Joseph Radhik
Age: 27
Specialisation: Weddings
Fee: Customised — range starts at Rs.1.5 lakh a day.
When Joseph decided to shoot his sister's wedding in 2008, little did he realise he would quit his job at a consultancy firm a year later and take this up full-time. “Abroad, there are even associations for wedding photographers, but none here. I got myself familiar with the art and the nuances of the job. My career began when my Flickr page got popular,” says the photographer who works out of Hyderabad.
With over 100 enquiries already pouring in this year, the IIM Indore graduate is busy. “Many people think wedding photography is seasonal, but it's not so in India. Every month is invariably a wedding month for some community or the other. Yes, I did quit my job to pursue this, but it was not a flight of fancy. I'm a business guy.”
Joseph specialises in candid shots. “Wedding photography is a mix of genres,” he says, adding: “You need the patience of a wildlife photographer, the speed of a sports photographer and the alertness of a photojournalist. There's so much happening and you need to capture it!”
With a cinematographer joining his team, Joseph now does short films for weddings too. Contact him at joseph.radhik@gmail.com or visit >www.josephradhik.com
Rohit Ravindran
Age: 24
Specialisation: Fashion
Fee: Rs. 20,000 per shoot
Rohit was a second-year Visual Communication student when he caught sight of an ASLR camera. It was love at first sight. “I wanted to do my BBA but my brother urged me to get into media since I was always interested in photography. I guess everything fell into place. I do a lot of fashion, though I experiment with other stuff as well. I've done some food photography, but clothes fascinate me endlessly,” he says.
What Rohit loves about his job is the flexibility and the fact that he's his own boss. “I make it a point to do only three shoots a month, which takes me about 10 to 15 days. That's the best part of the job.”
But why such passion for photography? “Depth of field,” he laughs, “I still can't get over how you can focus on one thing while the rest of the background is blurred. I just got a new macro lens and I'm super excited about it.”
Call Rohit on 99620-27377.
Lavanya Kannan
Age: 23
Specialisation: A mix of genres
Fee: Rs. 5,000 onwards
Lavanya's tryst with photography began with her father's interest in the field. Inspired, she took to it after a six-month course as a part of her Electronic Media degree. “I like photography, and it helped that it could be a profession. I would be doing what I loved. Photography is a form of communication and you need to realise what your work is about, and learn,” she says.
Though Lavanya freelances for a few magazines and also does weddings, her innate interest lies in travel and art photography. “I travel a lot. I don't even remember when I was home last year,” she laughs, “All my pictures have people in them. I am inspired by my surroundings and learn to interact with people. You also learn to communicate through your pictures. Photography is all about picking up things and putting them together.”
Contact her at 97909-83461 or visit >http://lkphotography.aminus3.com/
Shalin Jain
Age: 28
Specialisation: Children
Fee: Rs. 5,000
Shalin Jain is an entrepreneur and runs a software firm. But, when he's not being boss, he is behind a camera shooting children. “It began when I got a camera, but didn't know what to do with it,” he smiles, adding, “I decided to shoot pictures of my nephew. A friend of my sister’s saw the pictures and approached me. My clientele grew by word-of-mouth.”
It's tough to shoot children, says Shalin. “You can't stand too close or they'll get conscious. If you're away, they're constantly moving and you need to keep moving to keep pace. I don't do artificial lighting or posing. Everything has to be natural. That makes it tougher, but its all worthwhile,” he adds.
For Shalin, it's all about the eyes. “The one thing I concentrate on in my pictures is the eyes. They speak a lot. I've even taken some beautiful photographs of a boy who refused to smile through the shoot. I realised there's more to a picture than just a smile.”
Honing his hobby for four years, it only seems right that the child photographer is awaiting his latest subject: “I'm going to be a father soon,” he smiles. Call him on 98401-11792 or visit >www.shalin.in
