Another architectural shoot I did for a friend, Gaurav. I shot architecture for the first time with Gaurav a year ago and fell in love with it. It’s a great change of pace from the madness that is Wedding Photography! Just as much hard work, but slower and more calculated.

This project has been published so many times it’s hard to keep track! This month it has been published in the Indian version of Architect and Builder Magazine. Haven’t managed to get my hands on a copy yet but this is what I found on the online preview.

Also published in Archdaily in August, 2013:

I think this image is a pretty good summation of my life at the moment:

1. Work desk. Tapping away at my keyboard Lightroom shortcuts. Editing thousands of images from two very very differently amazing shoots in Calcutta and Bangalore.

2. Yoga pants. My new favourite item of clothing. So comfortable. And, I joined a yoga class yesterday which I love and am planning to be a regular at. Working out with a group is just SO much more motivating than trying to keep up with an exercise video on my computer. (I still love you Jillian Michaels. If it weren’t for your yoga videos, I would have been lost in class yesterday.)

3. Apple Crumble. Experimenting in the kitchen. Turns out keeping a home running functionally is a full-time job. Food doesn’t just appear; you have to make it. And making it isn’t as simple as throwing something together; you have to plan it. Same goes with the laundry, garbage, clean floors and toilets. etc, etc. I knew this before but I’m only truly appreciating it now. And I’m incredibly awed at how my own parents did it for us for all these years seemingly effortlessly. It’s not effortless. It’s hard work.

Life is hard work. But life is good.

So grateful for the opportunity to shoot this amazing project in Delhi some months ago. It just got published in Domus India this month. Do pick up a copy if you can. There’s a interview with Rahul Mehrotra talking about the design too!

Here’s a sneak peek of some of my images that appeared in the magazine. There’s nothing quite like seeing your images in print!

p.s. Shout out to my hubs and all the others at RMA who worked on this project.

Having been through my own wedding, I also now realise more fully the gravity of what I do as a wedding photographer. I’ve always known it of course, but it sinks in deeper after your own wedding. Both Rob and I were in a bit of a daze in the follow-up and during our wedding. There was so much going on, so many people that we love around us, so many details that we couldn’t possibly keep up with… that I am SO glad that we had two incredible photographers (George Seemon and Sharan Ranjit) beautifully backing up our memories of those days. It’s been great to see our friends’ and families’ perspectives too through their countless camera and phone pictures!

Rob and I are super grateful that we were able to get away for about 10 days after the wedding to get a break from the “to-dos” and getting into the logistics of being married! We call it our “Honeytreat”. Honeymoon + Retreat :)

We were treated to a holiday in the amazing Namib desert in Namibia, and Cape Town and Stellenbosch in South Africa. Both countries were incredible. I’ve been to South Africa before as a child and once as a teenager when we lived in Zambia but Namibia was new to both of us and we loved every bit of it. The desert on the outset seems like miles and miles of emptiness and silence but once you get closer, and have an expert explain it to you, you realise just how much life there actually is. How beautifully everything is designed and created to compliment one another.

For me, raw, unadulterated nature like this is like tonic for my soul. Being in these places even for a short while fills me up with endurance and patience to live in a city. And Rob was so fascinated and excited at it all too which I am sure he is going to write about on his blog when he gets a chance.

We are grateful and “rejoicing at the wonders that he has shown us.”

And at the wonders that he is showing us.

Namibia:

Cape Town and Stellenbosch:

So great having dinner with Rod and Diana, two wonderful friends of ours who were also on holiday in South Africa while we were there!

There’s so much I would like to say, so many people I would like to thank but this one is for Rob. My husband.

Thanks for unconditionally loving me and relentlessly encouraging me to be the best I can be.

I cannot WAIT to see what 2014 has in store for us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, LOVELIES!

Photo credit: George Seemon

Thank you Ram and Ruwanie and your awesome family and friends.

