So i’m finally getting caught up on some past weddings, so thought I would blog starting from where I left off. A month ago I shot a wedding for Nafisa and Amit here in Dallas, and as usual fitting the perfect profile for my clients they knew how to have fun and threw a rockin party. The wedding was at the Las Colinas Marriott which is a hidden gem in the area. They have a huge outdoor patio over looking a lake that makes for a killer portrait location. My friend Scoop kept the party rocking and Nafisa and Amit really went out of their way to make sure everyone had a GREAT time at their wedding.
Here are some pictures from their big day…
Starting with the hair and make up Nafisa was already radiant with her amazing smile
Amit and his brother having a moment during their prep
Nafisa and her girls having a fun time with me at her place. It was about 99 degrees when we were shooting this but they were great sports.
Amit seeing Nafisa for the first time in her reception outfit.
Love the couple portraits out on the open courtyard.
Oh and I love cake!!
Nafisa getting emotional during the speech given by her mom
The couple’s first dance
Just as they were finishing up their first dance my competition was spotted in the background.
Amit getting down on the dance floor with Nafisa’s mom
The wedding party and I having a fun time at the reception.
Nafisa’s smile is so infectious
Amit and Mikey showing everyone how it’s done right.
The following day Amit and Nafisa came to Nafisa’s house for her Sattara and the official send off for the bride and groom.
I love the lighting on this shot as they stepped on these two small pots when they entered the house.
Nafisa’s uncle comforting Nafisa’s mom who got quite emotional during the departure.
Mikey is holding up the Quran for Nafisa’s send off
The final shot of the day and I think it speaks for itself..
10.11.2008
Sadly, they are not mine… LOL!! They actually belong to a guy who is much smarter than I in financial matters. His name is Bob Brooks and he is the guy that I trust my retirement fund to. He sends out his thoughts and commentary on current financial news on a fairly regular schedule. With his permission I will be posting these newsletters in PDF format here for all my clients and friends to read. Hopefully it will give you some food for thought in these strange times we are going through.
FWIW, his contact info is in the PDF and those that are looking for someone to guide their portfolio through tough times, you owe yourself a meeting with Bob and his staff.
You know… I now hate turning on the TV, seriously. It is such a HUGE source of negativity that 10 minutes in front of it makes me wanna beat my head in with bricks of ramen noodles. I mean with the elections, the economy and the mood of people just in general has caused me to stop and think.
Now most of you know that when I stop and think there is a lot of smoke and noise and it takes me a while.. But here is what I came up with…
The Election
Seriously I was hoping that by now I would be a US Citizen so I could vote, but sadly that did not happen (well I could have but I had a wedding commitment on the date when they had the oath ceremony) so now I will have to wait 4 more years before I can be elligible to vote. However, even if I could have voted, I don’t really know who to vote for.. I have no clue exactly what the candidates stand for except they are all promising us a lot of free stuff.
Free health care, free housing, free massages on saturday nights and free lawn care service or god knows what. Look, here is the deal… I don’t want any free stuff, I don’t want you to tell me where I can buy my healthcare (anyone seen the mess in EU countries?) nor do I want you to pay for my house or tell me exactly how much money I can make, how expensive of a car I can drive or how big of a house I can live in.
Seriously… you are the government, of the people, by the people… don’t forget that, your job is to enable the people to strive for greatness and to really do go all out to achieve as much success as they can. One should not be penalized for the amount of success they have achieved as long as they are successful without breaking any laws or hurting others.
The government should get out of the business of fostering increased welfare and enable people to be productive, to get out there and make your life better and in turn make lives of others better. You should foster industries within our country, provide incentives to businesses to keep jobs here, find ways to help factories work more efficiently so better products are created. Help auto factories here create more brand awareness and more consumer loyalty. The government should give incentives for individuals to go to school, learn new things, better their lives via education. We should put a greater emphasis on education by helping universities bring in more kids who want to go to school but can’t afford it. The government should go out and get a body of some of the smartest people in our country and have them form an advisory board of sorts to see how we can create more industry in this country of ours.
The Economy
To secretary Paulson, stop giving these corp idiots more money to squander away, I have worked with way too many Fortune 500 companies to know just how wasteful they are and how much they love to take care of themselves. How about you take the 700 Billion dollars we gave you in charity and use that money to foster industries such as a mass transit system that connects not just the major cities but the suburbs as well. Hey we can create an industry, create jobs and also help global warming.
To those who are in danger of losing their half a million dollar homes… Wanna trade??
This is the time when we should go out and spend money not because it will help the economy but because why not?? What would you rather do? Spend money and buy stuff that you can enjoy and have or money that you put away that will be lost due to the market?
Honestly, you guys should order more photos from your weddings… Seriously, I mean tons and tons of 4X6s and 5X7s and heck even 8X10s. LOL.
To the Politicians
Get over yourselves… You work for us, the average american. You are not sent to Washington to pad your wallets or take care of your friends and then every 4 years fling mud across the aisle. You should be ashamed of yourselves, grow up, stop acting like whiny babies and do your damn job. If you don’t want to or are not capable of looking beyond the party lines and lobbyist loyalty then get out of the way. There are a lot of VERY qualified individuals who are capable of stepping in. There was no need for you guys to tack on stupid crap to the Charity Bill that was passed for Wall Street. Things like incentives to a factory that makes wooden arrows… what were you thinking?
To America
We are sorry… We will work to make you the shining example that you once were. We will work harder to return you to your former glory days, even if it means we have to bust our butts harder, pull ourselves together and make lives better for ourselves and each other.
If you’ve stuck this far, remember your life, your destiny is in your hands. You should not look to a government in debt to bail you out, you should look at your own strengths and your desire to do good and achieve success as motivation to get out there and make life better for yourself and for others.
I leave you with this… 5:26 worth spending to learn from history to make our future secure.
