I was able to attend a celebration of Diwali this year in Jacksonville.
I am extremely grateful to the many people there who welcomed me so warmly and shared a part of themselves with me - in many cases my images from that day did not do them justice at all.
To be open and trusting is often such a rare thing today - I am honored to have been able to see some of this celebration of renewal, of life, of a new beginning. I was given a tour which explained the meaning of the celebration - Diwali lasts for 5 days with the forth day (Padwa) marking the Hindu new year - each day commemorates a specific theme.
I love bright, colorful and shiny things and often focus my photograpy on them - you may notice that the women and girls completely dominated the images - they are powerful and grounded - and oh so colorful! I noticed that there is little white worn - I have to find out more about that - wonderful fabrics, jewlery - mostly purchased in India as clothes of this quality are difficult to find in the US.
I hope to be invited back to learn more about these people and their religion - the 1000 or so families in the greater Jacksonville area who attend this temple. They are part of this group - very interesting - I have to go there - soon!
I would appreciate any corrections to inaccuracies and ommissions of information that I have made - any mistakes are not meant to offend in any way - they simply demonstrate how little I know at this point.
My contact information is easily accessible at the top of this page - you may call me or email me (or if you still write letters my mailing address is there as well). Please drop me a note with your comments - I would love to hear from people and will write back to people if contacted.
Images are not placed in the order taken - and they may move around within the site from time to time. If referring to them please use the filename and not the sequence number - the filename will not change.
You are welcome to download these images from the site at no charge - to do this simply "BUY" them and you will be charged $0. If you print them from this site you will receive prints in the mail from an extremely good, high quality wedding printer that I use - MPIX. There are many sizes and options to chose from right on this site.
Alternately you may take your downloaded images to a pharmacy or other location and print them there.
You may post these images on Facebook, link to my site, email them, or do anything else in general with them for your personal use. Send them to your mother - she misss you and the children!
I would appreciate it if you would leave my logo on the bottom of them - I will remove it for you if you find it necessary.
If you have special needs for the images - want them larger, cropped, brightened or darkened, etc please just contact me and I will be happy to help. I can also do more creative editing as well - please just let me know. I will work on the originals in this case which have more data in them for the best results.
I would request the opportunity to make images with the people here - I have a studio in JAX Beach or will come to a site you select - my rates are published on the site here but I may be able to put group or specialty projects together if we discuss them. Please do not hesitate to contact me!
These images were made without the benefit of my studio lighting and all things considered I think they came out well - assuming you enjoy the quality and color - imagine how much nicer they would be with proper lighting!
I would especially love to experience and shoot Indian weddings and other ocassions for you - I would request the opportunity to discuss this with you when you are ready.
Again thank you very much - please invite me back for other events and festivals - at the temple and in other places as well.
Sincerely Michael
I am extremely grateful to the many people there who welcomed me so warmly and shared a part of themselves with me - in many cases my images from that day did not do them justice at all.
To be open and trusting is often such a rare thing today - I am honored to have been able to see some of this celebration of renewal, of life, of a new beginning. I was given a tour which explained the meaning of the celebration - Diwali lasts for 5 days with the forth day (Padwa) marking the Hindu new year - each day commemorates a specific theme.
I love bright, colorful and shiny things and often focus my photograpy on them - you may notice that the women and girls completely dominated the images - they are powerful and grounded - and oh so colorful! I noticed that there is little white worn - I have to find out more about that - wonderful fabrics, jewlery - mostly purchased in India as clothes of this quality are difficult to find in the US.
I hope to be invited back to learn more about these people and their religion - the 1000 or so families in the greater Jacksonville area who attend this temple. They are part of this group - very interesting - I have to go there - soon!
I would appreciate any corrections to inaccuracies and ommissions of information that I have made - any mistakes are not meant to offend in any way - they simply demonstrate how little I know at this point.
My contact information is easily accessible at the top of this page - you may call me or email me (or if you still write letters my mailing address is there as well). Please drop me a note with your comments - I would love to hear from people and will write back to people if contacted.
Images are not placed in the order taken - and they may move around within the site from time to time. If referring to them please use the filename and not the sequence number - the filename will not change.
You are welcome to download these images from the site at no charge - to do this simply "BUY" them and you will be charged $0. If you print them from this site you will receive prints in the mail from an extremely good, high quality wedding printer that I use - MPIX. There are many sizes and options to chose from right on this site.
Alternately you may take your downloaded images to a pharmacy or other location and print them there.
You may post these images on Facebook, link to my site, email them, or do anything else in general with them for your personal use. Send them to your mother - she misss you and the children!
I would appreciate it if you would leave my logo on the bottom of them - I will remove it for you if you find it necessary.
If you have special needs for the images - want them larger, cropped, brightened or darkened, etc please just contact me and I will be happy to help. I can also do more creative editing as well - please just let me know. I will work on the originals in this case which have more data in them for the best results.
I would request the opportunity to make images with the people here - I have a studio in JAX Beach or will come to a site you select - my rates are published on the site here but I may be able to put group or specialty projects together if we discuss them. Please do not hesitate to contact me!
These images were made without the benefit of my studio lighting and all things considered I think they came out well - assuming you enjoy the quality and color - imagine how much nicer they would be with proper lighting!
I would especially love to experience and shoot Indian weddings and other ocassions for you - I would request the opportunity to discuss this with you when you are ready.
Again thank you very much - please invite me back for other events and festivals - at the temple and in other places as well.
Sincerely Michael
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