Category Archives: B’nai mitzvahs

Mazel Tov, Sophie!

Sophie celebrated her bat mitzvah yesterday along with her parents Neal and Amy and her sister Ella. It was an amazing day filled with the love and appreciation of two families brought together to celebrate this simcha. Many of Neal’s family traveled to Burlingame from Thailand, and that made the day even more special.

I edited together a piece of fusion photography combining still images and some videos shot with the Canon 5D Mark II. Notable about these videos is that they were mostly shot in extremely low light, and did not use any lighting or post-production adjustments. The equivalent ISO in some of these video pieces was as high as 5,000.

Please widen your window as large as it will go so you can see this video in its whole 720P high definition glory!

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Mazel tov, Sydney!

Sydney, her parents Jennifer and Scott, and her brother Justin, all celebrated her bat mitzvah this weekend. There was great “ruach” at all the various events that made up her bat mitzvah, including a rehearsal with Rabbi Nat and Bill at Beth Jacob, the actual shabbat service, and her massively fun party at the Elks’ Lodge. See for yourself in these photos!

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Mazel tov, Megan!

Megan and her family celebrated her bat mitzvah yesterday in Los Altos, California. The morning festivities included some family time, as well as the beautiful, melodic ceremony at Congregation Beth Am in the Los Altos Hills. Megan is an accomplished vocalist, in addition to being a student at a Jewish Day School, both of which combined to make this a very beautiful ceremony. Mazel tov to Megan and her family!











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A Priceless Bat Mitzvah Moment

We celebrated Lindsay’s bat mitzvah last night, and had a terrific time. I am rarely without my Canon 5D Mark II these days, because I find the ability to fuse my photography with little video moments to be invaluable. And here was such a moment.

Lindsay’s dad was at the microphone delivering a touching and fun tribute to his daughter when, out of nowhere, one of Lindsay’s little cousins provided a moment of comic (and sagely!) relief. Watch and listen here…

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Mazel tov, Rachel!

Young Miss Rachel celebrated her bat mitzvah today at Peninsula Temple Sholom along with her family and many friends. Rachel is the second child in her family whose b’nai mitzvah I’ve been asked to photograph. The first was her brother Nathan a while ago. It is a special thrill to be a part of a family’s Jewish history in this way. Here are some previews of coming attractions. Mazel tov!







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