Hello everyone. Hope Summer is going well. Just thought I share a recent session with you all. Not too long ago, Nikita contacted me and inquired if I would cover her Sagai ceremony. Now to those of you who are not familiar with the term, a Sagai is an Indian ceremony where the couple gets engaged, and the families unite. It’s a ceremony to not only bond the two couple for their future matrimony, but also for the two families to officially meet and establish a good relationship. It mostly consists of prayers (pujas), but gifts and rings are also exchanged between the couple, followed by a dinner. Most of you may know already, but I absolutely hate covering events that are exclusively indoors.  The reason being is because working indoors always mean dealing with inconsistent lighting, and the pictures are not as pleasing as they are outdoors. This is why I’m always a bit paranoid when doing any event indoors, simply because other lights or factors can change it dramatically. However, the rec center where the Sagai was held was just brilliant. The entire ceiling was made out of glass, and the whole room was lit completely naturally by the sun. The event was even nicer because it was fairly small with only close friends and family members, just the way I like it.

On top of the Sagai coverage, we also decided to do an E-session type shoot outdoors before the sagai, just so the couple could have some nice images away from the ceremony setting. The outdoor session was quite challenging to say the least. I absolutely love doing sessions outdoors, but I hate to do them with the sun fully out and it’s hot or humid. Now it’s partially my fault since I underestimated the time frame because of the seasonal difference, but we ended up doing the session on a very hot day, in the full mid-day sun. However, the key to being a true professional photographer is to know your surroundings, and to improvise the situation you are in, and make it work. I took a minute to look around, found some spots that would work, and we went ahead and did our thing. Both Nikki and Raju were troopers with the shoot, and complied to all of my requests. The result? You can see for yourself below.  If you have a favorite shot or just want to show some love, please leave a comment below 😀

E-Session

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Hello Internet world. I know it’s been FOREVER since the last update, but a lot has happened, and a lot more is still to come… so updating this blog has been delayed. I’ve decided to try something new this year, so I will update you guys with all the info on that in a future post. For now, let’s look at some really cool pictures shall we? This is a wedding from last year. Now I know you guys are saying it’s been such a long time since 2009, but I honestly have been swamped with work and some other stuff, and am just now getting to post some of my favorite weddings on the blog. So a few more from the ’09 will still make it’s way to the blog, and if you liked what you’ve seen so far, I have a feeling you may like them even better.

Hey, you remember that time you looked at Zafar & Saima’s Nikkah pics and loved them? Sure you do. Just incase you forgot, click on this link and catch up. Well, I had the opportunity to photograph their wedding as well last year. These two are just wonderful to work with, and I really had a great time with them both.  Now since it got dark for the couples session last time, I decided to give it another shot a bit earlier. We went to Duke gardens and shot a very quick couples session. Afterward, it was off to the Sheraton to get our wedding party on. The whole event was nice, with only the closest family and friends attending.  I really love the simple and small weddings that are very family and friends oriented.  I quickly went to Saima’s room while she was getting touched up, and I managed to snag some of my favorite images from that day right then. I also loved the fact that her two daughters were involved most of the day, and were complete sweethearts while working with me. This particular wedding had a lot of really fun dances after the main programs, which included debka, bhangra, ballroom, club, and dare I say… even the robot by Zafar at one point 🙂 All in all, I had a blast covering their wedding, and I actually got a lot of my favorite images from this one.  Would love to hear your opinion on them as well.

Now there are LOTS of images, so it may take a while to load.

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I met Yasmin back in 2004 through a friend while I was still at ECU.  She’s a very smart girl, very organized, a natural leader, yet still quite down to earth.  She is the person who single handedly organized everything for her friend Nadia’s Nikkah… which can be seen just 2 posts back.  I asked Yasmin when it would be her turn, and I also jokingly told her that if she and her friends book me in the next two months, they would get a discount.  She just said “Mannn… I don’t know if I’ll ever get married, so don’t get your hopes up.”  Literally 2 weeks later, I get a call from Yasmin… “Sahid, I need a photographer for my Nikkah” 🙂  I was stunned but happy for her as well! Although Yasmin won’t admit it, I know the real reason she got married that quick is because of my discount 😉

Following are some images of their Nikkah ceremony, as well as a Couples session the next day.  Now I have to say, I have never laughed soo much while editing picture.  The reaction between these 2 was very playful, but hilarious.  Check them out for yourself and feel free to leave some comments at the bottom if you dig em:

Nikkah Ceremony

Box of Chocolate from her man… Awww

I love the randomness of this shot

I tell Yasmin to hug Tyseer. She walks up to him, and shakes his hand instead ???

Tyseer tries to use his Jedi Force to repel the new wife

Again… Tyseer tries to apply some Jedi Mind Tricks

Fun Group shots? Yes please.

The Couples Session

My favorite shot.  I love the expressions on both of their faces.