THE MOST WELCOMING WEDDING!

This wedding is the most welcoming wedding I have ever covered, everyone was so friendly and went out their way to make sure we were all having a good time. It certainly wasn’t hard, the whole experience was incredible.

What I noticed from chatting to all the guests (well not all of them, there were a few hundred!), was that everyone was related to the bride and groom, being a photographer, that was the best part for me. From there, the next two days were a blur. The wedding was a two day affair. Boy, when they say people go all out in Indian weddings, they are NOT joking. Over the next two days we would sleep very little, shoot very much, and eat to our heart's content.

So, prepare to be emotionally and physically wiped. Seriously, you’re going to be active for 18 hours a day. And most of what you experience is going to be brand new and wonderful, from the music, to the food, to the conversations.

Standing next to the groom when he first laid eyes on the bride, dancing like a serpent in a beautiful red lehenga for him, made me a believer. His hypnotic gaze and all consuming smile turned my scepticism into pure admiration and awe. I saw the look of love, the look of two souls merging into one, the look of “You’re it. You’re all I want.” 

It was beautiful witnessing the two days wedding affair to understand that it might be possible for two people to spend eternity together without either one of them wanting to jump out of a window. Together, these two were stronger, and neither one of them felt like they were settling, or compromising, or being tied down.

Two days of this beautiful wedding made me understand that the idea that two people were made for each other does exist. Hell, if two people can live through those two days of mad chaos and still want to spend eternity together, that’s testament enough to their compatibility.

Living simply is the key, less is truly more. We define our own happiness. When in doubt, though, start dancing. Take your Hollywood mindset and put it on a plane to Bollywood.  I promise, it will put things into perspective. 

Wedding Photography- I consider it an honor!

A love combination of two compatible beings...

Love is the greatest of all things and deserves to be captured candidly, with honesty and integrity.

You don’t hire a photographer to take pictures of your dress hanging up in a tree, back lit and shot at f/2 on a DSLR. You hire him because you believe in his vision. 

The point remains: if you show what you want to shoot in your portfolio and people hire you based on that, then you don’t need to compromise.

The single most rewarding thing about photographing a wedding is when a client tells you they can relive the day through the images. If my photographs re-enforce what they felt and mirror everything they experienced on the day, then I know I have done my job.

In no other field of photography will you receive such personal feedback. A commercial client will never tell you they shed tears of joy when they watched the slideshow. Weddings offer any photographer the ability to make a tangible connection with other human beings and this is why I don’t want to photograph anything else.

Weddings bring out something in people that you never encounter in everyday life: a level of openness and vulnerability. Our relationships with our partners are kept to ourselves, only on this one day will you declare how you feel publicly. To allow yourself to be vulnerable is one of the bravest things I can imagine. Being so emotionally charged that you can’t help the way you behave and the way you feel.

There is a purity of emotion that is inaccessible at any other point in one’s life. This purity is what I love to capture.

Shooting products and still life will always be overseen by a shoot director. Their job is to maintain brand identity and communicate brand values through imagery. With weddings you’re able to sculpt your own identity and shoot exactly how you believe the day should be captured. Ultimately, you deliver a product to a commercial client. To a wedding client, you deliver so much more.

You make an emotional connection with wedding clients, to the extent where you feel like you’ve known them your whole life.

I’m a big old softy at heart; I find it easy to emotionally invest in other couples when I see the love they have for each other, because I recognize it. The love felt on the day isn’t just between the couple, but family and friends too.

The highest level of trust is placed in a photographer. I approach it is as if someone has entrusted me to capture their memories for them.

For this reason, I consider it an honor. 

"For me, it was love at first sight." (Akshata & Mark)

It was early in the morning on 7th February 2015 and both me and Akshata had been scheduled to do a flight to Perth Australia.

I still remember Akshata walking into the pre-flight meeting, hearing her introduce herself and the question she was asked by the senior cabin crew member when he was testing our knowledge before the flight.

"For me, it was love at first sight." 

We  got to know each other during the flight. The flight was very lucky for two reasons. First, it was not a particularly busy flight so there was a lot of time for chit chat. Secondly, by pure chance we were seated opposite each other on the flight. When I realized this,  I was delighted as it meant she'd have to talk to me even if she didn't want to.

Akshata was not particularly impressed with my skills as a cabin crew as I was quite new and she'd been there for a while, she felt she did all the work. By the time we landed in Perth I had already asked Akshata to come to the St Patrick's day ball with me in Doha on March 17th. (which we never ended up going to)

After we arrived in Perth, we decided we go out that night and have dinner with the other crew from the flight which we did. After dinner, we went out to see the city. We walked around and finally went back to the hotel. We shared our first magical kiss outside the hotel that night and then returned to our respected rooms agreeing to meet for breakfast the following morning.

