Goodbye 2011, HALLO 2012

I really enjoyed 2011, and ofcourse I have to write about it!

I am pretty sure, even the most pessimistic people have to have some good memory of each year that passes them, but being an optimistic myself, I have a lot to be grateful for. yes I know, I keep complaining about how Dubai is not my city, but well, I have to be fair.. this dusty city has done some great stuff for my family and I and my career, If only it had real snow!

2011 was the year I decided to have a break from fashion Photography and do some Fashion Design instead. well yes I did it, I completed the course and I did improve. I think! .

I also teamed up with Attitude and worked for Carolina Herrera and Braun with beautiful Yara the Lebanese singer. which were highlight of my photography job.

Met many amazing designers and worked for them. loved each dress, make up artist and each model.

I did not have many trips this year. Only chicago which was early 2011, London mid 2011, and Iran which was in late summer. But I can foresee many trips in 2012 which is very exciting.

I do not have any specific resolutions for this year. All of us want to be better at what we are doing and be more successful! so it will be an awful cliche to repeat those lines! But I am excited to see what 2012 will bring for my family and I.

Of course as many of you know, my family of 3 are soon to be 4! Another little man is in the making and I hope everything goes well. so a big plan of 2012 is to be a super mom!!

now last but not least, a slideshow of my 2011

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You can view pictures on my Facebook page , Also check out the Archives for previous posts

I wish you all the best in 2012. hope you have left all the sorrows, hatreds and laziness in 2011 and start a Fresh lovely year.

Bazaar of Tehran

I was in Iran almost 2 weeks ago for one week. I had a very tight schedule, from seeing my family and in-laws family to finding gasps here and there to spend time with friends. and ofcourse visiting Mashhad. I think I did things in that “one week” that Many Iranians do not do in one whole year!!

Highlight of the trip was going all the way to south of Tehran for a photo walk with one of my good friends. We went to Bazaar of Tehran – and the Palace of Nasereddin shah. “AMAZING” is not doing the experience justice. yes it was very hot and we had to walk for quit some time. but it was worth every second. lovely company by Kimia- yummy food at one of the most famous restaurants in Tehran called “Sharaf ol eslami”. and ofcourse the visit of the palace. It was a shame that they didnt let us take pictures. They made the excuse of that the flashes will ruin the mirrors, but then when I said my camera do not have flash, he said well you can’t, for security reasons!

join me for a slideshow of this trip. I am going to Tehran again for Ramadhan. Where would you take me/ or suggest I go for a photo walk?

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Before you leave. check out my Facebook Page for a recent makeup Workshop by Attitude Studio, which I had the privilege of being the photographer

And the Winner is:

What a start to the summer. So far, Grand! I really hope it goes all the way like this.

The Circle’s Contest finished exactly one week ago and the reason I didn’t post the winner earlier was because I had a trip to Iran, and most of you know Facebook is Blocked in Iran. But what I didn’t know was that my blog is also blocked!! I couldnt even post a blog post to announce the winner! so here it goes after one week delay. Sorry about that.

From the last contest, I had few emails saying they do not like the voting system and there should be a fair judging between the images. I have to say I agree. But the voting concept made it fun as well, ( beside a marketing point for my page-ehem!) . So this time I decided me and 3 other photographer friends will judge between the top 3 images with most votes. So here is our guest judges:

Kashif Javed, Amazing Commercial, and Fashion Photographer .check out his facebook fanpage here 

Naushen Baig, Awesome Photographer who you might have heard her name from me like million times! she doesnt have a fanpage yet, but she has promised to make one, cause I know she will be a big hit!

and last but not least, the amazing Ellen Brandwijk , Amazing friend and brilliant photographer. check out her Flickr here.

It was interesting to hear everyone’s opinion on who had the strongest image. And I have to say, it was a hard decision, because we all had different opinion, and that just proves that everyone’s pictures were great. so finally with 2 votes out of the 4 judges, the winner is :

Melika Hashemi:

 

Congratulations to Melika. Although the circles were photoshoped, but it was a very cool idea. keep on practicing! you are on the right track

Melika won a 10$ worth of item(s) from CsCharms Etsy shop

And the runner ups:

Negin:

Ritesh

Negin and Ritesh your images were wonderful, I really loved them so did the judges. Thanks for participating, hope to see more in the future contests.

Keep on clicking! and if any of you have a theme in mind that think would be a good contest theme, let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wall of embarrassment

I have been asked so many times in the passed few month that why am I not doing the fashion photography anymore. well here it goes, I have not quit! I actually can not wait for the new projects to come up, but I am going through some stuff in my life that I actually want to share with you guys!

I am writing this not as a photographer but as a muslim girl with values in  life that cherishes them the most. one of those values is hejab and being a good muslim woman. Being good is not easy, I for one can not say I am good! but I am trying and as much as I love the whole fashion photography, there was something missing.. I felt like I am not doing justice to my values! now don’t get me wrong.. everyone has their own points of view and I respect everyone’s decesions in putting hijab or being christian or whatever! this is not a debate and is only my thoughts about my OWN life. I still will be doing fashion in western sense ( as soon as the weather in dubai lets me go out and shoot, I dont wanna kill models now!!) but I just want to add that touch of a Muslim Woman into my work! I had a great suggestion from a dear friend and that was to go and design my own garments! so yeah I have been practicing my way into Fashion Design.. Ok, let me just warn you right here right now.. I still very much suck at this!!!  So please dont expect much. I suck so much that I actually had to go and apply for courses so I get more professional.

