Nerve Endings Firing Away

Strangely I have never mentioned or blogged about my love for photography. Partly the reasons are that I just didn’t want to launch into a self-aggrandizing mode and I didn’t have enough scanned evidences to reinforce my claims. My dad refused to let me take a camera (even a crappy cheap Hot Shot one) on my Manali hiking trip. But eventually he bought me one simple point-and-shoot one. He nearly took it away for clicking “random and obscure” pictures without an eye for detail or aesthetic appeal, for example the Taj minarets or some out-of-focus dahlias at Pahalgam.

But I guess somewhere deep down in my DNA sequence, my repressed photographic skills (also from my Dad) emerged in my undergrad years. My professor, Prof. Pillai has this nifty Canon SLR and showed us some awesome photographs for our Humanities class. The play of light and shadows in his photographs greatly emphasized the need to acquire a SLR. I learnt later that the camera is irrelevant for great photography. His works as well as Prof. Pitkar’s (from Sir JJ COA) seminar on photography exposed my poor under-developed aesthetic soul to the works of the masters including Ansel Adams and even the desi-bred Raghu Rai (check out his Taj Mahal Photo series). I badgered my dad for a SLR so I could take classy picture and allow me to practice all the techniques I learnt from the photography magazine, which if I remember correctly was Better Photography (I don’t know if it is still in print). My dad thankfully, has always given in to quality demands and if he feels that it is going to “build my character” or keep me away from indulging in other nefarious habits, he will not pay any heed to the monetary aspect. I owe it to my dad for encouraging my expensive hobbies.

My first SLR camera was a manual Minolta X-300S — basic but sturdy. After wasting a dozen rolls in trying to get a hang of the camera, I finally shot my first beautiful picture — a glorious sunset (what else!). But then just to prove that it was no fluke, I went crazy shooting pictures that emphasized depth of field and thus separated my pictures from the run of the mill instant camera pictures. This camera served me faithfully for more than 3 years and I did manage to acquire supplementary telephoto and fish-eye lenses, and cable release (featured prominently in my list of demands from my parents’ trip to Singapore). The north India study tour saw the maximum use of my Minolta as I shot some really great picture; although I honestly believe that any picture of Jaisalmer will be as beautiful with any camera. But my advanced equipment combined with some freaky angles (we friends had this habit of crouching down to the ground or rather posing more weirdly than the subject itself to take a simple picture) did help in distinguishing my pictures from the lot.

But don’t all of us wish for more when we already have a lot, I made a demand for an automatic SLR from my uncle before leaving for graduate school. He was pleased to finally see me ask for something, so that’s how I got my latest Nikon F60. This camera, although clearly superior had a mind of its own. It has made more trips to India than me. It just rewinds itself after couple of pictures but as soon as I send it to India for repairs, it acts as if nothing was ever wrong. It did that twice before finally getting bored of making me curse at it. It has mysteriously stopped acting that way since then. But I did take some freaky BW pictures for my photography class two summers back with the Nikon. I always forget to load them up on my blog.

This camera has been with me for the past 4 years now and has taken decent pictures but I loved my Minolta for its down-to-earth rugged operation. It even survived the horrors of my dancing friends when I accidentally dropped it. I haven’t yet gone digital more so because of financial compulsions than being a Luddite. Remember, I have expensive taste so I would never go in for those Cyber Shot ones Digital, definitely has its advantages and doesn’t make me wait ages for the results. If a picture fails with a film camera, I can only pray for the right light next time. I will also get over my stingy self by shooting more pictures with a digital than saving film for the next great shot, which incidentally never comes.

I just haven’t been paying much attention to my favorite hobby lately though. I just need some inspiration or a vacation to discover the joys of being behind the camera.