Engagement Session Part II & III Shuchi and Ari.

A fab engagement session ending at the Magnificent BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Stafford, Houston.  

Engagement Session Part 1; Shuchi Desai and Ari Reddy.

I have been wanting to post these images for a while now, and finally got to it on the weekend of Shuchi and Ari's wedding.  The festivities begin today.  Very excited to be honored with the task of photographing their BIG day!

Piazza della Signoria, Florence; Italy

The Loggia dei Lanzi - Restoration on  Giambologna's The Rape of the Sabine Women

Serenata, The Serenade, Rome; Italy.

The serenade.  It is common for the man to serenade the woman before he proposes marriage to her.  He either performs the serenade himself or enlists the help of his musically-inclined friends.  Often he will ask her father for his daughter’s hand in marriage before proposing to her.

Paolo & Paola, our friends from Roma, took us to their friend's Serenade.  It was in a small town, about an hour from Rome.  While the Groom serenades his Wife-to-be, with classic Italian tunes, a friend takes up a single red rose to her.  When she throws the rose off the balcony to her love below, she has accepted his proposal.  Ahhh Love...

Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

Colder Weather - Zac Brown Band

If you haven't heard it yet, it's time you did.  Never usually put music up, but couldn't resist this one.

Getmarried.com

Denise & Kenneth, Hotel Zaza, Houston, Texas.

Just joined Getmarried.com have a look and please pass it on!

http://www.getmarried.com/local-wedding-vendors/Houston_East_Texas/Photographers/weddings-by-alefiya/

Carlos & Crytal - Engagement Session Houston, Texas

It was my second shoot with Crystal & Carlos before there wedding. Had a fun filled day first at the Cockrell Butterfly Center and then at one of the few remaining drive-in Cinema's in Texas.

Winning entry for Black & White Spider Awards - Harini for KT Brown

http://www.thespiderawards.com/gala/index.php

Photography - Alefiya Akbarally
Location - Helga's Folly; Kandy
Designer - KT Brown

Make-up - Jacquie Mei (The Make Up Box)

Hair - Nimal Abeysiriwardana

Models - Harini Jayaweera & Shelomi Obeyesekere

Remembering...The Price of a Picture.

Deaths of Photographers Hetherington and Hondros Up Stakes in Libya - Newsweek

Muslim schoolgirls play on the seashore in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Photograph: Christian Aid/Tim A Hetherington

Annie, you did it again.

So its rarely I walk past the magazine racks at Target and gets stopped in my tracks. But this red headed bombshell just got me going. Was it the picture or the subject? I think it was the perfect marriage of both.

Annie Leibovitz photographed Rihanna for this months issue of Vogue. Her images were so manufactured yet raw. Much like Rihanna. I love how Annie, who emerged with The Rolling Stones in the 70's can become so intimate with someone who is defining the pop-culture of today. A career spanning 40 years, so consistent and brilliant.

Of course its an ode to the photographer and the photographed. The camera almost seems non- existent.

I need to find my rolling stone...

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R & R - Viva la Vida

For more images visit - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=118214744895126&aid=31559

Sunari & Adnan; Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka

For more visit - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31496&id=118214744895126&saved & http://weddingsbyalefiya.com

Farida and Adam; Family Portraits

Nanna's Helper; Malabe, Sri Lanka

Jared and Lisa - Bridal Shoot, Houston, Texas. Love like this is worth dying for!

For more on this shoot and others please visit www.weddingsbyalefiya.com and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alefiya-Akbarally-Photography/118214744895126.