Binod & Becky: 08.21.10

Keep the shoes.

Fun, light-spirited Nepalese culture requires a groom to essentially buy the right to leave for home with a) his shoes, and b) his wife. Needless to say, Binod was more than willing to fork over the dough on Aug. 21 to "win" his newlywed bride, back from her sisters. Traditionally, the event takes place the day of the wedding, where the bride's sisters swipe the groom's shoes and ask for money if he wants them, and his wife, back. And the bargaining begins!

One of the highlights of the evening for receptions guests, it was thoroughly enjoyable from our vantage point to watch the show go down and the interaction between Binod and his cheerful, adoring sisters-in-law.

And if memory serves us correctly, he got his shoes back, finally, for 30 bucks.

No words.

Starting with the Miyasaki clan, whose pix we shot at Quail Ridge Park last night, we've got quite a few posts coming -- and soon (despite our recent hiatus!) ... Here's a quick sneak peek at some of the images taken just before dusk at our favorite park in town.

Variety of lenses, variety of cameras, variety of ISO settings, variety of lighting arrangements...

Sweet T(2)

Teagan's back! Less than five months ago, we met Justin and Amanda and their little bright-eyed girl, Teagan, and spent the morning with them inside their home. Round 2 took us to Forest Park, just above the World's Fair Pavilion -- a great place to shoot... [Sometimes, we love shooting inside, especially because of how surprised people get when they see their home through a camera lens. "Are you kidding me? I never would have imagined my house could be such a cool backdrop for a photo!" Yep; the genuine surprise factor is great. And then again, sometimes, we love shooting outside. Even in the middle of a St. Louis summer. This last week was one of those weeks.]

Do we prefer one situation over the other? Good question. Depends on the day or week, maybe.

Three of the above photos were shot with our trusty 50mm. One with a 70-200 zoom. Three mix daylight, shade and a splash of studio light. The other, if I remember correctly, was shot under ambient, diffused light only. Interested in more specifics? Just comment or email us. No secrets here.

expecting something...

A true sneak peek -- we're not even telling who this is! (Although many of you St. Louisans who read our blog [ps, thanks for reading our blog!] probably already know today's featured fam... More to come in the coming days. Busy, busy week!

Favorite memories from this shoot: a family of three who walked straight through our setup to feed the geese and getting honked at while shooting street-side!