So my sister, Sanaf, is now engaged to be married to Kamran. Everything went well, alhumdulillah. I flew to Karachi with Sophia, and we did what every cabin crew hates done on an aircraft: we re-arranged the seats for 5 people so that Sophia and I could sit together. A desi aunty on the same flight encouraged us. So I blame her for the disturbance.
The food served by Emirates Airlines on their Dxb-Khi (and vice versa) was horrible.
We didn’t have much time to apply for Masood’s visa (which takes at least 40 days to get approved), so I missed him terribly. Otherwise, it was a fun-filled and very colorful gathering. The bride-to-be looked absolutely radiant, mashaAllah. And the groom-to-be was all smiles. Everyone was delighted. Food was good.
And then, there were baskets of fruits and sweets …
I purposely didn’t wear a sari that evening because I wanted to take a thousand pictures. I wanted to photograph every single detail and emotion. Because, frankly speaking, I hate how the professional photographers back home Photoshop so heavily that everyone in the picture appear as if they all had applied layers of foundation out of the same bottle.
And here’s what actually happened: I ended up spending a considerable amount of time with Sanaf and two professional photographers. They were using the latest Nikon cameras (with lenses that constantly appear in my dreams each night), fancy speed light flashes, and had set up two umbrellas to diffuse light. I felt too intimidated to take out my own camera. Instead, I observed how they worked.
Until – somehow – I ended up mentioning about my camera and how much I love photography. “I love shooting outdoors”, I mentioned. To which the professional replied, “Great! When you’re ready, let me know. We have a big demand for female photographers in Pakistan.”
Then today, when I finally – after dozens of emails from sisters and cousins – sent out Picasa invitations of the few pictures that I’d taken, my sister replied to the email:
“Thanks for all these pics … your pictures are much much better than the photographers!!!!”
The Purple Journal 
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Well congrats hun on your sister’s engagement AND the job offer!
Aww, thank you so much, Humaira!
congrats! omg my sis loves photography 2…and on my brothers wedding every1 said the same thing to her. Pakistan does need lady photographers.
Oh, and btw… She was ‘jealous’ of ur pics. Their awesome! (she has canon rebel xti)
Thank you, LavendarClouds! Canon Rebel XTi is an awesome camera and I’m sure your sister is doing a great job with it. Does she post her work online? I’d love to see her pictures.
Aww thx. For a while she was deciding over rebel and D40 but she stick with rebel.
She posts pics here: http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/uqs/
but she hasn’t posted for a while now.
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to flickr here in the U.A.E. The site is banned 😦
Alhamdulillah that everything went well.I can see your passion thru’ the pics you post.How brilliant! Are you a professional? 🙂 So far I’ve not seen such beautiful hands! They don’t look like henna to me.Or is it?
Btw,the banner is so sweet!
I’m far, far away from being a professional, Lat 😀 As a matter of fact, I’m a beginning amateur. But I’d like to constantly improve because photography is something I really love.
You are right, that’s not henna on her hand. It’s sticker. But it looked so pretty.
And I’m still working on the banner 😀
congratulations..
Thank you, Nurdeeda. Welcome to the blog 🙂
Salamz sis, congrads on your sister’s engagement. send her my salam and wishes…:)
Walaikum assalam, Sis! Thank you so much. I’ll convey your salaam and wishes to Sanaf, inshaAllah. How is Zahra doing now?
The close up of her ring is stunning! I think you should take up the job offer 😀
Thank you, ‘liya!
I refuse to work with this particular photographer. When I went to fix my sister’s hair, I was told that, “It’s okay, we can photoshop that later!” I don’t like photographers who think about photoshop even before composing their shots.
But wedding photography is interesting 🙂
Hmm..You are making my decision to buy you this camera is really worth. I just want to say…Awesome!
Aww, that is so sweet of you. Thank you for the beautiful gift. You know how much I love it 🙂
Alhamdulilah everything went well! The ring is beautiful!
😀
Yes, Smiley. Alhumdulillah, indeed 🙂
Thank you 🙂
WOW! Beautiful pics, m’A!! I second your sister’s compliment!
Thank you so much, Sara 🙂
LOL @ the seat re-arrangements :-P. Your photography is just-too-good really! And I so agree with you that professional photographers are more of professional photoshopers than photographers… Naturalness (if thats a proper word) is what always looks beautiful.
