LIFE LESSONS FROM BEHIND THE LENS
Abhijit Pattanayak, India My aļ¬air with the art of photography began 14 years ago when I bought my ļ¬rst camera. Since then I have been fascinated by the scope of various forms of photography. The love for this art-form has taught me to be patient, enabled an eye for diļ¬erent perspectives and Ć”ppreciate and admire the beauty in everything. By the time I got my ļ¬rst DSLR camera, wildlife photography was something that I had really started to explore. I had been following several Nat-Geo photographers for inspiration which made me curious about the scenarios and conditions they had to be in for one perfect shot. I started to click pictures of birds that visited my backyard posting them on Facebook and Instagram when one day a famous photographer from Odisha came across one of my posts and contacted me to collaborate for a joint project to visit a place named āMangalajodiā where every year migratory birds visit. During this time, this place becomes one of the busiest tourist-spots. We had a 2-day schedule during which we had to be submerged in chest-deep back waters carrying our camera gears and scouting the areas for photos. Well, the trip was great, we got really nice pictures, some got published, some sold oļ¬ to the Tourism Department, but this trip had something more in store for me. The night-sky of Mangalajodi was very clear and since it was a winter-night we could see a whole lot of stars which was simply impossible to witness for a city dweller like me. On the second night of our stay, I pointed my camera to the night sky and took my ļ¬rst long exposure photo, it was like a magic and love at ļ¬rst sight. Since then I have been travelling in search of clear, dark night skies, traveling to remote villages trying to capture Star Trails and Milky Way. TS TiMES, Special MONTHLY EDITION | L&T TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
Mangalajodi Swamp Land
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