“Every picture tells a story” –
such is a popular belief. But would
it be wrong to say that behind the making of every picture, there’s a story? I
guess not. Here I bring you the "behind the scene" stories of a few of my “by chance” pictures.
My new DSLR is exactly 2 months and 3 days old today. In this span, the shutter has been clicked, well… more than a
thousand times! Acting as my own critic, I have had few “Wow!!!” moments and mostly
“Nah… not good!!!” moments. Averaging to 16-17 shots per day, is not bad for a
beginner, watsay!?? I remember the time when I was deciding which camera I
should get, and I used to be asked the question - What do you prefer as your
subject – landscape, portrait, macro…? Although the questions were aimed only
to help me narrow down my options, but in reality they used to stump me out.
Well, I am obviously not a pro, but that was definitely not going to limit my
choices of subject to capture, not at this moment at least. And thus, the 1000
plus pictures I have today, is an ensemble of everything – objects, animals,
flora, birds, scenery, anything that caught my attention. It was more than just
the exploring a new hobby, it was about self discovery as well. I went on clicking
the same thing again and again, changing the settings, altering few angles, until
I got something I liked. And here comes the big question – how prepared was I to get most of the shots right?
Most of the time, I admit, I was
not. Especially with birds (no points for guessing why)! There’s some really
good foliage around my home, and the highest branch of one of these trees at
the backyard, is extremely popular among these feathered, restless creatures. The
picture below was one of the first shots taken with the camera. I was totally
not prepared for this shot; I wasn’t even carrying the telephoto with me. It
was just another early morning on a weekend, when a casual visit to the terrace
turned out to give me a scene that I found really amusing. The caption “Three’s
company, four is a crowd” was suggested by my Mom; I liked it and stuck with
it.
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| Three's company, four is a crowd!!! |
The next image is another
“chance” photograph. I named this “A walk on the tightrope”. It was taken on
the same day when the 4 birds’ picture was taken. Guess I was really lucky that
day, all my “models” were extremely cooperative!!! It seemed that they were all
posing for me without even me asking :-D !!!
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| A walk on the tightrope |
Another example is the picture
below called “Gone with the wind”. My level of preparedness in this case was nothing
more than just a gut feeling that I might get a few good rain shots. These
shots just happened. I confess that the dangling branch falling off had left me
feeling a tad emotional or should I say – introspective.
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| "Gone with the wind" |
The next 2 pictures are, yet
again, a result of chance. The first one I fondly call “Shelter” and the next
one is untitled. It had just rained and I was sitting by a window, enjoying the
greenery outside. A casual downward glance made me notice these two creatures
sitting quietly. Without wasting another minute, I fished out my camera and
went click… click… The whitish blur at the top and bottom of the second picture
is actually the white colored horizontal grill of the window that came in
between. I thought I would have to crop off some of these white portions, but
there was something mysterious about the haziness that I felt was going well
with the mood, and so, I decided to keep it. Can you think of a suitable title
for this picture? Do leave your comment and help me decide.
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| Shelter |
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| Yet to be titled... am waiting for your suggestions :-) |
I had read somewhere that
“opportunity comes to those who are prepared”. Undoubtedly true. However, in
the context of photography, being prepared is not only about the availability
of gear. It is actually about being prepared to take chances, to be caught unawares
and still act. After all, we do not always have the time or luxury to prepare
or create the scene we want. While I agree that the art of creating and
perfecting a shot comes with years of practice and perseverance, nevertheless
I’d still continue to believe that, sometimes, instincts need to be trusted. Certain
things are best left to chance.
Stay inspired!
