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| Cover image by Yasmin Tajik |
Showing posts with label shalimar studios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shalimar studios. Show all posts
Mar 31, 2011
My Personal Journey as a Photographer
By Yasmin Tajik of Shalimar Studios
South Asian Wedding Photographer
My parents were born and raised in Pakistan. My mother is from Lahore, a large urban city in the Northeast, and my father is from the tribal town Bannu in the Northwest. Over 45 years ago they migrated to Minnesota, where I was born and raised along with my 4 siblings. Being raised in Minnesota and coming from a different ethnicity definitely had its challenges, however those events have made me who I am today as a person and as a photographer.
Growing up, I was constantly singled out being in the minority with brown eyes and dark skin amidst a community of Norwegian decent where blond hair and blue eyes were dominant. Like many children, I often looked at my appearance and culture and wanted to distance myself from it because I was different and wanted to fit in, but I could never do it. That would have required me to disown my heritage, ethnicity and my family. Over the years I learned to embrace what made me different from my friends and celebrate the uniqueness of my culture and heritage.
As I ventured through life I found myself drawn to experiences and imagery that represented cultural differences. I cherished learning more about other cultures through international travel, and sought out experiences where I could learn more about others, their family history and heritage. I knew everyone had a story and finding out theirs, was always an adventure for me to learn more about who they are. Their stories fascinated me and taught me to appreciate everyone’s journey.
It wasn’t until I saw Steve McCurry’s iconic image of the Afghani girl on the cover of National Geographic [here] that I experienced the impact of an image of someone from my own culture. The girl wasn’t the typical blond model, perfectly coiffed or styled. Her piercing eyes spoke volumes of her torment as a refugee, her tattered clothes represented her limited daily choice in clothing and food options. But most of all, it was a beautiful and striking image of someone from my own culture. It represented beauty in the darkness of the Afghanistan war, and made me stop in my tracks. The image was simply breathtaking and I saw beauty where no makeup artist or stylist could recreate, and that is what started my personal journey utilizing my photography.
Since starting my studio 2 years ago, I’ve been blessed with meeting so many wonderful clients who I’m proud to now say are friends. Each person has a story, each family has a history, and I pride myself on the fact that I am here to photographically document my client’s lives and heritage for future generations to cherish. But there was something else I needed to do with my photography. I needed it to share with others the beauty within my own culture. To open the eyes of those around me to something shunned in a world of terrorist attacks, discrimination, fear and hatred towards a culture I know so differently. And now I’ve been deeply drawn to using my photography to document and share with the world beautiful images of people from my own culture, just like Steve McCurry did for me.
My studio name, Shalimar Studios, is in honor of the famous Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. And in honor of my culture, I purposely set out to specialize in photographing South Asian families, weddings, engagements and events. My goal is to share with the world the beauty I see in my culture, in my people and seen all around the world. Beyond it having a personal connection to my own culture, it also feverishly feeds my soul in no other way that I can describe. Having the ability to show others beauty where we typically don’t associate it, is groundbreaking. It feeds my soul and rejuvenates my spirit. The magic, message and impact of the images I strive to create, transcends any language or cultural difference. And that is something beautiful.
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South Asian Wedding Photographer
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Photo by Pet'ographique |
Growing up, I was constantly singled out being in the minority with brown eyes and dark skin amidst a community of Norwegian decent where blond hair and blue eyes were dominant. Like many children, I often looked at my appearance and culture and wanted to distance myself from it because I was different and wanted to fit in, but I could never do it. That would have required me to disown my heritage, ethnicity and my family. Over the years I learned to embrace what made me different from my friends and celebrate the uniqueness of my culture and heritage.
As I ventured through life I found myself drawn to experiences and imagery that represented cultural differences. I cherished learning more about other cultures through international travel, and sought out experiences where I could learn more about others, their family history and heritage. I knew everyone had a story and finding out theirs, was always an adventure for me to learn more about who they are. Their stories fascinated me and taught me to appreciate everyone’s journey.
It wasn’t until I saw Steve McCurry’s iconic image of the Afghani girl on the cover of National Geographic [here] that I experienced the impact of an image of someone from my own culture. The girl wasn’t the typical blond model, perfectly coiffed or styled. Her piercing eyes spoke volumes of her torment as a refugee, her tattered clothes represented her limited daily choice in clothing and food options. But most of all, it was a beautiful and striking image of someone from my own culture. It represented beauty in the darkness of the Afghanistan war, and made me stop in my tracks. The image was simply breathtaking and I saw beauty where no makeup artist or stylist could recreate, and that is what started my personal journey utilizing my photography.
