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Category Archives: PRO-BONO

This one’s for Amber | East bay family photographer

Last year, many of you opened up your hearts and donated to raise funds for Amber’s Cure. Every year, I try to donate a photo session as my pay-it-forward to help someone I can with my art. This one was for Amber. Amber is a brave young mama with two boys that is battling a […]

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Joyce Kang - What a sweet family!! Praying for Amber <3

christina - so sweet alpana!

Kristin Sweeting - So beautiful! What a precious family. The black and whites are stunning!

Sandra Coan - What a fantastic family session! Love them all, but that last image slays me!

wendy laurel - love this and love the thought behind it. Hoping Amber is doing well.

Lindsay Madden - Absolutely beautiful work, as always! Your images always evoke so much emotion. Love it!

Marcie Lynn - I love your style. The B&Ws are my favorite! Beautifully photographed!

Stefanie Kapra - These are so true and real and beautiful. And these big dark eyes from the kids are just gorgeous. Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Krystle Akin - OH MY WORD! Precious!!! Love!

Mirelle - Such a beautiful family session – that last shot is my favorite!!!!

Jodi - Another gorgeous set of images – love your different ‘view’ and angles.

jody savage - this is so so lovely. love your work!! the black and whites are amazing!

Chantal Stoner - I think this batch of photos was even better than the session we did last year. Just love everything about these!

Jaine Kershner - the sweetest little girls ever. such a wonderful family session!

Kelsy McCartney - ohhh those first two and the last one were quick favorites!! beautiful session, very refreshing and full of life 🙂

Rachel May - Goodness, this is so lovely Alpana. I adore the life in them… beautiful movement.

Kina Wicks - Oh my goodness, the first image just look my breath away!

Emily Anderson - Wow! These are so creative and dreamy! Beautiful job, Alpana!

Jenny Owens - What a great thing to do and these are beautiful photographs.

Sera Petras - These are great. That last shot is stunning! What a sweet family session!

Kimberly Barnes - Such a lovely family session!

meeting don foster II

A few days back I had shared a little about meting Don Foster. Don Foster has been battling a rare form of pancreatic cancer with his wife Karen by his side. Recently, he sent me a couple of newspaper articles with more of his story here and here. Don has been in a clinical trial […]

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Yvonne - Beautiful images and so touching.

Lina - Beautiful, and so sweet. Good luck on this journey to him and his family.

Moitreyee - Gorgeous catch. The love emanates. Timeless, and beyond this the tactile life.

meeting don foster

When I first met Don and his sweet wife Karen, I knew right away that they are pretty special people. Don thanked me sincerely several times for my time in doing their photo session. I have photographed several charity sessions but this has to be the one that touched my heart. I have to say […]

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circle of love

This year, I had made a resolve to donate a few sessions for those that would not be able to afford the luxury of a custom portrait session. When my friend mentioned her involvement with a non-profit that works with victims of domestic abuse), I thought it would be amazing to create a story-telling portrait […]

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Lina - Those are beautiful captures, such a sweet circle of love 🙂

Heather Puett - These are gorgeous! Bless you for giving these ladies some happy memories!

Shallyse - Such stunning images, and a beautiful story!

Lisa Kelly - So much joy and love springing from these images. Beautiful work.

Meggan - delightful as usual! Your work is always a pleasure to look at!

Paula - Your work always tells a story…love it!

Tara McGlinchey - What beautiful images of a beautiful family. I adore these.

Vanessa G. Photography - great lifestyle images.

Marci Ralph - Photographic magic! Love them all.. such great work you do!!! THis little family looks like they know who to have some fun!!

2012 weekly planner giveaway

I had a sudden bout of late inspiration. On Dec 31st as I stared at the last page of 2011 planner, I thought why not put together a weekly planner with a few of my favorite images from the year for myself? So here it is… not too snazzy but it should be functional. Although […]

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Antonella - I am a fan and I shared it! Thanks so much. Anto

Raji P. - A fan of yours, always!

Jo Anna Guerra - Fan on FB. Fan of your work. And fan of you in general. Just waiting for my son’s hair to grow out a little before we finally schedule a session (and maybe make the NEXT calendar). 😛

Stefani Wedl - Of course I’m a fan! 🙂

Moitreyee Chowdhury - Always, always a fan!

Lisa S. - What a great idea!! 🙂 And of course, I am a fan.

alej keigan - very cool – great idea! i’m a fan!

Ashwini Wagle - Love your pictures and hoping to work with you soon!:)

KHBride - I am a facebook fan (KH Bride)

KHBride - I shared on facebook too: https://www.facebook.com/khbride/posts/236313889780862

May Centerfold - I am a fan and I shared this on my FB feed. I think I shared it twice!

