Joshua Komanapalli Blog

Jinu and Leah’s Christian Wedding in Cochin, Kerala

josh — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:00:18 +0000

I was honored to be asked to shoot Jinu and Leah’s awesome wedding in Kerala. To this day, I have to say this wedding has been the most fun I’ve had at a Christian Wedding in India.

All the single ladies tie Rakhi's to signify Jinu coming off the Market.

Vinu and his Wife (professional dancers and friends of the couple) danced up a storm

Josh Komanapalli is an American wedding and lifestyle photographer specializing in photojournalism. Able to travel around India, jaipur, udaipur, rajasthan, kovalam, cochin, Indonesia, bali, australia, thailand, maldives, and sri lanka for weddings.

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Rox + Jeff Christian Wedding in beautiful East Lansing

josh — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 06:30:16 +0000

I first met Rox and Jeff back in 2000, I neither had a camera strapped around my neck (like I do these days) or was I interested in pursuing photography as a profession. I met her as a friend of my future brother in law and as time passed, our friendship grew. With my brief (snow – yuck) stay in Chicago for 4 months in 2006, I got to know Jeff and Roxana. Jeff and I even crashed a few polish consulate parties then

Roxana, emailed me and asked me if I was free to shoot on June 4th, 2011 right after she got engaged! She loved looking at my photos and said she wanted me as she was able to see that I capture emotion and the joy that she saw in my photos. Her wedding also happened to be on my wedding day but Jess (wife) was gracious enough to let me fly to the US to shoot the wedding. As an international destination wedding photographer I was more than thrilled to fly to Michigan for the wedding.

Jeff, I was hoping to see the malibu at your wedding and was really really hoping to get a shot of you and the posse in downtown detroit with some pitbulls and a chained fence…

Oh well, you’re not that Gangsta after all with cute little dogs on your side.

Looking forward to seeing some babies soon! And that pixie dust worked after all, Jeff looks good in these photos!

Check out this amazing wedding dress!

Josh Komanapalli is a wedding and lifestyle photographer specializing in photojournalism based in India. Able to travel around India, jaipur, udaipur, rajasthan, kovalam, cochin, Indonesia, bali, australia, thailand, maldives, and sri lanka for weddings.

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Published – Yo! Vizag

josh — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:03:40 +0000

Big thank you to Shilpa from Yo! Vizag magazine for requesting me to shoot the cover for their Bridal edition for the summer. It was a joy to work with Shilpa and Ipshita (model). my team had so much fun shooting the early morning shoot. The model was a breeze to work with, I didn’t have to say a word!

Assistance: Samson Jacob, Sean Pachigalla, Vincent King, Sagi Devadas, Ramesh.

You can download the PDF here.

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Akanksha + Ashish Marwari Wedding in Hyderabad, India

josh — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:00:30 +0000

Super excited to blog about the preview of Akanksha + Ashish’s wedding in Hyderabad. Akanksha and Ashish are both from the US, and lucky for me, they found me over the interweb like many of my Brides. She called me up one day and we spoke in depth about what she and Ashish wanted for their wedding. She and I hit it off really well considering we both loved Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers. What was puzzling was that Ashish was a Celtic fan… Yes I know, but this couple was really made for each other. They both went together well like peas and carrots.. Guess some mash can be the wonderful family and friends that they had come down to India for the wedding.

A big thank you to Ashish’s brother Ankur for pulling some major work to get me in the fold!

They held their Sangeet at the Park hotel and their Wedding at the Novotel Convention Center in Hyderabad.

Enjoy the photos!

This one is one of my favorite images, thought I’d post it at the end.

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Sean + Rhoda!

josh — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 16:28:40 +0000

I’ve known Sean for around 14 years, we went to school together and probably did lots of things that can’t really be put up here! I was honored to have gotten the chance to cover his wedding. Big thanks to Samson Jacob for shooting and assisting me.

It seems only fit that I start my Wedding photography in Hyderabad in 2011 with a friend!

Here’s a little glimpse of the shoot the day after the wedding along the beaches of India! Timeless, clean and classic.

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Workshop recap + Vizag

josh — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:29:57 +0000

Had a great time teaching the basics of photography in Hyderabad on the 15th of January, 2011. The attendees were like a sponge and absorbed every bit of information I was passing along and some even drove over 500km to come! Thanks guys, it is humbling to see how much you crave learning.

Here are a few shots from the workshop that Sunil Kumar Sudhakar shot. – Thanks Sunil!

I even had to model for a bit to explain how to properly expose for backlit subjects.. Think I might need to find someone more attractive to shoot

Here’s mr Google himself Lovell do check out his photography. He likes to shoot weddings.

This one’s by me – showing how to – EV (compensate negatively)

The Workshop in in Vizag will be offering the same, (click on link to see details of what it offers).