We did end up going for breakfast in the morning at a nearby breakfast joint. When I ordered food which was a big portion and finished it all, Mark told me that he has never seen a girl who eats so much since I was so skinny.

Then in the evening we operated the flight back to Doha. Never got much chance to talk to each other as it was a busy flight and we both ended up working in different areas on the flight. 

Returning to Doha we said our goodbyes and since we had already exchanged our numbers we kept in touch. Honestly if it wasn't for me, Mark would have never contacted me because he is too shy. 

It was a bit difficult for us to meet at times because of our rosters. So once when Mark had 3 days off he flew to Perth, Australia as a passenger  on the flight on which I was the operating crew, so that we can just spend time with each other.  I remember quite distinctly one of my colleagues on that flight telling me that you guys are definitely going to get married, if he is taking such a long trip just to be with you.

I remember quite distinctly one of my colleagues on that flight telling me that you guys are definitely going to get married, if he is taking such a long trip just to be with you.

He asked me visit Ireland during my holidays. So in May, I visited Ireland and met his family. I really fell in love with Ireland. Then in the month of September, Mark came to Mumbai to meet my parents.

He resigned from his job in October as he wanted to go back to Ireland. I was still working in Qatar and we would still try and meet when I was on layovers in Europe at least once a month. 
I resigned in the month of February and moved to Ireland. We got engaged on the 14th of February 2016.

We had a civil marriage on 22nd April 2016. Even though we were officially married we wanted a traditional Indian wedding which was on the 3rd of June 2017.

Love just happens. We don't have to do anything.

Leave your comments and thoughts below. 

Hey You! Yes You! DON'T QUIT!

We all do. No matter how set on our paths and our lives we are, we all want to quit every now and then. Because we’re humans, and like I always say — humans are beautiful, but we suck at remembering it. 

That’s not the case. The right path is the one you want to be on. And yeah, you’ll want to quit, but you’ll be just like the rest of us if you go through that. Being an artist, being a creative, being an entrepreneur, it’s about fighting with yourself to keep playing the game when it all feels hopeless.It’s about making one more gamble, and every time, setting your sights on a win, instead of leaving the table.

Just remember 7 things in life!

1. There is no “Easy Button”.
 

If there were, everybody would be successful. Anyone who tells you there is is either lying to you or trying to sell you something. Look around, you will see that in action.

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2. Set your bar higher.

Becoming the best you can be takes more work than becoming better than the other guy/gal. Even ‘better’ than them, although I sometimes admit I don’t really know what that means.

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3. You are unique.

Find a small, quiet place and think about who YOU are. Finding your style is more about opening up to what you already have than looking outside for inspiration to copy.

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4. Set goals.

Short term, long term, way long term. Make them just out of reach, worth fighting for, and measurable. Write them down… on paper. Read them every Sunday morning… and every time you are feeling a bit creatively cramped.

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5. Love the word YES!

Be open to new things and opportunities. Take chances. Take risks. Be as cautious as necessary, but no more. We do not move up the mountain by being cautious and timid. Embrace the incredible possibilities that confront us nearly every day… and go get a few.

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6. Learn to say NO!

Do not become a negative person, but know when to call time out. Know when you are being taken advantage of or not being appreciated when the appreciation is ALL you are really looking for. Don’t take crap from anyone. Ever. Stand up for your rights, your work and your vision. Own it.

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7. Learn from every mistake.

Critique the hell out of every mistake. Write the critiques down. Yeah, I tell you to write it down for a reason. Studies have shown that what you learn is retained more than typing it into a computer screen. Don’t argue with me, I know stuff. The next time you shoot, don’t make that mistake again. And don’t worry, there are a ton of mistakes waiting to be made, so critique and adjust.

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I didn’t quit, and I won’t quit, because I’m in love with life. I’m in love with it, with breathing in and out,smelling the world when it rains, I’m in love with the work I do, no matter how hard it gets and how good it might feel to walk away, from time to time. I’m in love with helping people.

I want to quit for most of the same reasons that you do. Because we’re all struggling to make it in a world that often doesn’t listen, waiting for the right hand, or the right moment to play the wrong one. We’re all worried we don’t match up to the ideals and heroes we’ve set ourselves, and there’s a thousand things we’d rather fucking be doing.

But I don’t quit. I don’t quit every single day, when I wake up and I want to.I didn’t quit for 5 years, clicking pictures that very few liked, freaking out in panic attacks and deleting them before I would calm down and start all over again.

If this doesn't work out for you, then the song,"Waiting for my real life to begin", by Colin Hay will surely do!

Leave your comments and thoughts below.