Khatleen | Portrait Photographer

Waking up early when you went to sleep only two hours before, feels good. That I tell you, without irony. Honest! Jokes aside, I had a hectic September. I have not got time as expected to write anything on this blog of mine. But I thought I would catch up this morning, on the eve of two assignments' submission, two class tests at university and when I have photo editing work awaiting me. But hey, pictures are converting, I have some 30 minutes before they are done.

So about September. I can't really remember what shoots I did, let me check. Ah yes, after shooting a beautiful couple in August, this month I got to shoot another wonderful couple - Nurul and Azhar from Singapore. They met through their passion for kitesurfing and on the shooting day, I met them at the C Beach C Club in Bel Ombre. I was really happy upon meeting them, because it did not feel like I was meeting strangers. I did the make up there, and after that we took off to ride the west coast of Mauritius, from Bel Ombre to Flic en Flac. Stopping on the road to pose here and there, I had so much fun with this spontaneous shoot, that I even lost my reflector. Ha! I know, I can be so forgetful about my own stuffs at times. But oh well, who needs a reflector when the light is gorgeous and that you just got to know how to use it to your advantage. Here are a few shots I chose to post from Nurul and Azhar shoot. The rest will be posted when they have celebrated their wedding in Singapore.

Even under the rain, their love shines like the brightest sun !

Nurul, me and Azhar - souvenir picture :)

Now let's roll on with this September month. I shot a girl called Maja Galac (yes girls, the zumba instructor from Slovenia, I know you know her). Well, if there's one thing I can say about Maja is that she is a bubble of positive energy! Beautiful and funny! I met her after seeing a picture of her on my brother's profile (you always have to check the guys' Facebook to find girls....some stalker sister I am). So, I asked her if she would be okay to shoot with me someday. She thought at first it was a joke, but we got to do it. What I love about Maja were her eyes and blond hair! It really inspired me. While I had some crazy ideas about a futuristic shoot with her (because of the blonde hair), I could not find the accessories I needed for it, nor the clothes. It is so difficult to photograph your concepts when you do not have what it takes in terms of props to make it come true. So I resolved to colours! I chose to portray Maja in the streets against some shops' colours. It was pretty fun. Two girls at the crossroads where all cars stopped, they honked at us, we laughed and Maja blew them kisses. We made faces and had an awesome time.

Here are some pictures from the shoot. I have not finished the editing yet because I am busy unfortunately with work and university. But I promise after this week, I will be less busy and get going with these editing I have to do.

I also had the chance during this month of September to shoot the engagement of my friends Arvin and Khusboo. I've known them for a long time now and considering Arvin's sister is my childhood friend, I was just thrilled by the opportunity to shoot their engagement. I can't wait for the wedding to come now (though Arv and Khush, I'm saying, not pressing anyone :D ). Here are some pictures with the gorgeous couple and one of me and Karuna, my childhood friend.

Crazy girls - picture by Arvin

During the month of September, I also did numerous shoots that I have posted nowhere, because well, the pictures need to be published first by the magazines or the clients before I published them on my page, among other things. I cannot wait to post those pictures though. I have some shoots I did back in August that are still awaiting editing - like A Wild Elegance shoot (I have not posted all yet) - a second shoot I did with Laurent Laverdure, and others.

I also need to say I am happy that my work is being published in some magazines and blogs, thanks in particular to the talented designers Lionnet & Fauzou. The most recent publication featured my pictures from A Wild Elegance, on French magazine Marie Claire blog. Check it out here.

And of course, there are a few new additions to my portfolio on Vogue.it. I am almost all the time excited when PhotoVogue chooses a picture of mine. It does make me think hard about the pictures I take and try to make them better.

My Profile on PhotoVogue.

I am also on aboutmiami.co website: thanks to my Mermaid Dreams shoot:

Hopefully, by the end of the month of October I will have catch up with those shoots and get back to my normal routine. I have a few upcoming shoots with some great concepts I cannot wait to shoot. But stay tune with my Facebook page for the latest news!

Being a law student and being in love with photography are two hard things in a young adult's life. I am sometimes full of ideas, impatient to 'give birth' to them; and I am sometimes dying to meet up with my friends and share love and stories. Being who I am is not that funny; I am sometimes torn between a shoot and a lunch with my buddies and I choose client shoots over friends and try to make it up to my friends later on. It's hard because friends will say they have not been seeing you at all during the holidays. I was way too busy shooting all the time, or editing, or going to meetings, or sleeping in my bed because shooting so much, exhausted my batteries. But really, in the end there is no excuse to that. I definitely should make room for people I care about. Plus I have not been to PAPM meeting in months !!!

