This past summer has been a very busy one here at Prasad Photography! One of the things that has kept us happily clicking away was photographing portraits for 9 young ladies, each performing their individual Arangetram or dance debut performance. The arangetram (literally, "ascending the stage") is a rite of passage, the culmination of an odyssey that took each of these girls from student to graduate under the direction of guru Ramya Harishankar of the Arpana School of Dance in Irvine, California. Each dancer's performance consisted of two plus hours of the elaborate, graceful and highly technical Bharata Natyam form of dance.
Mitali was the first of this group to perform her Arangetram. Traveling from San Diego to Irvine for classes, hers (and her mom's!) is an example of the kind of dedication it takes to succeed as a Bharata Natyam dancer.
Like the other girls, Preethi is passionate about dance and also multi-talented. She enjoys learning carnatic music as well as designing in multi-media.
Leena was the youngest of the group, an eighth grader, yet extremely accomplished. She is also a talented musician in both voice and piano, having won several regional competitions.
It's Not Bollywood
Many of you are familiar with Bollywood (have you seen "So You Think You Can Dance"?) - but unlike the glitz and glamour of Bollywood, the Indian film industry that regularly stages elaborate choreography in exotic locales,
Bharata Natyam is one of the most famous Indian classical dance forms. Originating in temples in South India for centuries, it is now one of the most widely-performed dance styles in the world.
Nikita is a talented singer, performing with the Irvine High School Chorale, and her other activities include Youth Action Team and Red Cross Club.
Viva is quite the all-around dancer, having studied ballet, tap, hip hop and jazz - and she was president of the Hawaiian dancing club in high school to boot!
Adorned in brightly colored costumes, headdress, makeup, jewelry and a pleated skirt that unfolds into a fan, the Bharata Nayam dancers perform with bright-eyed enthusiasm, their side-to-side neck and eye movements, hand positions, balanced still postures and instantaneous morphing among characters dramatizing ancient tales.
Sheila is another all-around talented girl, playing tennis for junior varsity, as well as painting, training vocal carnatic music, and many other pursuits.
Among her many pursuits, Pavan is a very talented painter as well as an accomplished sitar player.
Tara loves the fine arts and is an award winning classical piano player, having won many competitions. She is also an honor student and is an active volunteer for Kids Who Care Foundation along with her many activities.
Sumona teaches Bollywood, yoga and meditation, as well as ESL and is an inspiration to many.
Keeping Traditions Alive
It has been so much fun photographing these beautiful young women who are actively keeping alive the honored traditions of their culture. Ramya was there at every photo session helping the dancers perfect their poses, some of which were very difficult (these girls were able to get their bodies into some very challenging poses!). Hair and makeup was done by Saru Janahan, who was always there with a smiling face and ready to jump in and help. Over the past few months, we have enjoyed getting to know all of them and to work with them individually. Each of them is so accomplished - with many other talents in addition to their mastery of dance. They are truly inspiring!
Here is a video showing some of amazing images of these girls. Enjoy!
Here's us photographing some of the fantastic folks attending the Alzheimer’s Family Services Center's 11th Annual Gathering of Friends held recently at the beautiful Huntington Beach Hilton. The images of us in this blog post were taken by Stan Sholik, the event photographer for this event.
We were honored to be invited there to take photographs of many of the couples and families attending. As you can see, the AFSC set up a backdrop to go along with their theme of a "Garden Paradise." We brought in our lights and camera equipment and went to work (or should I say, "Play!")!
One of the beautiful folks we were honored to photograph was Dr. Cordula Dick-Muehlke, Executive Director of the center. She is undeniably dedicated to the well-being of her participants, helping them to age successfully in the context of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementia. She is such an extraordinary person and has touched countless lives doing what she does. What a beautiful soul!
Our team was fantastic - thank you, Hayley, Adam and Dave! They were also excited to be there, helping others, and helping everything to run smoothly. We could not have done it without them. We photographed over 60 groups of people during the two hour cocktail hour. So many warm, friendly and simply wonderful people - what a joy!
A little bit about the organization: Alzheimer’s Family Services Center is one of the most inspiring nonprofit organizations we love to support. AFSC is located in Huntington Beach, California and offers a warm and welcoming environment where people living with Alzheimer's and other dementia are able to spend each day. The people who run this organization (many of which are volunteers!) are absolutely phenomenal. They are gracious and so devoted to helping make their participants' lives as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. It truly brought me to tears, seeing how dedicated they are to their members.
Here's Prasad working with several of the AFSC staff:
After cocktail hour was over and our job was finished, we attended the elegant dinner where the organization honored their "Participant of the Year," honoring her with a slideshow and her beautiful story. We were all brought to tears, it was such a lovely and moving story. It really brought home the fact that most people with Alzheimer's and other such illnesses are normal, often brilliant people who can no longer function as they once did. AFSC is the only Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Center in Orange County, and many people we've spoken to about this have expressed their wish that they had such a place in their area, with its state-of-the art facility, expert staff, and programs based on the latest research.
Everyone we met was just phenomenal and we are honored to have worked with them!
