Journey To India

In December of 2011 we took our kids to visit India, mostly in and around Mumbai, where Meher was born and raised. We had a truly epic trip. Everything in India is an adventure, especially crossing the streets! We were glad we celebrated Christmas with the kids before we left, because it isn’t really a big celebration in India and we never got into the Christmas spirit once we were there. We did throw our own party though, a couple of days after Christmas.  We had a special celebration for our kids and threw a small reception, it was great way to meet up with Meher’s large extended family and friends. Even Marcel’s sister and her family came all the way from Germany which made it extra special.  An other highlight of our travels was a trip to a town called Matheran. It is a unique place, where no cars are ever allowed into the town. It is located only about 100 kilometers from Mumbai.  Although Matheran is not far from Mumbai in terms of distance, the journey can take 3 to 4 hours by car! Matheran is located on a plateau at a height of 2,600 feet., is well forested and full of wild monkeys. Once in town, the mode of transport is your own two feet (yes, a lot of hiking), or horseback, or a person pulling you along in a rickshaw (glad to say we didn’t have to resort to this quite yet). Our daughter (who is an avid rider) was in her own kind of paradise with all the horses and other wildlife around. Every day we went on hikes, while the kids rode on horses leading the way. It was a magical place for us and we were all sad when it was time to leave. Special thanks to Meher’s brother Darius who drove and guided us the whole way. The rest of the trip we stayed in Mumbai with Meher’s younger brother Zal and his wife Karishma, enjoying this vibrant city and surrounding areas, catching up with old friends and feasting on the varied Indian cuisine. A special thanks to Meher’s family for putting us up and helping with all the events and trips, they made this really special. Please find below some of our favorite pics to give you some impressions from our trip, hope you enjoy them.

One of the many vista points in Matheran.

Most of the trails in Matheran have a canapé of trees, making it pleasant to hike or ride during the day.

One of the many chickens calling Matheran their home. This Rooster was quite an impressive specimen. Seriously, you do not want to mess with this one

Our local guide Bhavesh, showing us the steep trail by which the milk is brought in every day.

Nikta and Behram’s Zoroastrian Wedding

Although we are privileged to shoot a lot of multi-cultural weddings, living as we do in the Bay Area, Nikta and Behram’s wedding was a very special one for us. Nikta and Behram are both Zoroastrian, as is Meher.  You won’t see many Zoroastrian ceremonies now-a-days, especially not in the United States. Behram was born in India like Meher, and Nikta’s family came over from Iran several years ago, before she was born. They started the day at the Le Meridien Hotel with love notes to each other while getting ready separately. We then helped coordinate the “first look” at a beautiful curved staircase located within the hotel. They wanted to ensure that there would be enough time to get some cool shots in the city, so we took off with the couple to the Palace of Fine Arts, and then some more urban shots in the financial district, very close to the Julia Morgan wedding venue. The ceremony was conducted by Nikta’s grandfather, who is a Zoroastrian priest. It was a beautiful and touching ceremony, with ancient prayers blessing this couple’s future together. The reception took place in the beautiful and classic Julia Morgan Ballroom. In true Persian fashion, the reception started and ended with dancing. Nikta’s cousins even put on a choreographed dance performance for her as a surprise! We had fun working with the very talented videographers from REB6Studios, who did a killer highlight trailer of the wedding.

Alexa & Jonathan Presidio Engagement Session

2012 is starting out to be a busy year. Here are some photos of the first engagement session of 2012. Couldn’t have asked for a better day and a more fun couple. We started out at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge. Fort Point is a great location (when the weather cooperates) and has some cool vignettes and some dramatic light. We then proceeded to the Presidio to take some fun shots during magic hour.