The Location is yet to be decided but the date of the beginners workshop is the 5th of February, 2011. Looking forward to seeing more eager learners soon!

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Beginners Photography Workshop in Hyderabad.

josh — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:03:19 +0000

Happy New year! – I’m very excited to announce the start of my workshops for 2011. First stop, Hyderabad. 15th of January, 2011. 10am

Location: Flat # 101, Tagore Residency, Shilpa Park, Kondapur, HYD – 81. For questions on directions, please contact Vasudev at 90004 56702

Price: Rupees 1000.

Limited to 20 people to give personal attention, so Hurry reserve a seat!

Topics to be covered.

1. Understand metering, camera meter’s capabilities and limitations.

2. Exposing a photograph properly, everytime.

3. How to get beautiful colors to pop out of your images. (Setting White Balance)

4. How to make noise in your images look beautiful.

The day will start out with time to meet everyone and discuss photography in general. Will get into the technical aspects of photography (Aperture, Shutterspeed and ISO) and how understanding them will give you the ability to make any image you want.

We will then break for lunch and then cover remaining topics with practical hands-on demonstration.

What you need to bring with you.

Pen and paper optional. a willingness to learn and ask questions a must.

If you are interested, please drop me an email at info@joshuakomanapalli.com

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Amulya

josh — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 03:18:34 +0000

Had the opportunity to shoot Amulya a few months ago. She’s a sweet shy girl, with a gentle spirit. Have a peek and enjoy the images.

If you are interested in a shoot, drop me a line at info@joshuakomanapalli.com

Big thank you to Spurgeon M. Pachigalla for assisting me.

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I need that

josh — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:03:53 +0000

As photographers, most of us have been through this. Wanting all the gear we can get our hands on so we can make life easier for ourselves (or tougher if you have to carry it all with you).

I was speaking to a photographer who I mentor as he was going through the same motions then asking to borrow some equipment. To be perfectly honest, remember wanting to try out or use gear that I didn’t own yet. But I also remember telling myself that I need to get used to shooting with what I equipment I had then, so if there ever was a situation that forced me to shoot with less than optimal equipment, I’d be ready and confident in being able to do so.

I do hope this protege of mine (as well as all of you) can one day get all that he wants/needs but I also hope that he can become a better photographer before taking the plunge.

I’ll end with a shot you may have seen already – its a shot I took at the capitol in DC with my iPhone.

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Bharatanatyam + The American Accent

josh — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:04:39 +0000

I was sitting on the couch, burping Bella (new born) and I noticed that the TV was on with some old reruns of the sitcom Friends. I usually grab the remote and turn the TV off normally but I didn’t.

Memories of my first days watching Friends came back to me. I was a teen, when I arrived on American soil to live. I had come earlier as a child but it was to visit and I loved America, truly the land of milk and honey or an abundance of toys, which was my milk and honey. I remember arriving on Saturday the 8th of August at 8pm in 1998. We picked up our bags and had to take a bus to Disney Land from LAX.

I remember a couple of days later, Dad leaving to drop my sister off at Clearwater Christian College in Tampa and I had some free time before High School started for me. I made use of the time by watching TV like any other teen. As I used to watch I noticed that the sound on the TV wasn’t foreign anymore as everyone else around me had the same sound the same cool sound. Yes it was the American accent, I didn’t have it, and I wanted it baad, verrry badd. I remember practicing (in front of the mirror in the bathroom, so I wouldn’t look stupid doing it outside in public) saying words in an American accent and seeing how my tongue would have to change its normal way of doing things to make it sound American, and yes it was a lot cooler than the mutt (Indian, british etc) accent I had that I picked up at my days at Hebron. It took me a while but I eventually (over time) got the hang of it and was able to pull it off without a hitch. I then had to learn slang as I figured out that sawing logs really didn’t mean someone was cutting up wood in the back (thanks Wendy!)

I slowly became accustomed to the American way of life, learning from my mistakes as I went along (driving 100mph on interstate 5 is reason enough to get a nice $800 ticket and a suspended license, thank God I wasn’t arrested).

America helped me become me, to question and come to a decision for myself without following blindly, because that was what was expected of an Indian boy. I also remember the difference American schools made for me, they made me think, not memorize unlike my Indian school I attended after my days at Hebron.. ahh Hebron, why… Nevermind, I’ll save that for another day..

So like an average man, I never wanted to go back to India, not to live anyways. It literally took an act of God to be honest to get me to leave the comfort, the organized way of life to get me to go there – but here I am, going, happily.

In closing, here’s a few shots I took of Drasti Panchal, a beautiful woman in every sense of the word and an amazing Bharatanatyam dancer. She is also the Associate Artistic Director at the Sa Dance Company.

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