Antonella - wow! Alpana you have a lot of fans… there must be a strong breeze your way… But, I see that I have to blow much stronger than your fans now! :)) I shared it on my wall through my Facebook!

Martha - i’d love to be entered in the planner giveaway. thanks! I am a Facebook fan!

dana - Hi Alpana,I’m a huge fan and shared this on FB. Thank you! Dana

Moitreyee Chowdhury - Love your work darling Alpana! Posted this on Fb also.

Masako Miura - I”m a fan!!!

Kate Lowe - Love your work Alpana … can’t wait for you to capture our new addition too!

Live, Laugh, Love | SAN FRANCISCO FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Carolyn was the recipient of a family session through my Giving is Awesome giveaway back in December 2009. She was nominated by Rosa of Level 5. When I read her story I knew right away that I had to photograph her family. Carolyn is a breast cancer survivor and still undergoing chemo treatments every few […]

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Carolyn Griffith - Thank you Alpana. Giving is Awesome and so is receiving!
Love Carolyn

Win eco-friendly toys from Gnaana

I am excited to announce a giveaway of gnaana’s fabulous eco-friendly toys! gnaana is a retail website and online community center offering busy families a way to incorporate elements of South Asian languages, traditions and histories into their everyday lives.  The company offers a unique selection of eco-friendly, developmental toys and educational material to teach children ages 0-12 about […]

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Raji P. - I love the puzzle map of India. Tres tres Montessori. Along those lines, I wonder if Gnaana would procure some moveable alphabets and sandpaper letters in Devanagiri and Tamil for those parents wanting to teach their children to read and write.

Dipti - I love the Alphabet blocks in Gujarati! Anything more Gnaana can share with us along those lines would be great! Thank you!

Carolyn - So hard to pick just one product as a favorite! The Hindi alphabet blocks are what first drew me to their company. The blocks are such high quality and a great alternative to English language blocks. I also love the avatar puzzle and the chotaa chef. All the products are brilliant and I’m eagerly waiting to see what the books section will have!

Neha Agrawal - I love the Das Avatar Puzzle. It truly is a toy that grows with the child. My 1 year old daughter will first learn spatial relationships, then numbers and finally some background on her religion. It also brings back fond childhood memories on how I learned the “Das Avatar” through the Amar Chitr Katha comic books. I plan on buying several sets for Diwali presents.

ruhee - I love the puzzle map of India and the cooking recipe cards. Absolute great earning products!

Seema - My favorite product is the one I’ve now gifted to 5 families with newborns–the Gujarati Gnaana blocks. I know it’ll be a while before they can use them but, the product was too amazing that I just had to get & gift it! As a first-gen South Asian American, I have often wondered–sometimes nervously–how we will pass on our culture, language & traditions to our children. And then there was Gnaana. 🙂

Rohi - The aprons are too cute! I LOVE the lotus one and the elephant one…I also think the wooden blocks are great!

Pooja M - Totally hard to pick – i’m going to have to go with the blocks in Hindi – I love that they are colorful and a super practical way to introduce Hindi language teaching into everyday. I do also love the Das Avatar puzzle – we just bought the book by Sanjay Patel that teaches about the Hindu gods through comics and cute stories…

Mythili - I liked the decals, never saw that before, it’s a novel idea. And thanks for the reminder to buy the book written by Sanjay Patel, I saw an article in the paper about him but completely forgot about it later.

Anu - Thank You for sharing this website with SF Desi. I am so impressed by the quality of these products and had an unexpected emotional reaction to them. I am so proud of the founder of this firm to think outside the box and bring meaningful high quality products to South Asian babies (& others) in the States. I love the recipe cards, these will help involve my older kid into cooking and hopefully eating and enjoying Indian food. My younger one loves Bharta…so I would be happy to share that recipe card with him.

Thank You.

Michele Samuels - These products look like a wonderful introduction to kids of all cultures.

Moitreyee - I like the CD by Rabindranath Tagore. To have them translated is a treat for myself and my children. I also love the blue Apron with Maya written on it.

Amy Rosenbaum - I am opening my new child care school and would love to have some of your products!
– Books!
– India map!
These are the ones I really would love to add to our materials for our children.

thank you!
Amy

Chanette - I LOVE the alphabet blocks in Hindi! My husband and I have tried to instill in our children a love for learning different languages. This would be a terrific way to introduce Hindi!

Sarah Turner - Love the chef recipe cards!

Supriya - love the blocks – hindi & gujarati! also love the chota chef cards. now i can sit back and put my 4-year old daughter to work making dinner 🙂 brilliant idea! wish i had thought of it!!!

alpana - Thanks for participating in the giveaway. Comments are now closed.

Yogini desai - I am also interested in the Gujarati moveable alphabet . Please advise how I can acquire them. Thank you. Yogini