*bliss – Seshu's Wedding Photography [www.seshu.net]

> Bliss Is Brought To You By Seshu Photography

This blog is brought to you by Seshu Photography: Wedding Photojournalism in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and beyond.

Refer my photo services to your friends and family and accept a $100 thank-you gift card.

Bliss Is Typepad's Featured Blog Of The Day

The words, "woo hoo" come to mind right about now and slip easily off of my tongue. Why? Well,the kind folks at Typepad have knighted this website as the "Featured Blog Of The Day." Thank you. It is indeed an honor!

I also regularly publish Tiffinbox and maintain Dr. Krishna Raghavendra's Raghasmusic and Sankara Nethralaya's omlog all using Typepad. It is clearly the easiest and most versatile blogging platform to use whether you are a solo businessman like me or a huge non-profit organization.

So, if you are coming through their site, welcome! It's great to have you here to check out my photographic work. Feel free and explore a little. As the top post on this page suggests, this site is brought to you by Seshu Photography. Check out that site as well to see even more examples of my work. I am constantly updating it with some amazing photography.

If you know of anyone starting to plan their 2008 wedding, please feel free to send them this link – http://www.seshu.net/. I would be happy to speak with them. Live in the Northeast and want portraits made of you, your friends or your family? Let's connect before the holidays.

Mention the word "TypePad" when you book my services for weddings or portraits (bridal, family, seniors, fashion etc.) and receive a free 11x14 signature print that is ready for framing (valued at $100) after our photo session.

Lastly, if you have any questions about using Typepad that I can answer, I would be happy to hear from you. Much of what I have learned along the way came from people willing to share that kind of information and I am more than happy to pay-it-forward.

Once again, welcome!

A New Site, A New Beginning

At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 2007, I launched my new portfolio website – Seshu Photography – for the world to see and enjoy.

In addition to portfolio galleries, the website has a new blog I am calling SAFFRON, integrated into it. Cool, eh?

I'll be posting anything relating to my wedding and portrait business there. So, please visit, bookmark and subscribe to that new blog. I welcome your comments after each blog post so don't be shy.

Rashmi + Vinay, A Postcard Campaign

The story of Rashmi and Vinay is a typical one, but a very special one. Both from California, Rashmi and Vinay met each other in Boston, fell in love, got married and embarked on a life together. But several months back life threw them a massive curve ball. Vinay was diagnosed with leukemia.

Weeks back I posted an appeal here for my cousin Vinay – to help him and others like him who are South Asian and afflicted with leukemia with the only hope of finding a bone marrow match within the South Asian community.

Even after several chemotherapy sessions, Vinay needs a bone marrow match. Please visit HelpVinay.org to read about where you can register and potentially save lives; Vinay's and others like him. Vinay could very easily be your brother, your husband, your father.

As a South Asian it is infinitely more challenging to find a match, but it doesn't have to be that way if only more South Asians like you (yes you reading this blog post) will commit to registering yourselves in the national marrow donor database. I have called you all, and some of you have readily done so, to step up and register. It's quick and painless. So, please DO IT NOW.

More recently, I was asked to photograph Vinay and his wife, Rashmi, for a post-card campaign Team Vinay was planning. Here are two of my favorite images I shot of them. If it were up to you, which one would you pick for the post-card campaign? Make your choice and then leave a comment that others can appreciate. Thank you.

Wanderlust & Destination Weddings

Destination weddings are on my radar. I would love to photograph in a variety of obvious locales, but I have my heart set on finding a couple planning their wedding at the Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur. It's regal to its core and Travel+Leisure just voted it the best hotel in the world. Take a look at the hotel's website and you'll see why they absolutely deserve the accolade.

So, I have a proposal for you if you are getting married at the Oberoi Udaivillas. Fly me out to Udaipur, and I will photograph your wedding for free. Yep, that's how badly I want to photograph your wedding at the most romantic spot in India.

New Product Offering: Storyboards

Print enlargements and albums are the cornerstone of any wedding photographer's product offering.

But I am always looking for other options that my clients will also enjoy having. The key part of that sentence is "also" because I strongly believe in only providing products that I would personally buy and use myself.

So, the latest offering is a storyboard or montage that is 30 inches across and 14 inches high. I can also create one that is only 20 inches across as well (though you won't have the option of having more than three images in the layout).

Here is an example of one that I just created for my clients Anjali and Eric. Curious about pricing? Contact me if you are starting to plan your 2008 wedding and I would be happy to speak with you about the options I offer.

PDA, Optional*

I published another advertisement in India New England this past week. One of the things that clearly differentiates me is that I am fun to work with; I go with the flow and let things evolve as they are naturally supposed to be. Now, that's not just me saying so. Talk to the brides who have initially felt self-conscious about being photographed and then just settle down to find their own moment, their center during a photo session. It's a beautiful thing because it is such a collaborative exercise. The more I photograph, the easier it gets for my clients to find their own zone.

Anyway, I photographed this lovely couple you see below in Boston a couple of weeks back. I'll be sure to post more images from their Sangeet and their wedding reception. I had such a terrific time because the families made me feel so at home and well, everybody had a great deal of fun being there.

The fine print reads, "We promise to capture the intimate and important details of your wedding. Public displays of affection: Bring it on!"

Teaching A Superworkshop At The SAJA Convention

I have kept this under wraps for a few weeks, but I am super excited about leading my first photography workshop during the SAJA convention [South Asian Journalists Association].

Tagged a "superworkshop" because it goes all-day, I'll be working with a small group of enthusiastic photographers interested in street photography, a genre of documentary photography which is as raw and real as it gets. Photographing people and found things across a section of New York city is going to be challenging but it should be a lot of fun too.

Since I'll be out there making images as well, I will post a few samples here.

In addition to the workshop, I am also coordinating SAJA's annual Photoforum, an annual slide show of the very best images captured by photojournalists working in South Asia. I got a late start on that this year and I am praying that it all comes together on time.

Seshu Photography, A Wedding Party Founding Member

Wedding Party has finally launched and I am happy to have signed on as a founding member way back when. Wedding Party, founded by Marcus Sark, is essentially a wedding planning website for clients to collate their vendor choices. Right now the site is almost solely dedicated to photographers across the US.

Here is my Wedding Party profile. Check it out!

Now You Can Call Me Toll Free

If you are calling me from home, please feel free to use the toll free number I now have - 888-775-4866. I look forward to hearing from you.

I have one wedding and one reception I am working through right now. I also have another wedding I am photographing today. I should have those images up here by the end of the day. So, come and visit this website again.

I am in the thick of the wedding season and loving it!

We'll Even Keep An Eye Out For Your Shoes*

This is a new advertisement some of you will see in India New England, a newspaper directed towards the Indian community.

I am sure some of you are going, "huh?" What is this about shoes. Well, in some Indian communities, especially the Gujarati weddings I have shot, there is a point in the wedding where the bride's family usurps (steals is such a strong word) the bride groom's shoes and holds the pair hostage until a sizeable (and I mean SIZEABLE) ransom is paid. It's a game. It can be fun. And I think that's the whole point.

If you still have questions about the advertisement, say so in the comments section.

The fine print reads, "We promise to capture the intimate and important details of your wedding. As far as your shoes, good luck!"