I had the privilege of shooting with a fantastic photographer named Riz Adit (Adit Studio) while in Fresno. Riz has been shooting weddings all over the world for something like 15 years, and I learned so much just from watching him work and talking to him. Although this is mostly for photographers, I think there is something interesting for other folks to read. I just want to share 2 interesting things I remember him telling me:

“Wedding photography is much different than it used to be. These days, to be a wedding photographer you have to be a product photographer, a fashion photographer, a photo-journalistic photographer, and have a sense of style.”

“There is no small client. You still end up spending a lot of time and energy thinking about each client, planning for their shoot, taking the effort to communicate clearly, and doing a lot of things mentally to prepare for the shoot.”

It’s always fascinating to me when someone is able to articulate experiences in a clear and lucid manner. I’ve experienced these things he mentioned, but putting it into words has really helped me make sense of what it is I do and why some times I feel so discombobulated. :)

Learning to love. Sharing in experience. Family. Tradition. These are the thoughts that come my mind when I think of the first part of Zarina and Faisal’s wedding in Fresno, CA. I’m all for breaking rules and redefining how the world is viewed, but I hope that does not mean I have to forsake the beauty of traditions.

From what I understand, the Mehndi is a party for the women to gather together to prepare the bride for her wedding (Shaadi) the following day. I was really drawn to how the bride and groom are “presented” to the guests by their families and close friends.

Venue: Rex Phebus Veterans Memorial Building

Guam was sort of a strange trip for us back in December 2008. It was our interim location between Los Angeles and Palau (blogged here). We had really crazy weather the entire time we were there because of a tropical depression just off the coast. It was warm most of the time, unless the wind was blowing, but rain was intermittent. The rapidly changing and unpredictable weather was unexpected of a place marketed as a tropical paradise, but pretty cool for pictures. :)

We got away from the resort beaches and made our way to Ritidian Point, which turned out to be an amazingly beautiful and quiet beach. I could not see a single other human from where I was standing there. Behind was the jungle, in front was the ocean, and we had white sand beneath out toes. That was a very nice day.

A few pictures from our trip to Maui in April. Scuba diving and eating, pretty much.