The other day, I spent an hour in front of the camera rather than behind it. It was my very first proper photo session. The Man magazine wanted to crown me by getting a professional photographer to take my picture for their next issue. The occasion? I had won an international essay contest on The Rape of Nanking (you can read it on this blog). Though I had been taking pictures for the last many years now, I still got to learn a lot from photographer Bhanu Prakash Chandra. To begin with, what I assumed to be a 15-minute shoot took more than an hour. From a staid picture of me sitting on the staircase to raising my eyebrows and being naughty in front of the camera, I tried them all. And kept doing until Bhanu felt he had enough pictures to satisfy his boss. You can see some of the pictures in ‘About asterix786’ section.
Here is what I learnt from the photo session:
1. Lighting is everything. And one has to try out various angles, settings and postures to capture the Kodak moment.
2. Doing photography is about stretching your body all over the place: window sill, wardrobe, compound wall, underneath the chair… the list is endless.
3. You need to be yourself and also be game to pose in a variety of ways… you never know what the camera can capture. What you thought was the stupidest posture will turn out to be the best of the lot. Case in point: The shot where I wink at the camera was a beauty!
4. Photography is a never ending race to perfection! And that’s the thrill of it! So what are you waiting for? Grab a camera and go ‘click, click!’
