Spotlight #11 - Marshall's big adventure

I'm very excited to bring this week's spotlight forward, because it involves a friend of mine.

Marshall Chen is a guy who I've known for a long time. Back in college, I almost immediately associated Marshall with a camera. This guy was extremely enthusiastic and was constantly out there doing his thing. 

As I started getting much more into the hands on aspect of photography, it was almost instinctive that I talked to Marshall. I had noticed that his Instagram feed had started to become a lot more professional, and his pictures continually improved. 

The picture below is one I found on his Instagram that I absolutely love. 

"I took this picture on my way back to LA from Laughlin, Nevada, and yes -- while I was driving.

I saw this billboard on my way to Laughlin and kept it in mind. The other side of the board was blank. It just sat there in the desert to rust. 

The road for the most part is smooth. There are some curves here and there but mostly straights.

Rugged tarmac surface creates plenty of noise, but at the time it makes me feel like I was riding a horse through the desert. 

And my 1.4 liter straight four Chevy Cruze now feels like a V8 Camaro." - Marshall

Besides the composition of the picture, I really love the colours and the open space. To me it clearly shows the spirit of adventure and the long road leading to nowhere. This idea resonates with me, and this picture shows me that every time I see it. 

What are your thoughts? Do you like this picture as much as I do? Leave a comment below and share your perspective!

"Reflect" #2 - experimenting and finding my style

When I look back at my time from when I started this journey as a photographer, I can really see how putting in the work has affected me. 

I had always been someone who knew how to use a camera, but I had no idea how tweaking my technique a little bit could lead to such dramatically different photos. 

What's funny is, I was hell bent on finding a "style." And as soon as I found something I liked, I was adamant that this would be it. 

One of the things I really enjoyed playing with from the very start is shadows. I started work in a nightclub, forcing myself to take pictures without the use of an external flash. 

This began, when I started working with Boxout FM and I was keen on keeping my focus on the artists and not the crowd. 

After my first gig, I immediately realized just how much I could make use of the light given to me to produce pictures I'm proud of. 

Shadows became a feature. 

I would always try and dim the light on most of my pictures to give a dark feel with a glimpse of light. 

I feel that my fascination for this sort of darkness comes from my obsession with David Fincher. 

But I quickly realized that this technique can't be used for all kinds of photography, and more importantly it shouldn't be. 

Let me explain - I began to realize that when I was outside with a subject, whether a person or a landscape, there were certain adjustments I could make that didn't mess with the light and shadows too much that could still produce great results. 

I began experimenting a lot with saturation, and have recently found a style that I really enjoy, and brings out a different feel to the pictures. 

My goal changed to something different. I wanted to make the image pop much more than create a personal "style."

There's still miles ahead of me in my journey, and I am looking forward to seeing how my opinion and technical use of the camera changes over the next few years. 

In the meantime, I'm going to continue posting as much as I can. You can find most of my stuff here - 

https://www.amansridhar.com/travel/

https://www.instagram.com/amansridhar/

Cheers

Spotlight #10 - Mike Schwarz Returns!

In this week's spotlight, Mike Schwarz is back with  another brilliant photo. The picture below is one of his more recent ones, and I remember looking at it on Instagram and feeling small. 

Love them or hate them, drones are here to stay and this picture shows you why. Capturing landscapes is now a whole different ballgame, and Mike's photo below shows you exactly how to do it if you're a drone noob. 

I absolutely love the framing of this picture. Combine that with the green and shades of grey and you've got a really, really solid shot. 

"This is Webb Memorial Park near Boston.

It's about 20 minutes south of the Quincy, and has the best views of planes flying toward Logan Airport/the city skyline. I just got a drone for my birthday, and have been using it non-stop. I decided to go with the DGI Mavic Pro due to its small size (smaller than a water bottle) and high-quality performance.

If you're thinking of getting a drone, I can not recommend DGI more strongly. Get one!!

My family and I were walking around the tip of the peninsula in Webb Park, and I knew I had to snag the shot. A massive storm cloud was rolling in from the west however, so I knew I had to be fast. The drone was unpacked, assembled, and in the air in about 3 min. I raised it to about 490ft (its max altitude) and grabbed the shot just as the first rain drops were starting to fall.

Within a minute it was back on the ground, and in my bag. Nothing like cutting it close."

Find more of Mike here - mschwarzthekid.com

https://www.instagram.com/mikeschwarzthekid/

Share and leave a comment or two if you liked what you saw!

Spotlight #9 - Cricket

Today's picture is a bit of a throwback to my childhood. 

Before my parents moved up north, Chennai used to be my home. 

During my recent trip there, on a random evening, I took a walk with my fam. On our way there we saw this - 

It was a small ground, but there were two separate cricket matches going on. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would do literally anything to play. 

Cricket used to play a huge part in my life when I was a kid. As I walked by this, I realized just how important it is in cities in the south, especially Chennai. People breathe it all over India, yes, but it's something else when you go down south. 

Their passion is different from the aggressiveness everywhere else. There's a sense of lightheartedness and pleasure that you can feel. People just want to play, they don't care about anything else. 

That's exactly what I see in this picture. 

What about you? I would love to hear what you think about this picture, and if you have any special memories. Leave a comment below!

Cheers :)

Building momentum

When I started off in photography, I had a somewhat blurry idea of what within the field I wanted to pursue. 

I always knew where my major interests lay, but at the same time the more practical side of my personality kept telling me to also look at the stuff that could be potentially lucrative. 

Eventually, I started where any photographer starts - at the bottom, doing anything and everything to add to my portfolio. 

I viewed every assignment as a means to an end. Everything I got was a way for me to learn more about my style, my camera, and establishing a rapport with my clients. 

I have so far worked with clients I've wanted to work with. I didn't have to 'serve the man' so to speak, and do work I would hate, which is something I've gotten lucky with. 

My very first gig was a stroke of luck, combined with the fact that it was something I was genuinely interested in. The more I worked with these guys in different situations, the more I had to explore my instrument and experiment, while still show on the outside that I knew what I was doing. 

My most recent ongoing gig has really led to a spike in my growth curve. I've been working in an environment that's so high pressure due to the nature of the gig that my focus has to be spot on. Between the music playing loudly, the drunken crowd, and the dim lighting, I really need to bring out my A game each and every week. 

It's challenging, but extremely fun, and I look forward to it every week. 

I gain tons of pleasure out doing the work I love, but there's a part of me that wants to do more. There's so much in photography, and there's so much that I don't know that I want to learn about. 

When I started off, I never saw myself doing something in fashion or food, for instance. But both those are now starting to seem very appealing to me, because of the nature of the work.

Fashion requires you to really get close with your subject. It's going to force me to bring something out in myself that's going to bring out what I want in my subject. 

With food photography, I know I'm going to need something different, technically speaking. I'm going to have to show my knowledge about my camera, and bring that out. 

I don't view anything now as being lucrative or not. Everything has become interesting to me, and I'm extremely excited to start expanding my horizons.