Black or white?

Life is all about colours!

At least this was what I thought till November 12, 2011. A life changing experience made me realise that many things are good, better in fact the “Best” in Black and White!

The men who helped me change this perspective KP and Eric, the marvellous Streettogs! Though I was initially reluctant to jump into the bandwagon, I braved all odds! Being a novice made me feel out of place few times. The drawings made from light, displayed awesome creativity and the eye for catching something that we would miss routinely! Honestly before the workshop I did not bother looking up for the drawings of these two gentlemen…

I had been gifted a Nikon D3000 last year and I was in love with it! I used it occasionally to capture memories. I loved shooting nature, sunrises, sunsets, green, blue, red, yellow… this was about to change!

Rules, rules and some more rules!

We all love to hate rules! I love to know the rules, so that I know when I break it ;) Eric made it clear that we were to use 24mm and he taped the lenses at 24mm. It meant only one thing; you had to get really close to people. I was not comfortable as all the while, I used to enjoy the ZOOM feature!  The journey had just begun! This was the first time I was out in the wild (ok, not the wild, but unknown territories) to shoot and capture that one great shot!

The show goes on!

Day one: I wandered alone and tried getting comfortable with shooting strangers – point blank (fun intended)! My first real shot was of an elderly lady, breaking the wooden crates, probably to make a bonfire later… Three ladies were merrily working away, however three other ladies spotted them and started shooting them… it was a tricky situation. These ladies became aware of being in the limelight – literally speaking.

Waiting is the key, Eric had mentioned sometime earlier. I waited in patience as the other ladies shot their moments… I waited some more for the right moment;

Bang, Bang! Oh sorry Click, Click! I shot the lady working oblivious of my presence as the other lady in the background smiled. I had my first shot of someone unknown. I smiled thankfully at the lady and moved on.

Rules? What rules?

Eric had mentioned earlier, 95% of the people would smile back, the rest would not bother.

Rules are meant to be broken, and we do it so efficiently. I spotted a smoker sitting next to a Pan shop with a sign that read “No Smoking“. The shot was not close to what I wanted, I moved on.

The challenge of workshop assignments – almost everyone finds the same stories ;) and it became difficult for me get close as most of the subjects became aware of the big gang that was out in the open aiming and shooting.

Wandering along I went inside the park, loads of subjects and probably all of them already shot by someone else!

Keep going!

As I wandered, I got my first good shot! Unaware of the surroundings on a Saturday afternoon, the man in his late eighties sat on the bench engrossed reading some fine prints!  The picture you see was shot in colour and processed using Eric’s presets. BTW I did not know that moving from colour to B/w made such an impact! I love B/w J

Click, click, click…. The disadvantage of having a DSLR, I kept clicking.

Postcard from Mumbai

As I reached the Flora Fountain, a tourist sitting on a bench caught my eye. The sun made him glow; the light rays made him look different yet interesting. I took a few good looks, circled him 180o before I got the perfect angle! After processing with Eric’s presets, the enhanced image looked like a postcard from Mumbai.

The hot sun, the humid climate and unknown faces made things look really difficult. As I was about to crossover towards Churchgate I saw an opportunity.

Jack Sparrow!

A man, probably after a long tiring day walking around the circle, with a bottle in hand and a pseudo cigarette in hand (it was a white plastic paper). The look in his face said it all… I walked parallel to him and tried getting the emotion. He was a slow walker and as he walked slowly around the corner, I ran to catch up with him.

With the camera slightly above the waist level, I went on shooting three, four shots! The second last click gave me the image you see alongside.

I took more than 125 shots and was hoping that I get at least one great shot!

Early morning on a Sunday after driving along the empty roads, I reached the venue.

Live, Love, Share

A kid sister feeding her brother caught my eye, I clicked five shots. It was something that I could not avoid capturing. I love this shot, as it talks a lot about love, hope and caring even when you live on a daily basis. The spirit of Mumbai is that it gives everyone a chance to survive in this big, cruel world. Life is colourful for many, for some it’s still Black and White!

I thank Eric, KP, and all my team mates for helping me as I began my journey!

PS: if you are wondering what Streettogs meant – it’s a term for Street Photographers ;)