Photography and me

Deepak — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:24:52 +0000

I had been interested in photography ever since my school days, though I could never afford myself a camera. Thanks to my dad, I got to handle some simple old cameras, which helped me learn the basics of photography and framing. Though I was too clumsy when in school, soon I learned to make nice photos, and could take shots better than my friends in college.

My dad was a photo enthusiast too. He was a talented artist also. I got inspired by his photographs, and that is what essentially dragged me into photography. My dad got himself an old Yashica film SLR camera with advanced settings when I was in school (I seriously don’t remember the name of the camera. He got a used one for Rs.8000, an was proud of his prized possession). He never allowed me to use the camera. I used to covet his possession, and got to lay hands on it on a special day at school when I could take it to a school function. I took some nice pictures with lot of enthusiasm, hoping to see colorful images in print. But when I returned the camera to my dad, he found out that I had somehow mishandled the camera, and there was a battery leak, which led the camera into serious malfunctions. Also the pictures I shot never came out. Since then, I had to abandon my interests, and be happy posing for photographs, but not take them, until after college, when I started working and could afford a camera.

When I worked for Digibee in Chennai, I got myself a Nikon Coolpix L3 and shot day and night. I got a name as a decent photographer (using a point and shoot) among my friends. (Some sample here). It was all in framing the photograph, and the angles you use, since the point and shoot will take care of everything else. You had very little to control. However there was a problem in low light shooting with the Nikon. The images used to be dangerously blurred, and using flash was a disaster in it.

In September 2007, I moved to Bangalore to join ARM, when I sold my Nikon to get myself a new Canon Powershot A430, which was still a point and shoot (I still did not know much about the SLRs. Also, SLRs were beyond my reach). I started using the new Canon everywhere in Bangalore, which was much better than the old Nikon, and I could take better shots with this.

It was then that I got a chance to see some of Arun Anna’s shots in Flickr. They looked very impressive. I was inquisitive and found out that he shoots using his Canon Powershot S3, which is a advanced point and shoot. When I talked to him, I got more interested in pursuing photography. Now, I could also afford an SLR, so, I started searching over to get myself an advanced point and shoot, or an SLR. One fine day, I decided to go and buy an SLR, no matter what.

That is how I landed on the Nikon D80, which I purchased in June 2008. Since then, I have shot a lot of photographs using my terrific equipment. Though I got only the 18-135mm kit lens along with the camera, it has been of immense help in getting myself acquainted with the tricks of exposure and framing till now.

Going forward, I look to get more involved in street photography, and if possible, some wildlife expeditions with good lenses. But for now, I am still a learner in the big world of photography. Take a look at some of my shots here.

Amusingly Simple » Photography

Photography and me