When I shoot something, I feel very connected and focused. I sometimes go a little overboard to get that perfect angle. I was in a fashion shoot where I was standing on a marble platform to get a good angle but failed to notice the crack on the platform. I was just clicking pictures and it broke. I held my camera tight to my chest just like a baby but ended up fracturing my leg. The kind of dedication and hard work that goes into creating a picture is unimaginable.
My photography journey started long long ago. I was just 10 years old and my dad bought a film camera. Soon enough, it became my favorite thing to spend time with. Even though I used to take ugly pictures from it, I used to love every single minute with the camera. I still have those pictures printed in an album and a big nostalgia comes around whenever I see those pictures.
Since then, it has become a part of me everywhere I go.
I was sure that I wanted to do something apart from the league. I pursued my graduation in animation but the love for photography didn’t stop there. I finished my graduation in 2015 and did a few assignments, I saved the money and gifted myself a DSLR. It was a dream for me. Even after buying a camera, I struggled with learning the basics of it. I finally realized that the key reason my photos kept turning out poorly was that I didn’t understand the concepts of photography. Auto mode can only take you to a certain point.
Slowly, I started giving more and more time to learning about the camera, and for the next 2 years, I kept clicking pictures of people, products, landscapes, etc to find my niche while learning from my mistakes. After 2 long years of my transformation, finally, in 2017 I stepped into the professional world of photography as a Fashion, Portrait, and Wedding photographer.
Portraits are undoubtedly my favorites. I just love clicking portraits, experimenting with lighting, styling, and location. Lockdown has changed the industry so much, for some time no one could think about what is going to happen next! I was randomly thinking of some ideas and the idea of virtual photography caught my attention. It was during the second phase of lockdown in April 2020. Since I love photographing people I had to find a way to do it. Being an Apple user I was aware of the live photos feature on facetime which gave me the idea of photographing people virtually via video calling on FaceTime without breaking any guidelines of the lockdown. I have completed 40+ virtual shoots and the experience has been amazing.
It has been a rollercoaster ride since I decided to do photography but it is also the best one that I could imagine. Doing something you love every day is a blessing and a result of years of hard work. Just remember that there can’t be a beginning to your talent, you already have it!
- Swayam Jarmarwala
