The Scream | Baby Ronav @ 2 weeks

AHHHH Enough pictures! Ronav seems to yelling at me, as I point my camera at his pudgy little face for the ninth time during his newborn baby session. Actually, I had caught him mid-yawn, seconds before he fell into one of his mini-naps. Lucky for me though – as I was able to shoot him in all stages of wakefulness. Most baby photographers know that half of the work is waiting on the set for babies to wake-up or nurse. And then, you have about 15-20 minutes of happy-smiley-baby-time to shoot. But I don’t mind that part at all…newborn photos are priceless.  Case in point, when I returned to their house a month later to do the proofing session, Ronav had already hunked out and no longer looked this brand spanking new. I’m so grateful mommy Rathna asked me to do the shoot at the right time.

“Who’s your daddy?” 

The quintessential baby-in-a-pod Anne Geddes wannabee shot. Yes, I heart Anne Geedes and while I don’t want to be her, I do get some client requests for these types of shots. And sometimes, just sometimes….I manage to get it right. Sometimes when you do a session, you get something pleasantly unexpected. Visiting grandparents from India were in the room and my client asked me to take a quick snapshot of them together because they have no professional photos of them. I asked them to stand against the white wall and they were so conscious of the camera and started cracking up the moment I started snapping. I just rolled with it and this is one of my favorite images from the session.

Look at those eyes!? Can you say INTENSE? A couple of future heartbreakers, I tell you.

Rathna is so beautiful here, with the sleep deprivation glow of new motherhood. 

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Hello Oakland! | Family Session @ Joaquin Miller Park

I haven’t made the official announcement but we (meaning me, my family and the business) are now officially based in Oakland.  YAY.  We will miss everybody back in Fremont/Union City but it’s time we moved on. Besides, we are only 20 miles away.

It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions buying our dream house on a hill (ok, hillside – we still got a breathtaking view of the Bay) for the past two months but all our hard work has finally handed us our sweet reward. Our VERY OWN house.  I can put up frames wherever I want to now. I can paint the walls. And best of all, I will have my very own shooting space to serve my friends, family and clients better!  The Photograffiti studios, now under renovation – to be unveiled soon!

The studio won’t build itself and it will take some time, tears and sweat for that to actually happen.  So in the interim, I continue to utilitize the natural backdrops the gorgeous Bay Area has to offer.  And lucky me – we discovered this beautiful venue for this Oakland-native family’s session,  Joaquin Miller Park. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to photograph. I had all the elements to make it work – warm weather, a beautiful family and nature around me.  It had waterfalls, trees, a fountain and these beautiful stone steps. It was quite a work-out running after Ben and Rachel but I think the session yielded some awesome photos.

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Tanya + Edmund Maternity Session

Nothing makes me feel fuzzier inside than watching a family grow. Okey, maybe being able to photograph the process is a notch above that. Tanya and Edmund hired me a few years back to shoot their Napa wedding. It was perhaps one of my most memorable weddings that year, cuz was 7 months pregnant at the time of their wedding. I was waddling around with my two cameras as my bride and groom waited patiently for me in the vinyards — we laughed about it later. And I teased Tanya to just wait until it was her turn with the mommy bump. So nothing pleased me more than the opportunity to photograph this special time as they are preparing for their first baby in July. Doesn’t Tanya look absolutely radiant? We are all looking forward to meeting the newest Duldulao!



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Travelife Magazine

The evidence of my recent Napa food trip extravaganza has been published in the June-July 2010 edition of Travelife magazine. It’s currently distributed in Asia and Europe, and soon in the United States. The Napa article features the writing by Kaye Cloutman and additional photography by A.K. Sandhu. Do grab a copy if you can!

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Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw

While I’m primarily a portrait and wedding photography, once in awhile, I get an assignment so far out of left field for me. On task was event coverage of a book signing and intimate lunch with American author, TV host and chef Anthony Bourdain. He was promoting his latest book “Medium Raw” and I was asked to shoot the event  for the San Francisco Book Review.  I nearly died!  I read Kitchen Confidential years ago and have since been a fan of his show on the Travel Channel, No Reservations. The event was a Cooks with Books luncheon, held at Il Fornaio restaurant in San Francisco and sponsored by Book Passage.

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