El Valle is a beautiful mountain town less than 3 hours drive from Panama City. Thanks to high altitude and proximity to the equator it is one of the few places privileged to enjoy spring  weather all year round.

I had a chance to visit el Valle accompanying Mathew Aftre of Lizzie Photography and to take photographs at a very colourful  Panamanian wedding.  Acting as a guest photographer I could skip the formal portraiture and focus on the most interesting part: wonderful fiesta and people’s emotions. I hope to be able to share at least a tiny  bit of the great time I was having there with my pictures!

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Lucie-Anne grew up in New York, Cleber is from Brazil. They live in Paris, but they decided to get married in Prague, the city of Lucie-Anne’s ancestors.

The ceremony took place in the catholic church of St. Joseph in Mala Strana, just next to the Charles Bridge. What made this wedding very special from my point of view was a fabulous Brazilian music played by a band that accompanied the couple during the ceremony in the church, on the way to the reception site (Restaurant Konírna) and then all over the evening.

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Saneesh Sukumaran was my assistant/second photographer during this assignment.

Narinder will be getting married in Wolverhampton, UK in April. I will have the honor of acting as a photographer during his wedding. Here is a small teaser: a couple of shots I took at the club Cathedrale, while Narider was visiting Prague with his family and friends and enjoying his last bachelor days.

Shooting an Indian wedding has been my long time dream, ever since I saw one in Singapore. I am really looking forward to April!

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Katya and Andrey from Saint Petersburg, Russia got married in Pushkin, near their home city and the very same day they flew to Prague to start their honeymoon week. They аre both fascinated with the gothic culture and their wedding was themed by the gothic style. I am very glad they chose me to create their wedding portrait as thanks to their great style and wonderful personalities these pictures are setting a new quality in my portfolio.

Sandy Hu, my assistant, helped enormously to deliver these images.

UPDATE:
My pictures of Katya and Andrei were featured in international wedding blogs and received euphoric feedback from the readers. Here are some examples:

http://www.weddingbycolor.com/labrumwedding/milestones/78067
http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2009/05/international-goth/

I spent most of 2002 and 2003 in Panama, participating in a student exchange program. I fell in love with this small tropical country and with its people. Panama has become my shelter from the cold European winters, I have been spending there a few weeks almost every year since.

Daysa was the one who picked me up from the airport the first time I arrived. After two years she participated in the same exchange program
in Mexico, where she met Jeroen. Because of Jeroen she moved to Holland. One day they both visited me in Prague and I took them a couple of pictures. They liked them so much that decided to appoint me as their wedding photographer. It was my shortest trip to Panama (six days), yet one of the most enjoyable.

The ceremony took place at Iglesia de San José in Casco Viejo (aka “Iglesia del Altar de Oro”), the reception was held at the Gamboa Resort.

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During this assignment I was assisted by Sandy Hu.