Shaadiography

Photograph by Amour Affairs 

Photograph by dotdusk studios

Photograph by Harnav Bir Singh Photography

Photograph by Ram Balmur Photography

Photograph by Soulmate Weddings

Photograph by The Bride’s Diary

Photograph by Sudeep Bhattacharya Photography

Photograph by The Wedding Matinee

Photograph by Whatknot

Photograph by Vaijayanti Varma Photography 

Photograph by Weddingrams by Kreatrix

Photograph by Khachakk | let's create Memories

So Ananya, tell us about yourself. Where are you from and how did you start your career as a Photographer? I am basically from Varanasi. But then I believe I don’t belong to just one place, have always been a very carefree person. I was like any other normal kid studying in school but was always considered the black sheep. A little stubborn, always did what I felt like doing. After completing my High school, I was not able to decide and concentrate over what I should really do. As a result landed up dropping a year. Living in Varanasi, most of my free time was spent travelling with my point and shoot cam to the ghats. This was one thing I really enjoyed doing. That’s how I developed interest in Photography. 

Interesting. So post your High School did you travel outside Varanasi? I used to travel all the time. Love for travelling is something I got from my Dad. He has been very encouraging. Never restricted me from going to new places on trips with mentors and friends. I remember going to Mysore to photograph Dussehra with all men’s group where I was the youngest and the only girl.

Wow! So tell us how did you learn the basics of using a DSLR? I self taught myself most of the basics. Google and Youtube have been my teachers so to say. Acclaimed photographers like Gulzar Sethi, Najeeb Aziz and Captain Shalini Rao have been my greatest inspirations. My brother Parminder has been my biggest strength. He has been constantly motivating me to do new things. I don’t think I would have come this far if it wasn’t for his support. 

Very nice. When did you buy your gear and took the plunge? Feb 2012 I bought my first DSLR. And took the decision of perusing Wedding Photography.

Were you always interested in Wedding Photography or did you also discover other genres of photography? I started with street photography, documenting my travel experiences in pictures, sharing my travel stories on social media. The album was titled "Encounters of a timeless traveler!" Got appreciation from everyone around. Sold a few prints too. Got an old image of mine published in the form of a post card by a leading publication house. Lot of things from everywhere kept the small town Varanasi girl in me pushing to what I am today.After having covered a family friend's marriage I started discovering the wedding genre.

How was the experience of your first shoot? Wow! It was overwhelming. I got to be honest it made me realize its not an easy job. 

Describe your journey from there on?  Well I worked with Gulzar Sethi and Najeeb Aziz on couple of weddings.

How was the experience like? What did you learn the most?  Most important thing: Setting up client expectations.

How do you approach your shoot day? Do you plan well in advance or most of it when you arrive at the venue? 

Actually it’s both. Lot of things, new ideas come up when you reach the venue, some even come up while shooting some other shots. I tell my brides and grooms to relax and the rest will be taken care of. Hiring Photographers is just not the only thing. If you wish to have beautiful photographs, go that extra mile and put in a bit of attention to the decor and lighting at your wedding.

This brings us to the final question. What do you think is the toughest part of being a Wedding Photographer? I am a young entrepreneur. It’s all easy as long as you enjoy what you do. Although as Wedding Photographers, we might find it awkward sometimes to take pictures during emotional intense moments. Shooting pictures with a straight face could get a little difficult.

Absolutely true Ananya. Thank you for your time and we wish you all the success in the coming years :)

Dear Katia, we at Shaadiography really like your work and the fresh perspective that you bring to Wedding Photography. Tell us about yourself and your journey until now. Thank you very much :)  Well, we have to travel 20 years back where my story began. I was brought up watching my Dad work as a Photographer, not all his life but it took few years of him to go really deep into. It was my first encounter with Photography. What I really learnt from him was to be brave and fight for your dream. Not to care too much about inhibitions and people who are trying to restrict you. 

We can see that you love being in India. What made you move to India? When I reached the age of 16 I became kind of a "spiritual" person. At least I became a Vegetarian (continue to be one) and came to know about Krishnamurti and other teachers. Fanaticism is big part of my nature, this way I got to know about India and my interest turned to Anthropology. That time our family could not afford travel so my dedication to my new passion made me collect every book I could find on India and I started reading a lot about this lovely country.

So when did you finally visit India? How was the experience like? Back then if someone would have asked me what my dream was, answer would have always been the same ‘I want live in India!’. But it was still a dream and I had to turn it into reality. I finished school, got into university, moved out of my parent’s home. Finally I collected some money and for the first time came to India with a friend.

We are sure after moving to India you must have been overwhelmed with all the things around you. It felt like I came home after a long vacation :), everything is so close to my heart. But I felt like a stranger and understood being a tourist won’t help.

How did you finally manage your way in then? So much so that you decided to start your professional life here. After my first visit I kept coming every year and at the same time my journey as a Photographer took off. I have been educated to be a Journalist and a part of the course was Photography. I tried different genres of Photography and finally fell in love with Wedding Photography. Meanwhile my dream of living in India was still very much alive. So I finally decided to combine my two passions - India and Photography. Photography is great instrument to learn people, traditions, and as I do Wedding Photography there is plenty of opportunities for me to see real life!

It must have been difficult understanding all the Indian wedding rituals initially. How did you manage all of this? Some knowledge came from the books, you always keep learning. Every new Wedding brings a fresh perspective. Whatever I see for the first time, I don't hesitate to ask, people love my curiosity and explain me everything.

That’s a very good way to go about it. Where all have you travelled in India? Which is your favorite place to shoot? Any dream Wedding project you would want to cover? Ohhh.. You came to my favorite topic :) I have traveled almost everywhere, except extremely remote locations. North East is one place I really want to go. And my dream is to build a collection of at least one Wedding shoot from each state. This will help me with complete knowledge of Indian Weddings. :)

That’s such a candid response Katia and it’s true that the diversity you see here in India is huge and rare. Exactly why I love being here! :)

One experience that stands out from all your Wedding Shoots? Well sometimes guests would treat me as a curious tourist, especially if it is big party in a grand hotel where you see lot of foreigners. This one time one of the guests said to me, ‘Hey, you have shot enough, please leave it’s a private party!’ hahaha..

Haha. What did you do next? Well I decided to show him who’s the Boss. :) Haha no, I casually gave him my business card.

That's a polite way of handling things. We see that you use landscapes quite well in your pre wedding shoots. Do you plan your shoots well in advance location? For a good answer’s sake I can say that I can shoot anywhere, but frankly I hate going to unknown locations. I always do my research about the place where I am going to shoot and typically will visit a day before the shoot. This also helps me in knowing in which direction sun shall rise/set and at what time.

This is a really interesting image, we would love to know more about this.  Guys wanted to bring out the true spirit of Varanasi in a photo, so we decided to go for boating at sunrise. Sun came from opposite side and as I planned you can see colored golden ghats of Varanasi.

Any Indian Wedding Photographer work you adore and look up to? Sephi Bergerson

What do you like the most about his work? His artwork is like a true story. I mean he has deep understanding of traditions, this can be clearly seen in his compositions.

Final Question: What suggestion would you give to people who want to venture into Wedding Photography? I would suggest... before you learn how to put watermarks on photos, please read about legends like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sally Mann. Don’t copy past, be Brave and Creative! And of course - Believe in your Dream.

Wise words. Thank you so much for talking to us Katia. We wish you all the best.