It is difficult, in this industry, to pinpoint exactly what makes a portrait session particularly unique or amazing. However, there are those rare (and wonderful) times when you can put your finger right on that point. Particularly, say, when your subjects are fuzzy!
Well, to be fair, only some of the subjects were fuzzy. But who can say that about their clients? Yes, that's right, now we can.
Let me back up.
We met the lovely Judy at the YMCA. She has a son and daughter-in-lawwho, she felt, were long overdue for a family portrait. She spoke with Prasad, ordered a gift certificate, and we all went about our business. Later that afternoon Prasad spoke with the couple about their portrait session. Within moments we knew this would be a session unlike any other.
Enter Greg and Kristin Ballora, their son, Beckham, and Greg's mother, Judy.
Finally, and without further ado, enter...
THE PUPPETS.
Greg and Kristin are puppeteers in Hollywood. Not only do they make their own puppets, but their puppets star in PBS shows as well as in PIXAR films.They have worked on blockbusters such as Spiderman 2and 3 and Team America World Police, and Greg has done quite a bit of work with The Jim Henson Company.
In addition, Greg is the official puppetmaster for Disneyland! He makes sure all puppets and their puppeteers are on their best behavior and working well together. The relationship between a puppet and its master can become rather complicated, it seems.
Greg and Kristin work together like lyrics and a song. They complement each other so well and know just what to say to elicit the most hilarious or appropriate response from one another. Watching them improv together is better than any planned routine, I'm sure!
To top that, they have been working with 10 (going on 40) year-old Beckham, who is next in line for a career in puppeteering. I must say, he is quite good! (And we do have our eye on him for our 10 year-old granddaughter, so don't get any ideas).
We had such a terrific time working with this talented and brilliant family, including their gorgeous (and also fuzzy) dog, Calvin. The session was unlike any other and the subjects were quite unique and such a blast! Prasad couldn't keep away from the puppets! Even given all of his experience, I'm not sure he's ever photographed characters quite like these!
"Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you...cope with the unexpected, and smile throughout the day."
Ah, Thanksgiving. A time to relax, enjoy delicious food, and spend quality time with the family.
Or, in our case, run around like chickens with our heads cut off, scarf down food before one of the many dogs in attendance could help themselves to it, and try with all our might not to strangle said family!
There were people and children underfoot, dogs frolicking inside the house and out, and delectable food and wine being enjoyed by all.
Yes, all.
It's not that we didn't enjoy our Thanksgiving experience, because we did. Thoroughly!
See?
However, for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to conclude our feast with a photo session. In theory, this was actually a wonderful idea. It was the first time 4 out of 5 of our combined children, their spouses and all 8 grandchildren had been in the same county since the summer. We figured it might be our only opportunity for months (years?) to come so we took advantage.
We rounded up the entire family and piled them upstairs into the studio for our photo session. It wasn’t just a bit muddled, it was utter chaos! The studio was swarming with lively adults and playful children. Trying to create a setup that worked with all these people was quite the chore. But with only minimal pushing, shoving and hollering, we made it happen! And we ended up with a beautiful family photo that we will treasure for the rest of our days. In all its craziness, our Thanksgiving was amazing and we are truly thankful for our family and the time we spent together.
If you want to hear about the most handsome little man, read on.
Marc is 9 years old.
And absolutely adorable.
He dreams of becoming an actor and therefore came to us looking for a great headshot photographer in Newport Beach! We were happy to take on the job for several reasons. One: he is a delight to work with. Two: he's a ham and the camera loves him! And, perhaps the point which most behooves us, three: we can say "we knew him when!"
We had such a wonderful time photographing this little man. He was full of energy, charisma and charm. It's no wonder, after meeting his mother, Dr. Amy Conrad. She is a fantastic woman who hones her pediatric skills in both Mammoth and Newport Beach, trading the beautiful mountains for the beach halfway through each week. We asked if she would consider adopting us because deciding between Mammoth and Orange County is next to impossible. Living in both is a dream! However, her hands are full with Hollywood's next greatest actor so she could not take us on just yet.
We loved working with this adorable family and can not wait to watch Marc's career soar!
We have the best job in the world. We get to spend time with and learn about beautiful, intelligent and amazing people. The Squire family is that and more.
We met Jason Squire years ago, but became quite close to him and his family after he performed as the DJ at our wedding ceremony in 2005. He and his beautiful wife, Roni, are the artists and entertainment behind Squire Productions, a mobile DJ entertainment company they started 12 years ago. They are the most amazing DJs and entertainers out there.
As if they weren’t perfect enough, they have four incredible children in their brood. Natasha, Natalie, Jaron and Renee were so enchanting – chasing bubbles in our backyard studio, laughing, enjoying each other’s company, and making it so easy for us to work with them!
Jason and Roni, who still act like newlyweds, were also wonderful to photograph, when we could get Jason’s phone away from him long enough to snap a photo! We only had to confiscate it once. As you can see, it was well worth it!
We so enjoyed our time with the Squire family. With such beautiful faces on everyone in that family, it would be impossible not to get some amazing shots! What a blessing to have them as part of our extended family!