Ram and Ruwanie got married (again!). This time the Sri Lankan way!

All three of them actually don’t live in Sydney but they all came down for the weekend and we stayed at Jen’s grandma’s cute little house. We did the essential Sydney sightseeing, ate delicious dinner at Jamie’s Italian Restaurant, did a little bit of shopping at a market, checked out a cool gallery (recommended to me by my co-passenger on my flight from Singapore to Sydney!), and hung out at the beautiful Bondi beach.

Anna, Jen and Lyds, so grateful for you girls!

Here’s a little glimpse of the beautiful city of Sydney.

Glitch # 1

Customs stopped me to investigate all my camera gear and informed me that I was carrying too much and unless I could prove to them that I had taken it out of the country, I could not bring it in without paying a hefty amount of money and I’m talking enough money to buy a new lens! Of course I was NOT going to pay them anything because it’s not new gear and it was all bought in India and I could prove it with my receipts BUT the receipts were all in Bangalore and not on me personally. Anyway, thankfully my fiancé Rob was waiting outside for me and I drew confidence from him to stand my ground. They initially said they would detain my bag and I could come back to pick it up with my receipts and I explained that I had to get back to Bangalore TODAY because I was getting married in two weeks and I couldn’t come back to Bombay with receipts.

Thankfully, they were not sadistic officers and after sitting me down for a lecture on what is permissable and what is not and what I have to make sure I do when I travel abroad with all this gear again, they let me go with a warning.

Glitch # 2

I was so anxious to just get out of the airport and spend about an hour with Rob before I got back on my last flight to Bombay that I didn’t even think about what happens to my checked in baggage? I knew it was checked till Bangalore but I had no idea that I was supposed to collect it in between and take it through Customs in Bombay! Blame it on the fiasco with my camera bag and 20+ hours of traveling, lack of sleep and general exhaustion. I also wish they would have announced it on my flight from Singapore to Bombay.

Anyway, I finally made it home at around 7am on Monday morning and slept pretty much the whole day. Jet Airways has been stellar with sorting out my baggage and getting it to Bangalore. They initially said I would have to go to the airport to pick it up but I managed to convince them to have it delivered to my place. They usually do that for free but in my case, because it had to do with Customs and not technically a fault of Jet Airways, I will have to pay for the service. Oh well. I’m okay with not having to see an airport again for a while! And I am just grateful to have my bag back!

On my last day in Sydney, I shot the second wedding ceremony of Ram and Ruwanie. I shot their Indian wedding here in Bangalore in July and was absolutely honoured to witness their Sri Lankan wedding! I stayed at Ruwanie’s parents’ place in Sydney for my last fews day in Australia and was honestly humbled by how they made me feel like a part of the family.

When I started off this photography business, I wanted it to be more than just earning a living or even doing what I am passionate about. I wanted it to be about relationships and service and I think finishing off 2013 with this wedding was such a fantabulous confirmation of that goal. Shooting for Ram and Ruwanie didn’t feel like ‘work’, it felt like a great big celebration with family and friends and for that, I am inexplicably grateful.

Cannot wait to share this set with you. For now, a tiny little sneak peek:

Melbourne was wonderful. I don’t know which part I loved best but honestly I’m pretty sure Melbourne by itself wouldn’t be even half as awesome if I didn’t have such great and generous friends there!

Two really cool people in Melbs. Gorgee and Rusty and Baby-in-the-tum!
Niru, my amazing friend of 12 years and host in Melbourne!

Tasted just as beautiful as they look.

My favouritest little family in Frankston. The Clements.

My friends Niru, Russ and I road-tripped down the Great Ocean Road today. We covered about a total of 600 kms and there was never a dull moment. The landscape changed continuously and I grew deeper and deeper in awe with every passing minute. What an incredibly beautiful planet we have been entrusted. What a beautiful design. Just thinking about it makes me want to gush.

Here are a few images from the day. They don’t do justice but they’re something.