Surya Dinkar began clicking portraits of dogs as a tribute to her pet dog Mojo, which died earlier this year. The result? ‘Pet Portraits by Surya Dinkar’, a collection of photographs, posted on Facebook.
“I am a photographer by profession and love taking pictures of animals because they can’t fake emotions. Most owners consider pets part of their family. I provide them with precious memories,” she says.
Surya has been an avid photographer since her college days and photographs fashion, jewellery, products and kids, apart from pets. “As modelling was a passion, I could not devote all my time to photography. But now, I am able to give all my time to it.”
The biggest challenge, she says, is clicking animals. “Shooting animals is difficult but I am able to easily connect with them. I always spend some time just to understand their behaviour,” Surya explains. “Not all of them pose readily before the camera. This makes a shoot time-consuming; and involves giving them a lot of bribes in the form of goodies. If a pet is playful or friendly, I try to bring that out in my pictures. I shoot only at the owner’s residence since that’s where canines and felines are most comfortable. For this reason, my studio is mobile.”
Surya provides a portfolio, laminated framed portraits and printed tees with her pictures. “Most of my customers are people whose pets have littered and find it hard to part from the little ones. The concept of pet photography is very new here; few people understand how it works. They either think it’s difficult to get their pet to pose or wonder if they should spend so much on photos. But I’m hoping this trend will catch on soon and in other cities as well.”
“My favourite shoot was with six pug puppies. I didn’t let the owners stay in the same room as the pups were getting mischievous. And by end of the shoot all of them were playing with me. Every pet is unique and it’s such a pleasure to photograph them,” says Surya Visit Surya’s page at www.facebook.com/SuryaDinkarPets
