JAYANT MANDAL

I was in my college when I discovered the knack of clicking pictures Back then photography was an unexplored path for me But I was always up for clicking pictures of my friends surroundings food shopping malls and what not with my then Samsung Metro’s 2MP camera From starting a free Google blog in 2011 showcasing my amateur mobile photography to getting published in several magazines, it has been quite a journey for me

Through these years, more than photography I have explored myself – my real interests towards clicking pictures Earlier my genre was undiscovered and I went on clicking anything and everything around me, with my first DSLR Canon 1500D I started with wildlife photography, visiting zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, lakes and had made quite a good collection of photographs of animals and birds Learning new techniques like freezing wing-flaps at high shutter speeds, kept me interested for months

Despite that, I somewhere felt empty and kept exploring subjects around me I upgraded my DSLR to Nikon D7200 Started a photography blog on a website of my own domain Uploading my photographs and writing articles on those kept me engrossed for some time I didn t leave a single opportunity to take out my DSLR and shoot

Meanwhile some of my friends approached me for small photography assignments I was flattered however the results were not satisfactory due to immense lack of knowledge then Then after planned many trips just for the sake of clicking pictures and enhancing my creative skills However I wasn t headed to a particular direction

I discovered my true genre into photography after I got married I started clicking pictures of my beautiful wife, who still happens to be my main model and has many pictures on my Instagram page That’s when I genuinely felt my interest growing towards photography I had found what was missing all these times!

I felt the urge to learn more into shooting portraits, retouching full-length pictures of models, learning creative angles, using props, shoot in low-light conditions, long exposures, the choice of right lenses, etc I started exploring my camera more into what all additional wonders it could do! I even started learning to use Adobe Photoshop to edit my pictures I received a tripod as a gift!

My main sources of motivation were my wife and all those amazing photographers who used to upload behind-thescenes videos of their work and at the same time teach the art of photography and lights

Post years of learning, experiments and realizations, I have been able to set up a home studio with appropriate lighting and related equipment for photoshoots I don’t use super-expensive products but don’t settle down for the cheapest ones either Presently, my lighting set up, backdrops and flash are of premium brands like Godox and Hiffin however, not the high end ones Based on my experience so far, I believe if we know the right techniques, even the mid-range equipment can drive outstanding results We should focus more on learning basics, practicing and experimenting in different lighting conditions

So, that s me and here I am still continuing my journey as a beauty & portrait photographer, learning every day with a Nikon Z5 Getting my work published on many magazines has somewhere boosted my confidence to keep growing and enhancing my photography skills

Learning to use the right kinds of lighting and flash was always the main issue for me as it took me months to understand the basics of how lights impact my results Initially I was totally unaware of the causes of extreme noise creeping in my pictures and it used to drive frustration due to lack of knowing some real basics of work By then I had realized that shooting portraits was more difficult than clicking pictures of a tiger lazily walking in a zoo!

I never used to shoot in auto settings It was only because of this that I realized the importance and impacts of focal lengths, ISO, shutter-speeds, etc Since I am a self-taught photographer, I lacked knowledge I have spent close to 1 5 years learning how and when to manually tune my camera to produce desired results

@KALEIDOSCOPIKLENS