Now you might ask why are you sharing your so embarrassing sketches? well I had to! thats the way I do it! I embarrase myself and then I have to make myself better and make the embarrassment go away! so there it is my wall of embarrassment for you to laugh and critique.. I have TONS of fashion designer friends, for you designers, please stop laughing! I would love some help! and please don’t judge me!!

I am very scared of choosing this hobby, because unlike photography there is like hundreds of millions of things going on before that piece of dress gets to you. and I am in no sense a fashion designer. I have seen fashion designers starting their way when they are teenagers, here I am 27 and starting a new hobby. I just hope I am cut out for it, I am defiantly not a sewing person, but I know if I wanna achieve something I will sew my heart into it!! I am having so much fun!!

I have found my passions in life when I was most depressed! It’s nice, don’t you think?!!

Thanks for stopping by

Self Portrait Competition Winner

We had our first Photography contest on Facebook, and I believe it was a success! check out the 12 finalists here:

12 finalist images

And now the winner is : Nasim Asgari

with 99  likes

Her prize:  The winning Image on an 11 x 17 canvas.

Congratulations and I hope you like your prize!

Since the competition was very tight, I wanna share with you the runner up’s  image, who had 94 likes by the end of the competition and she truly deserves a recognition.

Zahra Fh

I wanna say thank you to all the participants and their friends who took time to participate in this little contest of us. I really appreciate it.

Stay tuned for more contests coming up!

Thanks for stopping by

Mild Vintage

I know there are many photographers out there that use lightroom and use presets to change the look of their images. I do the same, but not in lightroom but in Aperture. It is a software in Mac world that allows users to sort out their images, edit them and share them wherever. So this Post is for Aperture users, or maybe this gets you interested to try Aperture if you havnt before.

I love the vintage look. you know what? I love anything vintage! period! cars, dresses, jewelery, books, and now presets! This is my first attempt in making a vintage preset. I hope you like it

Download

Download

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Avant-Garde Bride!

Who knew that a 3 day intensive Photography workshop would have so much impact on me?! It’s been almost a week and I still dream of the day of the shoot. Amazing experience. Working with 12 amazing photographers, being in the most supportive team, top notch stylists, make up artists and models, Gawd! Where do I even start?
Since I am excited about the outcome and want to share everything here, I will get to the point! There were 3 locations, each team would be at one location. We had one day to plan our shoot. From make up and hair to the storyline. I wrote down my whole thoughts while in class, so you can read on what happened in my head, keep in mind you are reading my thoughts, so some of them may not make sense! :

“So here we are, I chose the VOI restaurant and they are saying it is french Vietnamese.
Well I do see the french in it. I went and googled it and the chairs in the pictures are defiantly vintage french chairs.
So vintage is the other word. The problem will be the costumes for vintage, defiantly wont workFrench Romance, ofcource romance is the perfect word for this room, but isnt that so typical? Am I gonna end up with images that will be like milions of other romantic french vintage images?
The other room that I loved and I am not in that group is the Voda bar which is like sci fi and the perfect theme is the Avant garde, how about I turn up my avant garde model in the vintage restaurant? Oh I like that!!
Lets seeAvant gardeGaga!Crazy, or classy?The room is black and white, should I go with colored theme? So I have that added color to my images? I think soAvant gardeAvant gardeAvant garde
Ok I need to google!
So this is not exactly what I was looking for…hmmm
Ok I found it.. While googling, it hit me how much I always wanted do a 18’s or 19’s shoot and this room is perfect for it.. Avant garde in 19’s in the french romantic room!!
Braiding- embroidery- laces – prints..Big lace would be nice.. ——————-but its not what I want.. What do I want?!!!
I am creating mood board right now on another document.. But there is something missing in this whole thing.. Oh wait.,  I know.. Concept!!!! I have no idea what my model will be doing there, she will look great but so what?
So here is the story, There is this girl, who is alone in the ballroom, she has a gorgeous dress on, but it is not your normal ballroom dress, its a bit crazy, her hair is also not in a normal way, so why is she in the ballroom? Its been her wedding day!!! …. Ok hold it../// I love this.. But this is not my story.. So lets change the whole thing
She is standing there with a smile, and she look mysteriously happy. She is wearing a not so typical dress with a crazy hairdo. Tomorrow is her wedding day!!! ( now we are talkin) – she has came to the place where she will have her first dance.. And there she is dancing alone, acting as if she is with him.. ( does that even make sense?)
She has laces.. On her hair, or on her face.. She is a very mysterious girl. But she is happy, I don want her to be upset and lonely!
Then she will sit behind a table/// looking at room with glory.. She is gonna have fun tomorrow.. She is sipping a glass of wine ( cherry juice for us!)
She is twirling and just being happy… There is this leather board there in restaurant, I will defiantly have her there for some shots and there is where I wanna emphasize how mysterious she is. With that naughty smile of hers..
She also can be sitting and thinking about future, so tomorrow she will marry him, what will happen next?
Yes yes.. I have the idea.. I need a miiiiiiiicrophone! One of those classic ones. Let me just google for a sec!
So I googled it.. Its called radio microphone. I just have to find it in real life!
Alrite, class is finished, off I go to karama to find laces and microphone!—-”
Now you know what was happening in my head!

now here is the moodboard if u are interested to see what was the plan – moodboards are what I want to happen in the shoot. they are inspiration for me and make up artist and stylist, becuase they are not in my head so how would they know?

mood board

and now here is the big finale! The Outcome:

 

 

Thank you Claire Rosen, for a fantastic experience and for teaching me exactly what I needed. Thank you GPP for another successful event. and Thanks for everyone who participated.

Special Thank you to my Friend, Nafiseh, who took care of my son the whole day ( till 8 pm!!!) so I can attend GPP love you girl <3!

And thank YOU for stopping by