Natalia's Welcome
Natalia Adame was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower on January 14th, 2015. The labor was half as long as the mother's first birth and it was a welcome change! Both madre y padre were surprised by the short length of the labor. Natalia was perfectly healthy and very comfortable snuggling with her mom.
Photographing births is never easy. I don't use flash so am left to achieve the right exposures using available light. The light in the room was all over the place so I did the best that I could. Things are also happening extremely fast and you can't miss any critical moments. Above the father cuts the umbilical cord.
The last birth I photographed was in a home. This birth was at the hospital and they had a lot of rules. The nurses were not happy with my presence and I was extra careful to be unobtrusive. I was happy to photograph such sacred moments and can't wait for my next birth photography adventure.
Happy New Year from Naheedence
This year I am excited for so many possibilities! Finding ways to reinvent myself and stay inspired is one of my main motivations in life. This year is starting out great with a new music video to add to my repertoire. I am lucky enough to be married to a talented and wise musician with a lust for life. He makes the music, I make visuals, together we make a great AV department :) Check out the Nomadico music video which features music from his new project Yaxteq and video footage I captured in Detroit and Los Angeles, two cities that have a lot of influence on Nomadico's music. The first release will be available on vinyl exclusively from Submerge in Detroit for the first few months of 2015. Wishing you much success, health and happiness in 2015!
Guarachi Event Photography in Los Angeles
This past weekend I had the opportunity to photograph a birthday party/holiday party for Guarachi Family Wines. It was a lovely event filled with great food, entertainment and of course wine! I especially enjoyed photographing the dancers at the party who did a Carnival Brazilian style dance, belly dancing and burlesque.
It's been a couple weeks since my last blog post. I have been extremely busy with work and end of the year festivities! I am looking forward to 2015 and hope that you and yours are enjoying the end of the year and 2015 proves to be your best year yet!
Family Portrait Session at Ernest Debs Park in LA
I shot a lovely family portrait session this weekend at Ernest Debs Park in Los Angeles. I have not retouched the photos yet so what you see here is what was shot in camera! Striving for perfection in the "retouch everything digital world" can be daunting. Sometimes I long for the days of old when every hair did not have to be perfect and post production was not as important. Don't get me wrong, I realize the idea is for the photo to look amazing so I understand why we are all retouching like mad people. Regardless, I love the emotion in these shots, Photoshop or not :)
Deckopedia Food Event in the Arts District LA
Last night I photographed a wonderful food event in the Arts District of Los Angeles at Apartment A. The company who hired me is Deckopedia. I had a great time working with Caroline of Deckopedia and Chef Emilie McBride who flew in from France for the event. The guests were served a five course "raw food" meal and drinks over a period of a few hours. The chef is French and the event had some nice French touches including a screen playing French films, sweet French music and a Calvados drink in between courses to wet the appetite.
There is so much work that goes into a food event, especially when you factor in the prep time. Chef Emilie McBride prepares food in the kitchen at Apartment A above and below.
I shot the photos for Deckopedia's website in the studio and this was a totally different type of shoot. Events are always tricky to photograph because as a photographer you don't have too much control over your environment. The ambient lighting in the dinner area was low light and the space to shoot photos in the kitchen was unpredictable with staff coming in and out. It is a true test of any professional photographer to see how they work under such conditions. I always feel a sense of pride when I get the shot no matter what. If I get a great shot even when people are bumping into me that makes my day, and career really :)
The five course meal included a cilantro avocado soup, Caesar salad, raw lasagna and chocolate dessert with pineapple mousse. Guests kept complimenting the food and could not get enough of it.
To view more photos from the event visit: http://www.naheedence.com/deckopediadinner
End of the Year Family Portrait Session Specials in LA & Pasadena!
It's that time of year again, can you believe it? This year has truly flown by! The end of the year is a popular time for portraits and I am having a special right now! Book a family portrait session with me from November 15th to January 1st and get up to 50% off. The portrait session is $100 and includes: One Family Portrait Photography Session at my studio or outdoors. Online upload to view your beautiful photographs and three final high resolution retouched images. One Holiday design E-Card emailed to you with a portrait from the session. If interested please contact me to book a session on the contact page or at [email protected].
An East Los Angeles Wedding
I photographed a wedding on Dia De Los Muertos this year in East Los Angeles. It was a beautiful Mexican wedding and I met the bride at her home for some getting ready shots. The dog was very protective of her and didn't want to give us any privacy, as seen above!
The ring bearer and flower girl were both very confused and extremely cute as you can see :)
The bride walked in with her mother and father. She was so happy and full of life the entire the day and night.
Bridesmaids listen to the ceremony in rich blue toned color dresses. It looked so beautiful with their purple and white flowers.
The happy couple poses for a photo at Friendly Hills Country Club in Whittier, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
The wedding party!
The first dance and more dancing later on in the night! Everybody had a great time at this wedding, and I love photographing it.
Bach to Broadway Concert in Pasadena
The Bach to Broadway Concert in Pasadena this year was held at Saint Andrews Church. It was a beautiful event with great performers in a most magnificent setting. I was truly exhilarated covering this event. This church was so epic with huge chandeliers and ornate paintings throughout.
These cornballs put on more than just a beautiful voice show :)
Both choirs sounded so amazing with the acoustics of the church, it gave me goosebumps while I was shooting.
The Broadway trio was also very good. Here are two of the performers having a fun moment. I love this job :)
Trade My Threads Fashion Photo Shoot
I shot these photos for my client, Trade My Threads, today and am really happy with the results. These clothes all sell for $30 and under and I think I made them look much more expensive :) Trade My Threads is based in Los Angeles and this was my second photo shoot with them. The first shoot was mostly studio shots photographed of their clutch purses and jewelry but this time we got to do some outdoor shots just outside my photo studio. I am based in the Los Angeles neighborhood El Sereno. The model is Lauren from Trade My Threads.
Editing a Wedding Portrait Session
I just photographed the wedding of a lovely couple, Priscilla and Maurice, and am now faced with the daunting task of choosing the best photos from the day, doing all the post production necessary for each photo (if any), and placing their images in an online gallery and on a hard drive for them to keep. Trust me, I love photographing and editing weddings, but choosing the best shots can be tough!
When you have simple nuances in each shot choosing the best can be very hard. Just think that in 10 seconds I can shoot over 30 photos and each fleeting millisecond will produce a slightly different look. Luckily I try my best to shoot a variety of poses and environs but sometimes there is simply not enough time.
At Priscilla & Maurice's wedding we were at the Dyker Beach Golf Course. The session grounds were being shared with golfers and we had about 15 minutes of alone time. I still ended up shooting so many photos and got as much variety as I could. Since I shoot with a journalistic style I try my best to not overdo the retouching. I try to use my lighting skills as a photographer and get everything in camera when possible. But sometimes it is just nice to add some fill light in post and change the color temperature if the shot could be cooled down or warmed up a bit.
It was nice to be in NYC to shoot a wedding again. I lived their for seven years, so I still get referrals from time to time. I try to make it out to NYC about 3 times a year, or once a quarter ;) My next wedding is the day after Halloween, November 1st, in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles.