san francisco bay area maternity, child and family photographer » URBAN

she came all the way from Orange County

alpana — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:27:05 +0000

Could she be any cuter?? Her mama booked the session as they were in town for a wedding for a few days. Our original session had to be rescheduled as poor little Reese ended up getting sick on arrival in San Francisco. Luckily, she was better in a couple of days and the stars aligned for their family session. Recently, I have been shooting a fair number of kids in the 1.5-3 year age group which is pretty challenging. And if you have one you know that they rarely stop moving! After my recent NY sessions, I was hoping for a slightly mellow child but no such luck. And was I glad:-) Miss Reese was chock full o’personality and an amazing vocabulary to boot!

Am sharing a sweet note that mama sent me. C- I really appreciate you taking the time to write! I love making people happy capturing little moments in their life. and I couldn’t have asked for a cuter model

Hi Alpana –I saw the photo of Reese you posted on your Facebook page and absolutely love it! I’m not on Facebook at the moment so I didn’t have a chance to comment – otherwise I would have told you how much I’m in love with it. You are amazing, I can’t wait to see more! I can’t explain the feeling I get when I look at that photo…it makes me feel like Reese is growing up way too fast!

I thought I would share with you some of R’s comments – I showed him the post and he was amazed…speechless. He said, Oh my goodness, looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of money on the photos! LOL!

Thanks again for your patience and working with us to accommodate scheduling an additional shoot on Monday. We had fun and Reese can’t stop talking about how she was a model and felt like a princess. When I showed her the picture on Facebook, I wish I could have freeze framed that moment…her smile went from ear to ear…it was priceless!

~CH

just one…

alpana — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:17:36 +0000

of two little munchkins from another weekend session. I so loved this session and will have to post more when I recover from last weekend’s shooting bonanza of three sessions. Oy! A lot more than what I normally take on. Aren’t they just adorable?

Only Angels Have Wings | New York Kids Photographer

alpana — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:19:56 +0000

Seems like a fitting post to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day! A few more from the New York mini-sessions of little Ms. Lily that came with her angel wings. Hope you enjoy these, mama!

against all odds | New York natural light photographer

alpana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:42:59 +0000

If something can go wrong, it will. Based on good old Murphy’s Law it was a day where the rain gods were not in my favor. It was the only day the New York Mini Sessions were scheduled for as I was west coast bound the very next day of beautiful high 60′s weather. Yet, somehow we managed to wrestle up the hearty New Yorkers to shoot between rain drizzle and a dark, cloudy sky.

Aside from the crazy weather, I got to meet some amazing families from NY and work with them in a fun urban scape quite different from the San Francisco backdrop.

Meet Jack and his two friends. Sweet little Jack came with a whole bunch of fun stuff for the shoot (or his mom and her friend did). They even got some fall leaves that the kids got to toss around in the air- how fun is that!

Get Framed by All Modern…a very fabulous giveaway!

alpana — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:13:57 +0000

If you know me, you’d know that I love everything with clean, simple lines. I am excited to offer a fabulous giveaway from All Modern. They have a great selection of modern furniture, home décor and lighting from brands like Herman Miller, Knoll, Blu Dot, Droog and more!” The prize for the giveaway is the 5 x 7 Zack Picture Frame shown below.

If you’d like the cool frame shown above here is what you have to do:

Post a comment about my adorable Urban Baby and his mommy from my recent photo session in San Francisco. You can pick a favorite photo or write a kind word about the baby/mommy. I will pick a random winner at the end of the week on June 28th. Please make sure that you leave a valid email address and name. The giveaway is open to all those in the United States and Canada.

Over 25 comments gets a complimentary 5 x 7 print for the cute little munchkin’s family!

Urban Baby | San Francisco Family Photographer

alpana — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:50:49 +0000

Couldn’t resist a quick share from yesterday’s family session in San Francisco. I spent a few hours with this lovely family walking around their neighborhood and peeking into their daily routine. Little H had the sweetest disposition and went from awake to sleepy to awake. Hope you like your sneak peek!

ps. Talking about Urban Babies made me think of of one of our favorite books when my son was little. Check it out here.

