Candid Tales: Navin Varma Photography: From Cricket to Weddings :)

Every other person today owns a DSLR. If only photography was that simple!! It is art and capturing emotions is makes rocket science look easy. But god has been really generous and so we do have a lot of really good photographers around.

Intoducing Navin Varma, Some people just have the gift of a talent, and Navin is one of those ‘some people’ when it comes to photography.

Lets get to him a little and then some of his work…

Please tell us something about yourself.    

I believe capturing emotions on a camera can be simple. Re-creating emotions by simply looking at the pictures afterwards is photography.

When did you decide to make it big in wedding photography? Tell us about the first time you shot a wedding.

Before I went into wedding photography, I was working as a Photo Journalist for the Press Trust of India. One of my shoots was for the India vs. Australia Cricket match. That day, the match was delayed because it began to rain, and all the agency photographers and I were mingling and one of my friend photographers asked me point blank “DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY IS ALL ABOUT?” I was confused. He then said “NO, THIS IS NOT PHOTOGRAPHY!”  After thinking to myself for a few days, I understood what he was saying.  True photography requires more than just shooting images, it requires thought and creativity. It’s an art, not a job, and what best place to capture art, then at weddings. Weddings showcase rich colors, emotions, culture, and beauty.

The first two weddings I captured were my friends’. I received a tremendous positive response and that is where I had a chage of heart in to Wedding photography from journalism.

Are you accompanied with musketeers as a team or are you a one-man-army?

I have a fixed group I take with me for each wedding. Sometimes, I do like to hire extra local talent from whichever city I am shooting in.

Do you also cover traditional photography and videography.

Yes, we cover both traditional and videography.

How easy or difficult you find it to work with the studio guys.

Working with studio guys is fun some times.. like when they say “bhabhiji thoda haske muskuraiye” lol 😛 .. sometime they make you go nuts by coming in between while shooting candid pictures.

What are most common myths that people have about candid photography.

Biggest myth is when clients believe that one team cannot cover the entire wedding and hence they end up hiring two different studios.  With a great team and unique ideas, we do it all!

What kind of packages do you offer? We would like to know the details – inclusions and prices.

Currently I charge 90k per/day for candid photography.  Sometimes, I even shoot complimentary pre-weddings and post-weddings shoots.. I am flexible depending on different situations and the negotiated agreement.

Any special tips for the brides.

Try to get as much rest the day before the shoot/wedding, so that you shine even brighter on your big day! Moreover, hire the best makeup Artist.

Well said Navin! Now lets see if the work is as amazing as the man himself..

 

Bandra- Worli Sea Link – Romantic Place … Awesome picture 🙂

 

OMG .. This is soooo funny 😀

 

Amazing Save d date Concept 😀 …On my list 😀

 

 

We enjoyed browsing through his pictures, infact had a hard time shortlisting them. His pictures scream fun, romance and happiness and we can see that that how comfortable he makes the couple to get the perfect shot :). We are in love with all his pictures

Reach out for Navin Varma on his Facebook here. We are sure you will all love his work and spend 2-3 hours or more browsing through his work as we did 😀

We’d like to know what all all you readers out there thought about this. Do leave your comments here.

L’oreal Paris Color Riche Moist matte Lipsticks – Raspberry Syrup and Maple Mocha: Review and Swatches

 

Thanks to the blog research and my own interest in lipsticks, I have graduated from owning just a lip gloss to a range of lip color. Lip color now is my favorite part of make-up, so much that if I had to choose only one thing in make-up for the rest of my life,  it would be lip color.

Cannes just happened and the bollywood news was all talks about the make-up Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor had sported. They looked pretty amazing. L’oreal grabbed this opportunity and launched their moist matte lipstick range – Color Riche Moisture Matte Lipstick – with the pretty divas.

I got my hands on 2 colors from this new range, both sported by Sanam Kapoor during the festival – Raspberry Syrup and Maple Mocha

L’oreal’s note on this range: “A lipstick that delivers intense moisture while providing a velvet matte finish. Colour Riche Moisture Matte’s unique formula contains jojoba oil for unrivalled moisture and comfort along with matte gel technology to create an intense matte look”

Our Expert Analysis 😀 :-

The packaging of this range is very classy! Each piece has a click-clock sort of a lock mechanism which earns this one a point. The lock ensures the lipstick is untouched even if it is dumped in the ‘has-it-all’ bag of today’s girl. Another plus point that the packaging earned is the color coin cases – so you don’t have to open them each time if you have many.

This one is Priced as a premium category product and is available in the stores for INR 899 for 3.6g of color. For me, personally that is a bit too much for something I’d use on a daily basis and so I am not at all happy with the pricing. But thanks to Myntra’s (my favorite online retail) discounts, I got my lipsticks for INR 550 only. Minus one on pricing!

The initial texture is very smooth and creamy, which makes it very easy to apply and has no visible undertones. Within a few minutes it sets into a matte finish which is just lovely. It looks as if that is the original color of the lips. Definitely a plus one for the texture.

Shade: Maple Mocha

As the name suggests, this is a shade of brown – just like mocha. This is one of those ‘safe and trustworthy’ shades which look good on everybody and are suitable for every occasion. When you can’t decide which color to put on for the day, go for this one – it won’t let you down.

Shade: Rasberry Syrub

Don’t let the name confuse you, this one is a bold shade of pink. Sonam Kapoor looked stunning with this shade on, but I am personally not very confident and comfortable with this particular shade. I think, this shade will suit the fair and lovelies more the dusky beauties.

