Spotlight #15 - Floating the Golden Gate / September 15, 2017 by Aman Sridhar

This week's Spotlight features Marshall Chen (again).

I had Marshall on a few weeks back where he talked about a picture that I really loved. You can find that here.

This week, Marshall pulls out another rabbit out of his hat with this incredible picture. Check it out below and read on to see what he has to say about it.

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My friends and I hiked Yosemite, toured San Francisco, and even had lunch in Google’s dining hall on Google Campus.

And my friend John here trying to be Magneto is just a piece of happy memory from that spring break.

“You remember that scene from X-Men where Magneto destroys the Golden Gate Bridge?” I asked John.

“Yeah.”

“Cool let’s recreate that!”

That was a wonderful vacation.

Check out more of Marshall's stuff here - https://www.instagram.com/marshallthesavage/

and here - http://www.marshallturbochen.com/

Cheers :)

Uber stories - "Somnath" / September 13, 2017 by Aman Sridhar

Note - Most of the conversation is translated from Hindi. Also, the name has been changed for privacy purposes. Curiously though, he didn't mind his picture being taken.

The first Uber story I have hit me randomly.

I was on my way to a mates place and got stuck in a massive jam. I usually use this as an opportunity to start chatting with them because nothing gets someone from Delhi going than bitching about the traffic.

Sure enough, as soon as I used the words "fuck this traffic," and "fuck that guy" (a bike just cut ahead of us almost crashing into the driver's door), Somnath opened right up.

He told me that he was from Calcutta, and how moving to Delhi was a change because of the people.

"Most folks here are easy to gauge, but I couldn't really tell much about you." he said to me.

When I asked him why, he was emphatic in his response.

"Because you live in Nehru Place, but you're not an asshole. Most people who live in these areas are flashy and in your face - like most Delhiites."

We chatted a bit more and I told him I was originally from the south. He smiled and nodded.

"That makes sense. Delhi guys are flashy, but you're just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. If you were from Delhi, you would be different."

I tell him how I grew up here, and I still identify with Delhi a lot more than my South Indian roots.

Changing the subject I asked him about his worst ride. He told me about this time he was stuck with one overly demanding customer for almost 3 hours literally driving from one end of the city to the other.

He then went on another rant about how much he hates Delhiites.

"She was a fat bitch who just wouldn't shut up."

As I got off at my stop, I heard him pick up the phone and talk to his friend, amused at the fact that he had someone in the cab with whom he could bitch about the city he now lives in.

Uber / September 12, 2017 by Aman Sridhar

The Uber project is an idea I had recently.

In a nutshell, it's exactly what it sounds like. I talk with the Uber drivers I get into the cab with and try to find out their story.

As I get off, I tell them that I'm writing a story about Uber drivers. Some chaps are happy to have their picture taken, some aren't so much.

Some pose, some act candid.

Some just don't seem to care.

The idea came about only once I started driving around Delhi. Uber has exploded all over the city, and it wasn't until I wasn't in one of the cabs that I realized how I took the idea for granted.

Most of the guys are happy with their jobs, but curiously enough there were a few who view their job with a lot of pride, not just professionalism.

Safe to say, I've met quite a few interesting characters around.

Stay tuned with the blog for regular updates, and check out the project here.

Spotlight #14 - Fury / September 8, 2017 by Aman Sridhar

This picture was taken a couple of weeks back by me during the first official Budweiser Experiences Boxout Wednesdays.

Boxout Wednesdays is the event that I've been covering for almost 6 months now.

This gig was the first one sponsored by Budweiser. Anyway, that's just a whole lot of technical stuff that isn't really important.

The reason why I mention that is because of the symbol behind the man in the picture. For those with keen eyes, you can probably recognize it as the logo of Budweiser.

Now this isn't sponsored (hint @budweiser), but i feel the need to mention that because the logo just adds so much to the picture.

Seeing as how I've been posting a lot about Boxout lately, I thought it would be fitting for me to use one of my own favourites for this week's edition of spotlight.

What really draws me into this picture are the colours. I was mucking about on Lightroom when I had the idea of turning the saturation on, and manipulating the colour around.

This was the end result.

In a way, it's a new step forward for me because I've always (and still believe) that I want my pictures to document reality more than anything else. I don't want to or like manipulate the image too much, which eventually forces the picture to look completely different from what was actually captured.

In this instance, however, I managed to find the perfect balance between colour manipulation, and staying true to my values.

This was the end result.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the picture, or just generally on anything photography related :)

Cheers