How lucky we are! We get to work with the most wonderful people! We recently had a fabulous time creating some gorgeous portraits for Sujata.
The beautiful and talented Sujata came back to see us after much too long an absence! We first met her family when she brought her tiny daughter to us for a photography session. Now, two more daughters and years later, we had the opportunity to photograph her and her husband again. Although we have continued to photograph the family over the years, after they moved to Dallas, Texas, the photo opportunities were few and far between.
I am pretty sure not a day has passed for Sujata since we last met - she still looks as young and gorgeous as ever! She is radiant, and it is extremely difficult to believe she is the mother of college-aged children!
After raising three delightful girls, she now has some time to explore her own talents as an oil painter and is currently taking art classes.
Over the past few years, she has been perfecting her craft. Her artistic talent blows us away. For one of her assignments, she needed a headshot and, while searching for a photographer in Dallas, her husband said, "You already know who will give you the best headshot!" So off to California they came, and chose Prasad Photography to do the honors!
In addition to a headshot we photographed the beautiful couple. They are a striking pair, so young at heart, charming, stylish, creative... there are not enough wonderful words to describe them!
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!
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.
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