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It’s my party!

Saturday, November 8, 2008
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A quick post to let you know that I am taking the weekend off for my birthday today. If you are waiting to hear from me I will get back to you early next week. I haven’t forgotten you…it has just been busy week! Also, officially, all 2008 sessions are booked and I will resume new bookings in February 2009.

It has been a great day so far with an early start to celebrating the day. Yesterday night, I had the opportunity to listen to an interview of famous Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi. I have always been a fan of Shabana’s work as an “art” film actor as opposed to the typical Bollywood song and dance numbers. She is in the bay area supporting a fundraiser happening tonight for Home of Hope, an organization that partners with projects in India and the US that support desitute children. Shabana is also a social activist and has advocated various womens’ causes working tirelessly in the villages of India toward their empowerment. The point of this whole post is that I was truly amazed at how articulate she is and also passionate about the causes she works for. The night gold wilder as I got to sit right next to her for dinner having tagged along with friends that went out for the after-the-event festivities. And can you believe it that I didn’t have a camera to record this momentous occasion? For a minute, I thought of taking pics with my camera phone which by the way I have no idea how to use. I will though cherish the wonderful evening.

Fast forward to today, I had a marvelous morning at my son’s soccer game where he scored two goals (one was a bit of an assist :-)). What an amazing finish to the season and a big thank you to the fabulous coaches and the families that were a part of our team.We also had a celebration after the game presenting the coaches with the framed photo of the kids I took with their names signed on the mats.

I am off for some margaritas with some friends to finish off the wonderful day.  Have a wonderful weekend. Oh, and since I can’t have a post without photos here are a few from location scouting with my little guy!

PERSONAL,STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Christine - Happy Birthday! Glad to hear that you are taking a break and celebrating. Can’t wait to catch up with you when the busy-ness settles.

lilia - A belated happy birthday! 🙂

alpana - Thanks so much Christine and Lilia!

Hey Jude…

Tuesday, November 4, 2008
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…out there in Indonesia. Finally, I have a few pics for a sneak peek for your parents from your newborn baby session. A big hello to the B family in Indonesia! We did the session in San Francisco just a day before they were leaving the country for a couple month stay abroad. Hope you are staying safe and enjoying your time out there!

I love this photograph of the family with the Bay bridge in the background. The San Francisco bridges provide such a wonderful and memorable backdrop. It was such a wonderful moment when dad was holding the little guy that I had mom sneak into the photo. This photo is also a play of texture that I often do with my favorite photos.

I almost gasped seeing the net, the mobile and the white quilted bed- yes, I get excited about things that can make beautiful pictures (besides the fact that I had gorgeous subjects to work with). The family had the net for their overseas trip which was fabulous to incorporate in the pictures. I have always loved the mobiles. My son has the one called the Juggler’s Apprentice in his room that we have enjoyed for several years. Unlike regular mobiles you can keep them forever. If you want to check them out visit Flensted Mobiles!

FAMILIES,NEWBORN,sneak peek,STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Emily E. - Gorgeous family and beautiful baby! I particularly love the first with the little arms above his head =)

Pammy - Just beautiful!!! Love all of them

Michelle - stunning. what a beautiful family.

cherie yost - beautiful! Just beautiful!

Laura (Tender Portraits) - Gorgeous work! The 1st image is stunning.

natasha - you are awesomeeeee!!!! love the colors!! =)

Kim - A. those images are so beautiful, you did a wonderful job. The Family looks awesome and loving.

PRUNEL - FELICITATIONS AUX HEUREUX PARENTS !

Jean et Dominique

Melissa - These are stunning! I can’t get over his little lips and tongue!

lilia - Oh, Alpana – you have the most gorgeous tones in your images!! I see why you were so excited about the net – I would have been too! 🙂 Hope to see you soon! xoxo

Kimberly Kyle - Oh goodness, these are amazing. Wow…

Mom - Beautiful pictures. I particularly loved the picture of the three of you with the Baybridge background.

the little grasshoppers

Thursday, October 30, 2008
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4 things I have learned about soccer that you may find useful.

No. 1 If you run too much your lungs burn to tiny little cinders & all you’re good for after that is a low-key desk job for the rest of your life.

No. 2 A soccer ball is softer than a rock, but not much.

No. 3 If you have a good goalie, you can look around more & see what some of the other teams are up to.

