, and these two as a couple kinda made me melt.
suzanne, it was such a joy to see you so happy there, and i’m SO glad i was able to see you again – being the one to actually photograph your day was just the icing on the cake :) thank you, both of you and your families, for everything!
suzanne wears hijab (the islamic headscarf), so i will not be sharing any of the images we took without her hijab on. here’s a selection of portraits and candids from other parts of the day and evening! and, many thanks again to the fantastic vida carson from philadelphia, who just happened to be in the bay area at the same time as me and spent a good portion of her last day in california shooting this wedding with me!
fuad & trish: long island wedding
July 26, 2011 | Filed Under wedding posts | 18 Comments
remembering fuad and trishita’s beautiful summer wedding in long island last month, i can’t help thinking smugly that i DO have the most stunning brides in the world as my clients! when trish stepped out of her golf-cart transport to join us for a midday portrait session, in the gardens at crest hollow country club in woodbury, i think my second shooter shari deangelo and i were a bit enchanted – trish looked like she’d stepped off the screen from a classical indian movie. lucky dude you are, fuad :) but i also remember the intensely amusing, hard-core haggling that went on in the traditional bangladeshi rituals of the “gate” – preventing the groom from entering the hall until he pays up – and the groom’s shoe-stealing, which has a similar outcome, the moving poem that trish’s mom read out loud about her daughter, the incredible viennese dessert table (complete with sparklers and chocolate fondue fountain – see below!) and so much more that made this wedding beautifully memorable for everyone, even shari and i as photographers.
fuad and trish, i can’t thank you enough for the honor of being a part of your wedding and i pray you are both blessed in your marriage as you move forward in your new life together! and shari – who, by the way, is someone i admire tremendously as a photographer and i still can’t believe she seconded with me – thank you for your invaluable support on all levels!
malak & abdessalaam: wedding portraits
July 20, 2011 | Filed Under portraits, wedding posts | 1 Comment
malak’s mother contacted me about taking some bridal portraits of her daughter and son-in-law on their wedding day… and we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening to celebrate and take these portraits! in fact i kind of fell in love with malak when she asked me to shoot into the setting sun :) i don’t get to do outdoor evening-time portraits very often and the light was absolutely a photographer’s dream. it helped that we were located at the beautiful frying pan farm park in herndon, virginia, and of course even more to have such a gorgeous couple!
malak wears a hijab (islamic headscarf) so although we took most of the portraits and images of her without the headscarf, i am only sharing here some of the images she took with her hijab on. thank you malek, abdessalaam and fadwa for the opportunity to meet and work with you all!
rashad & sana: walima
July 7, 2011 | Filed Under wedding posts | 16 Comments
i met rashad and sana at the end of their wedding journey, as the photographer for their walima (the reception given by the groom’s side, and often the final event in a pakistani wedding). but i felt like part of the family by the end of the night… sometimes, weddings in our culture can get so hectic, planned around various rituals and family events, that it’s hard to catch a glimpse of the heart of it all: the love between the bride and groom. not so with rashad and sana. these two are so. freaking. cute. together… i still smile when i’m going through their portraits!
but i have to say, it was more than “just” the couple that made this night so special – everything from the speeches, to the crazy group poses during stage formals, to the incredible organizational and decoration skills of rashad’s sister-in-law, maryam (girl, you have a future in wedding coordination, if you’re interested!) and the jaw-dropping stage setup by the ever-amazing prabha bhambri… everything spoke of the love rashad and sana’s families bore for the couple, and of the families’ and friends’ heartfelt prayers for their new life together. it was such a pleasure to be welcomed so warmly into the midst of all this, not only for myself but my amazing second shooter and dear friend, sara haddad (without whom i would not have made it through the night!)
rashad and sana – looking forward to our upcoming portrait session inshallah, and i pray that God blesses your marriage – that the happiness you shared on june 11 grows every day for the rest of your lives together. i’m so happy to have met you guys!
