In 2010, I was at a wedding with my parents in Kolkata where I saw photographers using a Handycam and DSLRs. I was so intrigued by them. During the whole evening, I kept observing them and something made me very attracted to them. I was already documenting our journey to that ceremony and then I decided to document the ceremony too.
By the second year of my college, I joined the photography club “Vivre” and started going on photo walks. I got immense love and compliments from friends and random people from college which made me so happy. There is something in compliments that makes you more confident about your work. Like most photographers, I started clicking the sky, birds, and nature because it’s very intriguing to click something that you see everyday, but very differently. I also got the opportunity to be the lead photographer of my college magazine - Indraprastha
By the end of college, I was certain that I wanted to do something in photography. So I started looking for potential courses that I could pursue. I came across photography courses in Jamia and NID. I started preparing for their entrance exams. I couldn’t get through Jamia but I had a silver lining when I got an opportunity to work with the Discovery Channel as an intern. Around the same time, I got my first wedding gig and they were pretty happy with what they got. After the internship, the channel even offered me a job but I refused because I wanted to go to NID. I studied hard and got through the exam but unfortunately, I didn’t get the seat.
But life didn't stop there and I kept making progress. I used to upload my pictures on Flickr and a wedding photographer suggested that I should explore wedding photography as I had a good eye for moments and portraits. Even my friends used to say the same thing in college. Since wedding photography is a growing industry, I decided to explore it more. So I started doing candid photography at weddings, which was a very new thing back in 2015-16.
I got in touch with a photographer named Bhagyashree, who gave me an opportunity to click pictures at a wedding. For the next three months, I didn’t have any work and after that, it was again her, who gave me another opportunity and I nailed it!
After that project, I started getting a lot of work and people started approaching me directly with assignments. Suddenly everything started to seem right.
In 2017, I founded Shaadi ok please and now we are featured on platforms like Indian Express, Shaadi Saga, Zowed, Wedwise, Wittywedding, Theweddingchamber and many more respectable platforms. Turning my passion into a profession was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. After spending 8 years in the wedding industry, I’ve had many ups and downs. From having nothing to now running a successful company for more than 4 years, it has been quite a journey. I trusted my instincts and grabbed every opportunity I got. I recommend that you do the same. You will eventually meet the right people who will help you grow into a person where you can be the reality of the vision you had seen when you started out.
- Arnob Das