No. 4 People on the sidelines yell at you because they know exactly what they would do if they had the ball & were 3 feet taller than the biggest kid on the other team.

the storypeople

This was our first year doing soccer with the Castro Valley Soccer League and it was such an amazing time. Sadly, the season is coming to an end soon. I took some pictures of our little grasshoppers as a part of  a thank-you gift for our amazing coaches Brian and Mark. This is a little sneak peek for the parents to check out the photos!

CHILDREN,PERSONAL,sneak peek,STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Anna Irwin - Great pictures Alpana! I’ll be asking you for a few. 😉 Thanks so much for taking them!

Anna

Michelle - love the expressions in the last one. their coaches are going to love them!

Anakin Skywalker is in the house!

Monday, October 27, 2008
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We managed to find our much anticipated Anakin Skywalker costume for Mr. R. I got a few quick pictures of the “fierce” Jedi student on our way to the Unhaunted House. The mask is a bit creepy for me and I was surprised he wore it as he used to hate having masks on…or for that matter even costumes which is hard to believe right now.

May the force be with you!!!

PERSONAL,STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Michelle - i can’t get over how beautiful your little guy is!

mr. and mrs. gibson | san francisco bay area family photographer

Thursday, October 23, 2008
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This was a fun shoot! The little guy is my son’s preschool buddy and has such an expressive personality that was fun to capture. His personality is so much like my son’s so I knew what to expect! I talked about the photos at length with mom and dad and they really didn’t want to “pose” for the camera. I can’t tell you how much I love when a client tells me that as it is just the kind of work I like to do.

These just make me crack up! As we were getting into “posing” (sometimes, we sort of do) for the camera, the little guy decided he didn’t want to be in the frame. Well, he sorta did, then didn’t, walked in and out. It turned out to be one of my favorite “stories” to capture and I hope mom and dad get a giggle out of it too!

sneak peek,STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Christine - so perfectly “storybox”! you never cease to amaze!

natasha - Alpana!! you are a wonderful photographer! and you are a pretty awesome writer =)

Alex - Beautiful shots Alpana, and beautiful family, i am sure they will love these, looks like you all had a fun day out.

The Gibsons - Alpana…we are so excited about the pictures and want to let you know how much we appreciate how you captured the kind of moments that we were hoping for. You made the shoot feel easy and relaxed, even for us camera phobes! We couldn’t have asked for a better photographer to tell our story.

Michelle - gorgeous family! love the frame shots 🙂

Emily E. - What a gorgeous family and handsome little boy!!

Holiday Mini-sessions have a new date!

Thursday, October 23, 2008
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I have been a bit under the weather and unable to post. I should have some sneak peeks coming up soon and wanted to do a quick post about the mini-sessions. They are rescheduled for November 15th, 2008 at 9.30 am, 10 am, 10.30 am and 11 am. There are four spots (the 9.30 is tentatively booked) only so please email me soon if you are interested. You can also get pictures instead of holiday cards if you would like. The great thing about the mini’s is that you can add up to 5 people and it is included in the price unlike regular sessions. The details for your investment are here.

On a side note..I wanted to share a couple of interesting finds from our local farmer’s market. Both these vendors frequent several of the East bay markets if you want to try to find them. The first was a spicy veggie wrap by Tofu Yu made from flat tofu (who knew it could be flattened like that), fresh veggies and a soy bean paste. They are so pretty to look at too so I had to take a picture. The other yummy product was from India Clay Oven. They had wraps served with vegetable or meat curry. The most unusual was the chicken curry which was flavored with coconut which is not typical for North Indian food. You can also buy the curry by itself with naan if you’d rather enjoy them separately. Hope you can check them out!

SHORT-STORY MINI SESSIONS,STORYBOX ART

Clone Wars | san francisco kids photographer

Thursday, October 16, 2008
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It seems that overnight my little man is a huge Star Wars fan. He gets it from my husband and now at five, he seems to know so many more of the characters than I do. I saw the trilogy years back but haven’t kept up with the trivia so I am getting quite an education about the strormtroopers, droids, (good and bad), Darth Maul, and more. He came back with this awesome Star Wars: Visual Dictonary and it is a wonderful resource if you have a child that is interested in Star Wars. Stay tuned for our Star Wars costume pick for Halloween 🙂

So the long and short of this post, was our playdate with another Star Wars fan and also a fellow photographer’s son. Pam and I got together thinking we’d see the new Star Wars movie  and discovered it would be out later this month. So the next best thing was a shoot out with the kiddos. Her little D was such a joy to take pictures of!

STORYBOX ART

by alpana

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Pammy - Awww…our little men are growing so big. Love these! I still have to work on the rest of mine.