Pros

• Very smooth matte shades
• Sticks around for 4-5 hours straight, even with a little bit of snacks
• Does not accentuate lines
• Very light and comfortable
• Does not transfer

Cons

• The price …

Rating: 4.5/5 (-0.5 for the price)

Do I recommend this – Hell yeah!  Go get yourself one of these now

 

 

 

Candid Tales : Arpit Rastogi Photography

Hola!!

We are back with the next entry in our clique of photographers. Based out of a city filled with culture and history – Meerut, our man here not only understands how important weddings are to us Indians but also how important and intrinsic the photographs are in a wedding.

So, pretty ladies, meet Arpit Rastogi from Arpit Rastogi Photography.

I stumbled upon Arpit’s photographs when I was scrolling down my facebook news feed. He had covered my friend’s – sister’s wedding. His pictures seem to contain this energy, happiness.. they kind of brought the pictures alive. That is where my partner (-in-crime) and I decided, ‘boss, this guy is definitely getting some space in our wedding book!’ but don’t go by our words, take a look at his work yourself.

A few words from Arpit himself before that..

Tell us something about yourself, Arpit.. “I am an engineer-turned-photographer”

Since when are you capturing weddings.. “My first stint was in March, 2011”

Tell us more about it.. “It was my friend’s wedding. This was before I started photography professionally; I was still with my ‘engineering’ job. But my clicks got amazing response on fb and I got the the push I needed to take up photography as a profession.”

Do you have a team.. “Nope, I am a one man army”

Then, along with candid, do you cover traditional photography as well? If not, how do you manage the studio photographers.. “Nope, I don’t cover traditional photography. The studio guys are very supportive.. in most cases. Exceptions are always there.”

You are in Meerut, any travel preferences for covering weddings.. “Yes, it is easier for me to cover weddings in and around Delhi, NCR, Chandigarh and Jaipur”

Tell us about the package you offer.. “I work on per-day basis; I provide 100 processed photographs and charge Rs. 20,000 for it”

What are the common myths that people have about candid photography..  “That they think of it as traditional photography”

Any tips for our beautiful brides from your side.. “Hire a good make-up artist”

Here is a teaser of his work…

His pictures are expressive!!! We would love to tell our story through ’em, wouldn’t you?  Do check him out on his fb page here. And feel free to leave comments here 🙂

 

 

Mehendi Decor: DIY Ideas

I don’t know what’s not to love about ‘the Mehendi function’. They are the just amazing; especially at the bride’s end. It does not end with Vidaai, has awesome food and even the bride gets to dance! I am definitely gonna love mine. But, my buddy here doesn’t seem that excited about it, even after spamming my inbox with the Mehendi pictures from a friend’s wedding. Not being excited about Mehendi, I guess, will always be beyond me.

Well, by now y’all would have guessed that this post is on the Mehendi function. One weird thing about the Mehendi function is that though it is a part of every wedding on Indian soil, most people don’t spend enough to make it a big function. It mostly ends up as an internal affair with cousins playing DJ and the relatives grooving to their music. No extra effort is put, let alone monetary investment. But, the two of us here would still like all of you out there to have as glamorous a Mehendi function as possible.

Here are some DIY ideas that will help you make your Mehendi function possible and yet give the feel of a big function. These ideas will ensure that all your people and most importantly you have a lot of fun dancing and clicking pictures and celebrate with a personal touch. It is not rocket science, you know, these are fairly easy stuff.

• We all have those used and not yet discarded cushions stowed away in the attic or buried in the box-beds, it is time to pull them all out. Decorate them with either colorful cushion covers or get the younger sisters to decorate them with ribbons and set a bright colorful stage for yourself
•  If the function is outdoor, say in the backyard or the garden in front, get it covered by colorful shamiana to keep the sun at bay. You can further decorate it using LED lights
• Instead of lights, you can also have colored paper origami designs hanging from the canopy. This will bring a Mela kind of an atmosphere to your Mehendi function
• You can also use these props to decorate the space around you:

      

   

• Fill a big bowl, preferably earthen or glass, with water and leave some of your favourite flowers and scented candles floated in it. Your centre-piece is ready!! You can also use small crockery bowls and even wine glasses

           

• Hang umbrellas upside down along with some flowers and you will not believe all your unused umbrellas could create such a fun ceiling

• Take a lot of colorful dupattas and hang them around for a fun and colorful décor
• Use led lights as much as possible with the dupattas , to make it more jazzy
• If it is a destination wedding, then you and your guests may welcome a little more entertainment. Put up some stalls for your women guests, like bangles, bindi, jaljeera etc

• Kalire when hung from the ceiling give a very wedding-y feel

• The old fashioned table fans can also be trendy enough. Tie colorful ribbons to its rims and watch the ribbons salsa in the air.
• To bring some more life in the event, rent an auto-rickshaw! Decorate it with color and glitter and flowers and have a fancy photo-booth

A little bit of science before we end. Not only does Mehendi look good, it also has medicinal value. Mehendi is a powerful herb. As the wedding day approaches, the excitement mixed with nervous anticipation can take its toll on the bride and groom. Application of Mehendi prevents too much stress as it cools the body and keeps the nerves from becoming tense. Science aside, it is a common belief that the darker the color of the Mehendi on the bride’s hands, the more will she be loved by her husband and mother-in-law. Doesn’t this give us all the more reason to have a grand celebration for this charming tradition?