Stickers on your hand for your engagement :-O, to me sounds a bit odd hehe :-). Probably because thats again artificial, something against naturalness… And I thought your previous blog theme looked good. The dark colors gave a somewhat cool and soothing effect. This theme is excellent too though (Y)…
Thank you, Haris. Photoshop is good, if not overdone with. But a lot of our professional photographers don’t get that.
The reason why Sanaf chose the stickers over mehendi was because the former washes off easily with water. Her job is customer service related, and she didn’t want returning to work with mehendi on her hands.
The dark colors from the previous theme started to give me headaches, LOL. I would log into the blog after a long day at work, and the dark color felt overwhelming.
Congrats on the nice pic. I do agree – in brown weddings the photographer thinks the whiter you are the better! So one comes out looking like Casper the friendly ghost in many pictures. Plus they do all those weird photoshops (the star fade out was so 1980s!) that you want some “real” pictures.
I am also looking at some DSLrs but right now staying away due to the price. Hopefully I can find a good one with right combination of features. I am worried I will buy one that will miss this one feature I need most and then that will be a waste.
Thank you, Mezba.
Not only whiter skin tone, but unnaturally blemish-free as well! Everyone has this eerie-looking smooth skin.
I haven’t seen the star fade out types, but I do remember them very well, LOL. What seems to be “in” these days are backgrounds with that ‘traditional old look’ (old wooden swing, grand elaborate doors that seemed to be taken from the Mughal era, etc).
What is this one feature that you are looking for in an SLR?
I don’t know Nadia… I was actually looking for some tips on that regard. Perhaps you can do a post on must-have features in any DSLR? *hint* 🙂
Oh, I love requests! Theek hai, next post on choosing your first DSLR coming right up 🙂
Assalamualaikum Nadia~~~!
Your pictures are stunning!!! One of my cousins is taking a course in professional photography and, I really find it amazing how she and her friends can produce exquisite photos!
I’m more of a point and snap person. Owh, and I have a long history in using photoshop, but I hardly use it on my photos. There’s just something unnatural in adding that slight photoshop effect. 😀
Walaikum Assalam, Hajar! I am so jealous of your cousin taking a professional photography course 🙂 Here in Dubai, a 2-day workshop costs more than the camera I own.
But you point and snap very well 🙂
I just started using Photoshop, but haven’t figured out most of the stuff there. I’m happy with Picasa so far. But sometimes, when simple pictures get boring, I really wished I knew more about Photoshop.
Congrats on the job offer! 😀
You have a fabulous blog and your pictures are very expressive!!
kirigalpoththa, thank you so much 🙂
many good wishes for ur sis!!
and aww, u are so cute !! and i agree to the cabin crew not liking that part of their passengers’ behaviour :p
Thank you so much, Mubi! Well, my sister and I were quietly sitting in our designated seats – khaamoshi and sharafat se – when this aunty told us that, “Donoun saath main beyt jaao. It’s okay. Un sahab ko jaake apni seat dedo.” 😀
the intimacy in the pictures that you can put cant be done by male photographers and altogether strangers. I totally loved this ring picture that you have taken … the angle is nice and so is the mehndi 🙂
Share more if you can 🙂
I totally agree! Besides, I don’t think it’s proper for a dulhan – all made up – to be posing in front of a male photographer (and sometimes, this photo session starts even before her own husband sees her!). Hence the demand for female photographers.
And thank you for your compliments on the ring picture 🙂
Did I ever say that I love photography? Well, I guess I didn’t. I don’t own a camera, so I just can’t practice photography or take courses to learn photography better. 😦 😦
Anyway, can I use that ring’s picture elsewhere on my blog?
Can I see those photographs you took on the occasion? 🙂
You can practice using your cellphone’s camera; apply the basic rules of photography, like the rules of third, for example. I’ve seen a lot of well-composed pictures in my friends’ Facebook albums that were taken with their phone’s camera.
Yes, you can use the ring picture 🙂
But I can’t share other pictures of the occasion because I do not have the permission from my sister to show them.
Where do I learn the basic rules of photography? I would go to some classes to learn these. But since I don’t have a camera, I don’t think it’s worth to take photography having cell phone’s camera only.
If you may ask for permission from your sister, I’ll appreciate it a lot. You know, I’m way too much interested in seeing them (the way they were taken since she thought those were better than professionals’).
Just Google or Youtube, you’ll find lots of good photography tutorials.