Hi everyone and welcome back to my list of memorable photography projects of 2018. In a previous post here you've probably read about two of them - Travel Photography of 2018 and Outdoor Family Photo Days. Hope you've enjoyed the photos and found some inspiration for 2019 :) Here I'm going to tell you about another two projects I've been lucky enough to work on that were close to my heart and brought everyone involved lots of fun, joy and happiness (including horses). Want to know more? Keep reading...

I call this project Girls and their Horses, but it is so much more... It's a story of a few amazing animals (by the way, did you know that horses are my favorite animals?) that truly are living art forms that remind us of the natural wonders of the world, story of quite a few great girls who learn horseback riding at a local equine school and one wonderful woman who made it all happen. One thing I am now sure of is that those lucky ones who have experienced a friendship with a horse truly understand the meaning of a friendship as it is. Ok, you've came here for pictures and not my reflections, so here they are!

And here is a wonderful woman, a mother, an accomplished equestrian and a great person who teaches, cares and loves everything about her work here at the riding school. I respect Lisa for her commitment to educating both horses and riders, it was quite obvious to me that she provides top quality equine education and believes in developing well-rounded equestrians with a focus on horsemanship and safety. It's been a great pleasure to work with her and I'm very grateful we met and got to work together. 

Unforgettable experience of capturing those multifaceted relationships full of mutual respect, adoration and love between children and those magnificent, powerful animals left myself feeling accomplished and served as a wonderful confidence booster, as if it was me who climbed onto horses' backs in order to achieve greatness... Just brilliant. 

Next chapter of this post will be vibrant, colorful, full of tastes, smells and sounds (even though it's only photos), smiles and hugs, and quite a few great moves! This is my personal story of meeting great people at a right time, resulting in marvelous life-long memories, new friendships and of course picturesque photos. So, everyone, welcome to my Indian Immersion.

It all started a year ago when I met this wonderful family of three: Swati, Nirav and Arush. We had a fun Christmas photo shoot and later on they've invited me to capture the Griha Pravesh ceremony at their new home. This was the first time I've ever visited an Indian traditional celebration, not to mention I had to take photographs and video there too. It was a wonderful experience that literally took me to India for a few hours that day, and I'll never forget it. Remember I thought: "Wow, how cool it is to be able to visit such vibrant and authentic events here in Switzerland! I wish I could do it more often..." I suppose there's been a star falling down from a sky at that moment 'cause my wish did come true very soon! 









In a few weeks after the Griha Pravesh ceremony I've met Stuti. She turned out to be this bright, cheerful, spirited and vivid person everyone needs to have as a friend, myself included. Apart from her full-time job, Stuti also works as a dance teacher with both children and adults, organizes occasional workshops and even concerts! So, this is how I've discovered Bollywood dance. During the year I've been invited to capture five dancing events organized by her and I enjoyed every single minute of it. Will see what 2019th bring us, my friend!














And then the summer came and I've met Sreelatha. I was invited to capture their family event, and unfortunately the timing was not good since I've been booked for a baptism ceremony on the same day, so I said no. But somehow Sreelatha convinced me to join anyways, and I was really afraid I'm not gonna make it since these events took place in different towns (even cantons!) and I don't drive a car! I did manage to capture it all eventually, and I did it twice actually since Sreelatha had organized another family event in November, and I'm very happy I got to visit both of them. In a few words it was her son's 16th birthday celebration (both times), including traditional Indian rituals, music, dancing, food and about 220 guests in total! Simply amazing, that's how it was.










Now, I have to admit that over the year I've become a huge fan of Indian culture - so vibrant, so colorful, alluring, many-sided and alive... And even though I've not yet traveled to India itself, I was lucky to get a glimpse on it in 2018, lucky to meet so many beautiful people (that became my friends eventually) and I have a strong feeling that whenever I'll discover India I most certainly will be welcomed there.

That's it for today. So far I've told you about the four photography projects of the past year that I enjoyed the most, and in the next post you'll find out about the big "Project X" that was really special and particularly close to my heart. Stay tuned and have fun!