HERE'S TO LONGING | 51

//#51

photography by layli samimi and quotes by her & her loved ones; 
new piece up every friday. see all of them here.

mint tea

i've loved my friend radioinactive's music for a long time and when he came out with this video, i was so pumped to share it with you all. i love the appearances of my dear friend burt, asmar and alyssa as well - they kill it!!
this is the best music video i've seen in a long time. good work, kamal.

the love of my life w/ the loves of my life.

ahhhhhhhhhhh.

// photos obviously taken with janky phone cam //

fiona + bobby - 35mm pre-ceremony portraits

so the thing is, i've been blessed in my life with loads of sisters, by blood, by deep friendship & through marriage. i cannot even express to you how proud, grateful and over the moon i am about my newest, most beautiful sister, fiona.

my brother in law, bobby and fiona got married on a spectacular friday afternoon outside of malibu in a canyon. while i wasn't the hired photographer for the day, i of course shot with my beloved 35mm camera to provide fiona & bobby with these shots of their wedding day. all the shots were taken pre-ceremony and i adore each of them.

i hope these photos will in some ways, tide over the masses who are eagerly awaiting the amazing photographs by their hired wedding photographer, michael segal. i am so happy for fiona & bobby, and selfishly for baktash & i, as we now have another amazingly loving family to call our own.

raddest signage ever

that dress!! a girl after my own heart !

bobby + fiona portraits

the bride & lindsay

now that's a sharp looking couple, right there.

beauty.

fiona's radiant cousin kalinz + her daughter

right after the first look

the aazami brothers + bride

ADORE this shot - stunning bride & light

yeah, YOU!

one of my favorite shots of fi.

bobby + his boys

the sassy bride

the couple's first home! [small joke]

the baybeez before ceremony

right before ceremony

// CONGRATS TO THE SWEET COUPLE!!! ALL MY LOVE. XXXO.

> hey, dear readers, i know you've been following my blog for a while now, and i would love for you to also follow my photography facebook page - layli samimi photography. if you haven't already "liked" the page, please do so and pass on to your friends & family! 

please forgive me

dear readers, i won't be posting a HERE'S TO LONGING today, as its my brother in laws wedding day today. i'm sure you understand that i've not had a minutes time to prepare for my friday post. be well! > next week [and all the other fridays], will go back to the regular friday postings.

Central California Coast Getaway - Film Shots

i just got a roll of film developed from this past thanksgiving when we took my sister up the coast. these photos were taken with my cosmic smena symbol [old russian camera] and i quite like these shots. there is no viewfinder on the camera, so in that respect, its like a holga, where you are guesstimating the exact shot/focal point you're taking. hence, the crooked sky-scapes and horizons & out of focus subjects. but i still adore them nonetheless, and i hope you do too.

luckyducky

this has been an awesome month full of my most treasured beloveds coming to visit LA. i am the luckiest duckiest around. here are two portraits i took in the last couple days, of 2 of my most treasured people:

SSM

WLR

HERE'S TO LONGING | #50 - a special collaboration.

hello dear readers! this friday is different and special. my sweet buddy - and amazing artist - misha blaise [you must go to her website!!] wrote me a while back and sent me her beautiful buffalo artwork inspired by her family vacations to the badlands national park & the black hills national forest - in my beloved south dakota. she approached me asking if i wanted to collaborate with her on her beautiful piece with my poetry and quotes that i cultivate and produce for my friday HERE'S TO LONGING pieces. i was so touched and honored that misha asked me to collaborate with her and i feel like our work fits so perfectly together.

this piece is really close to my heart, because of how perfect and timely the collaboration is, and also because of my undying passion and love for the Lakota community in south dakota [& the significance of the buffalo to the Native People of the Dakotas], the golden prairies, the cornflower blue skies and the wind. oh the wind.

without further ado, i present to you the misha blaise/layli samimi collaboration which i am proud to say is awesome - AND is NUMBER 50 [!!] of my weekly HERE'S TO LONGING fridays:

//#50

insanely beautiful artwork by misha blaise and poem by layli samimi

new piece up every friday. see all of them here.

nineteen dayz

my dearest partner in crime, ryan lash and i collaborated for our fourth year on the beautiful and amazing project by Baha'i photographers from all over the globe who are observing the Baha'i month of Fasting [nineteendays.wordpress.com]. please keep up, as every day 2 new photographers are contributing their excellent goodness. here's ours, from yesterday:

word 'em up.

HERE'S TO LONGING | #49

// #49

photography by layli samimi and quotes by her & her loved ones; 

new piece up every friday. see all of them here.

oh, how i love thee!

| from his brand new album = swoonworthy for sure |

HERE'S TO LONGING | #48

// #48

photography by layli samimi and quotes by her & her loved ones; 

new piece up every friday. see all of them here.

// happy Ayyam'i'ha & happy fasting for Baha'is!

today is the last day of the Baha'i Holy day Ayyam'i'Ha, and tomorrow, we start our 19 day fast. you can read more about Ayyam'i'Ha on the Huffington Post here.

for those of you that are Baha'i, enjoy your last day of Ayyam'i'Ha and have a blessed Fast!

"Have patience - wait, but do not sit idle; work while you are waiting; smile while you are wearied with monotony; be firm while everything around you is being shaken; be joyous while the ugly face of despair grins at you; speak aloud while the malevolent forces of the nether world try to crush your mind; be valiant and courageous while men all around you are cringing with fear and cowardice."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Star of the West)