However, I should add that even with this busy agenda, I have met some amazing people and bonded with others. It is really an incredible feeling to have friends and people you can appreciate because they make you feel good and because they are just who they are.

I currently am in my third year at University and got started on dissertation. I'm motivated to do it properly. But I also have some crazy ideas for shoots I want to try through some nice collaborations with people in the field. But first, let me do a little recap of those personal shoots I posted on my page to date.

OF MAN:

This shoot was something I wanted to do for some time with a friend, who is not a model, but who I always thought got the most mesmerizing eyes I saw in a man. I always love models who got dark hair but pale eye colour. It gets me at all times.

LAURENT - PART I:

Shooting Laurent was not something I had planned at all. Fact is a friend Max Anish Gowriah told me that he was shooting Laurent alongside Karen "in some woods". He invited me to come. The feeling that day was good and when I get a good feeling, I definitely feel inspired to shoot. And true, after walking in bushes trying to find our way to THE spot, we started shooting and God, I was all captivated. Happy because a model like Laurent is a dream. He is as good as my friend Sean Craig and he is so thoughtful about his poses and does his best to give the right look and strike the right pose. It's all very natural I'd say in him. Here are some of the pictures from the shoot. But as soon as I find some more time, I will definitely post the rest of the session because there are amazing photos from this set that's still left to post. Plus I did a second shoot with Laurent and that has still yet to be edited.

That picture is on PhotoVogue! Check it out!

MAX & KANWAL - Colours in Paradise:

I met Max and Kanwal while I was shooting for En Mode: Magazine in Curepipe. They were interns at AIESEC and were visiting Curepipe with a friend, and they happen to come sightseeing just where I was. It was pretty funny the way I handle things from there. While shooting my model, we thought on set, why not call the guy [Max] back and ask him to pose with Sophie? It was nearly too late, they were already across the streets and walking away, and we were up above at Galerie des Iles (yelling might have seem a bit inappropriate considering we were next to a café). But thank God, I had the number of my friend and called him and told him to send Max up again. Max came up quick and we did a few shots with him and Sophie (model). Here's one:

And after that, I took Max' contact details and told him I would love to shoot him again before he goes back to Germany. We set up a shooting date quickly. But then he told me he would love a few pictures with a friend of his, and I thought why not shoot them both?! So we did. We met in Curepipe again. And Kanwal was there with Max, it was raining, clouds did not seem to be going away. Nonetheless we walked to the shooting spot. Luck? it had stopped raining. We did something very spontaneous and funny - they did faces and laughed and it all came together as a colourful and funny shoot. Kanwal was definitely full of resources and so full of energy. Max was Max, classy and composed. Cute? Yeah. They both were.

FILM NOIR:

It has been a long time I had my eye on Amelie. (don't get the wrong ideas lol) I wanted to shoot a red hair girl since so long, with freckles and all, but she was not the exact type of red hair girl I had in mind. But she was perfect for some other ideas. Amelie and Connie Lynn came to my place because I wanted to do a test shoot with her first to see really what she can give me. And I was most surprised by the great results. not only could she conjure such great face, she fitted perfectly when dressed up, and make up, in the "femme mystère" genre. We added round ray Bans sunglasses, my faux fur coat, and gosh, red lipstick ! She totally owned the look. I so loved the images I got with her. We tried on an old black coat with some other glasses, and bam! again, I got fantastic images. Here they are:

Another picture that found its way to my portfolio on PhotoVogue!

AMERICAN B&B / IMPROMPTU / PLAY TIME:

Delphine Dholah, you must know it by now, is my muse. I cannot put it any other way. Shooting her is like sitting in the kitchen at night, all by yourself, eating that jar of Nutella till there remains nothing! Except you don't get toothache over shooting her continuously. Delphine does what she does so naturally, with or without make up, she is a gorgeous sight and when she is in front of the lens, she does what you want without you having to say too much.

These 3-in-1 shoots were actually something I had not planned at all. Max was supposed to shoot Delphine, and I was to do the make up for him, which I did. But after that, something happened, And we were there both of us shooting her at a friend's place. We got some wonderful pictures having Delphine make faces in front of shelves full of teddy bears and toys. It was so colourful and funny! We went all crazy to the point of having Delphine wear a platinum blonde wig. YUSS! (Enhan like would say Max!)

For American B&B, we really were having breakfast. Delphine sat at the table next to Chloe Ip and I decided to take a few pictures. Feeling was good, I continued. The pictures came out great. Max brought in the Russian faux fur hat and put it on Delphine, it was just perfect!

Here are some pictures, the rest you can see them on my page and more is coming soon. The album Play Time is not yet completed yet.

American B&B