Since starting my studio 2 years ago, I’ve been blessed with meeting so many wonderful clients who I’m proud to now say are friends. Each person has a story, each family has a history, and I pride myself on the fact that I am here to photographically document my client’s lives and heritage for future generations to cherish. But there was something else I needed to do with my photography. I needed it to share with others the beauty within my own culture. To open the eyes of those around me to something shunned in a world of terrorist attacks, discrimination, fear and hatred towards a culture I know so differently. And now I’ve been deeply drawn to using my photography to document and share with the world beautiful images of people from my own culture, just like Steve McCurry did for me.
My studio name, Shalimar Studios, is in honor of the famous Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. And in honor of my culture, I purposely set out to specialize in photographing South Asian families, weddings, engagements and events. My goal is to share with the world the beauty I see in my culture, in my people and seen all around the world. Beyond it having a personal connection to my own culture, it also feverishly feeds my soul in no other way that I can describe. Having the ability to show others beauty where we typically don’t associate it, is groundbreaking. It feeds my soul and rejuvenates my spirit. The magic, message and impact of the images I strive to create, transcends any language or cultural difference. And that is something beautiful.
Feb 7, 2011
10 Tips For Better Portraits
By Yasmin Tajik of Shalimar Studios
Here are some of my favorite tips to share with clients for stunning portraits, whether it be a portrait session, or your wedding. Read through these ten tips and use them as a guideline and starting point when you contact us for your consultation. We want to learn as much as possible about you and your style so that we can make this a fabulous experience for you!
Read more >>
Here are some of my favorite tips to share with clients for stunning portraits, whether it be a portrait session, or your wedding. Read through these ten tips and use them as a guideline and starting point when you contact us for your consultation. We want to learn as much as possible about you and your style so that we can make this a fabulous experience for you!
10 Tips for Better Portraits
1. Cut/color your hair at least 2 weeks before your portrait session or wedding. This allows for more of a natural look with a little regrowth, rather than a freshly cut look in your images. Remember, we still want the images to look like you naturally, not as if you just got up from your stylist's chair.
1. Cut/color your hair at least 2 weeks before your portrait session or wedding. This allows for more of a natural look with a little regrowth, rather than a freshly cut look in your images. Remember, we still want the images to look like you naturally, not as if you just got up from your stylist's chair.
2. Drink a lot of water the entire week before your session for flawless skin. This is a Red Carpet secret in Hollywood, as you'll often see starlets downing bottles of water in the week prior to any appearance. Utilize this tip by keeping your skin hydrated for a beautiful glow for your portrait session. Trust me, even your MAC makeup will look better and stay on longer.
3. Get plenty of sleep the night before. Nine hours is ideal.
4. Have your hair and makeup professionally done the day of your session or wedding. This is one way to let the experts play up your best features while making you still look like yourself. Trust expert hair and makeup stylists such as Your Beauty Call or Hera Beauty who know what will make you look your best and who also know what photographs the best.
5. Dress head to toe. Full length images will show everything, and shoes speak volumes of you and your style, so don't forget to bring those fabulous Christian Louboutins or Jimmy Choo heels!
6. Have a theme in mind that represents you through your clothing style. We work with a few select stylists and they have wonderful ideas on how to create the perfect outfit to showcase your personal style through accessories, props, or anything that may be of importance to you and your fiance or family. Ask yourself, is your style modern, chic, bohemian, glamorous, sporty or edgy?
7. After choosing the theme that reflects your personal style, schedule your consultation with us so that we can choose the perfect location for you. If you're bohemian, we may suggest shooting in a field of tall grass. If you're modern, we may suggest shooting amongst contemporary buildings or offices. And if your edgy, we might suggest shooting in the Arts District. Together we'll pick the perfect backdrop for your personalized and unique session.
8. Look through magazines for inspiration and brings clippings with you to your consultation. Knowing ahead of time what style, poses and overall feeling you are attracted to, helps us better understand how to capture similar moments for you.
9. Choose the time of day very carefully. The time of day is crucial when shooting on location. The golden hour is 1 hour after sunrise or 1 hour prior to sunset. That is the best light of the day and will only enhance your portraits with soft, beautiful lighting. Shooting midday usually is very harsh lighting with high contrast between highlights and shadows, thus producing unpleasant images. Make a commitment to schedule your session during these key periods of the day.
10. Have fun! The most important aspect is to walk way from the session energized and excited to see the end result. I want you to have a wonderful experience knowing you just had images captured of artwork you will cherish for generations.
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