"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary." - Aaron Rose
Hi! I'm Symmadar, a Walnut Creek, CA-based wife and momma specializing in distinct, authentic, and candid photography that captures both precious milestones and magical everyday moments. I create images that invoke heartwarming emotions and tell vivid stories of family, childhood, and everything in between. With that, what you’ll find here will be a bit more personal.
Below, I’ve created a visual story collection highlighting what our family is all about. Through intentional moments captured in time, you too can bring your loved one’s unique story to life, never forgetting what matters most—family.
December
I'M AN ORIGINAL CATCHPHRASE
Dec' 18
30
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In December, since we travel back home for the holidays, we wanted to focus on our roots, giving Cairo a glimpse of where we came from. I met my husband, Justin, my freshman year of high school. He walked into my classroom performing a snippet from the upcoming play, Oedipus Remix. He was the play rap-narrator and his presence immediately caught my attention. To get closer to him, I decided to join the step-dance team that would also be performing in the play. My plan started to pay off as we began to spend time after school together becoming a couple. Fast forward to a few breakups and makeups, we made up for the final time in 2015 when we got married, moved to California, and later birthed our little prince, Cairo. With Cairo being born in our adopted California home, we decided to take him around and show him one of the places that made Brooklyn so special to us, the notorious Dumbo.
January
Jan' 19
14
In January, we wanted to focus on connecting more to the very reason we decided to move across the states. Every summer growing up, I used to visit my aunt who lived in Southern California. We’d venture off to places like Laguna Beach, Venice Beach, and Orange County. When we weren’t visiting places, we'd hang out in her complex spending hours in the pool. I was so amazed that she literally had a pool in what I considered her backyard that I decided when I grew up, I too was going to have the same thing. Five years ago, I started applying for jobs in California and landed a role in San Francisco. I thought, “It’s California, it’s all the same!” WRONG! The first time we came to San Francisco was to find an apartment for the job I had already accepted. Finding out then that it was quite a way from my aunt, we figured let’s just do it and eventually find our way down there permanently. Now that we’re more of a drive and less of a flight away, we take more frequent trips to see her and explore parts of the city that we haven’t experienced together before. The Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory were on that list.
March
Mar' 19
24
On March 24th, 2018 a prince by the name of Cairo was born so this shoot was inspired by the gift of life. Exactly one year and one day ago today, we were planning a “last dinner” for the two of us before our son arrived after my weekly check-up. I walked into the hospital with two weeks left before his expected arrival and was admitted into the delivery unit. My blood pressure was high and it wouldn’t go down. Safer out than in they said. Not wanting to let go of our “last dinner” plans, we found a fancy restaurant and ordered four-course meals for takeout. We listened to music, danced, ate, lit candles, and labored in the delivery room, giving birth to the most beautiful gift we had ever received the next morning at 5:53 am. And then there were three.
November
Nov' 19
16
After three days in the house sick from a viral infection, the family was beginning to catch a case of cabin fever. Hoping some fresh air would help but still fearful of him getting too excited and becoming even sicker, we found an empty park nearby. Surely this would be a nice calm walk we thought. Nope! As soon as Cairo's feet hit the ground, he took off! We didn't set out to capture anything in particular but this turned out to be one of my favorite images of all time. This magical everyday moment taught us that children are resilient individuals with a thirst for life. Regardless of what they're going through or where they are, they're going to remain optimistic and figure out a way to just have fun. We would all be wise to take a chapter out of that book.