The Texan family in San Francisco | San Francisco bay area photographer

alpana — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:20:04 +0000

I first met Mommy R online several years back while on my quest to have a baby. She visited the bay area when I was preggo with R and we got to meet in person. We stayed in touch off and on and then reconnected more recently on Facebook. She emailed me recently to say that she was joining her husband on his work trip to the bay area to have a photo session with me. Heh, I am sure she was kidding!! After all who can resist coming out to the bay area? But it doesn’t hurt to have that kind of compliment. And with that pressure I sure hope they like their sneak peek here and the photos.

I convinced her to book a family session instead of a kids only session and get in on the action. A session in itself is an investment and for a little more you can get to be in pictures which you probably will never take of yourself otherwise.

I wanted this session to be really special for R’s family for having put their faith in me and coming all the way from Texas. I stressed about the location as usual and eventually everything worked out. She even went along with my suggestions of getting some cute outfits for the kids from the Tea Collection. Now, I think she is hooked on their clothes too.

Her adorable twins warmed up to me pretty quickly and we had a lot of fun together mostly with me just hanging out watching them play. The funny thing is that her little guy K could almost be my son’s twin. He has the same twinkle in his eyes and crazy boy energy! It is the twin’s birthday today so I wanted to post the sneak peek for them to enjoy! Happy Birthday K + K!!

Have your cake and eat it too?

alpana — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:23:21 +0000

Sometimes… just sometimes, bribes work so very well to get what I want. Oh, who am I kidding? It is is more than sometimes. So here we are at the little irani cafe in Mumbai with Mr. R enjoying every little bite of his Black Forest cake. The waiting, the anticipation all worth the few frames I got below. And I got to enjoy my chai with mawa cake in between my shots.

When we visit India, I like to do at least one photo session of some pictures of R in a setting that has some sort of history. On our last trip, I photographed R in a little roadside tea shop near the registrar’s office after my brothers wedding. Sadly, that little shop is gone. If you want to take a peek at the photos they are on my website under Chronicles. On this trip, I decided to take the photos at an Irani Cafe that I used to frequent when I went to art school in India. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a cappuccino but it is sad to see the older cafes becoming a dying breed and ultimately a fading memory. Though, did I say my favorite drink is a good cup of chai?

Desi girl | san francisco bay area kids photographer

alpana — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:12:33 +0000

I have this song stuck in my head ever since I saw the movie Dostana last year. Typically, I don’t watch a ton of Bollywood films but this one was hilarious. I don’t think I have laughed as hard watching a Bollywood movie for a long time so if you have a chance be sure to check it out. I have been on a film watching spree and have a few moe on my list that I’d like to watch including Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the Revolutionary Road. We tried to watch Slumdog but it was sold out with its nomination for the Golden Globe awards. One of these days…

This session was a quick one with my kindergarten friend Aparna’s family while visiting Mumbai. Her little one Tara is close to my son Rowan’s age and they had an amazing time playing together as well. I could have photographed this adorable desi girl all day.

And one off R and T together…

siblings | san francisco bay area kids photographer

alpana — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:02:00 +0000

I knew this was going to be a fun shoot when I met the mama for the first time! We went through her clothing choices for her little girl and I was really excited. FYI, when a client books a regular session, I am available for help with clothing choices if you need it. I send out a fabulous clothing guide to all clients that book a shoot (regular or mini) and for a regular session and am happy to do a pre-consult if needed. When I saw the clothes, I thought it would be fun to have an urban shoot and mom was all for it. We went back and forth with a few location choices to settle on an area. Eventually, we ended up doing a few spots in the area including one I found by chance during the shoot. I love scouting locations to find unique spots.

The siblings were 16 month old baby R and 4.5 year old R. They were quite the opposite with one being pretty active and the other not which always makes for a challenging shoot! The beauty of it is that things don’t have to be perfect…I try to capture life as I see it which is far from perfect I loved how the shots turned out. I have several more to proof that I won’t get to share now but might at a later day.

Meet the siblings…this pic cracks me up!

Little Miss R on her trike

And the handsome Mr. R. This little guy reminded me of my son. The little things that he said were just like deja vu. Check these out…Gap model, don’t you think?