“I’m lucky to work in a niche that combines two things which excite me deeply- motherhood and photography. You see, those nine months right from one’s first bump till birth hold so many memories that they can be treasured for an entire lifetime. And I experienced this firsthand when I was due with my daughter back in 2012. Now, in an attempt to share the joy online, I started posting our pictures on social mediaI and quickly realized the attention it garnered. So many people in my circle loved how the photos painted a visual story and in turn reached out to me to similarly document theirs as well.
And thus started my second innings as a photographer. I did study for it and experiment across a bunch of different jobs in the sector but nothing matched the joy I gained from working on these individual projects. So I guess, it’s safe to assume that it was, in fact, the birth of my daughter that got me back to doing what I loved the most.
But like any other field, this arena too, was filled with its own challenges! For one, people believed a good quality smartphone could replace any photographer and therefore, didn’t consider the work I did to be serious. While this couldn’t be further from the truth, especially with so many technical intricacies involved in taking a good picture, not many realized and it did somewhere, irk me.
Besides this, the whole world of freelancing as many know, is rather shaky. Work oscillates between months, and there are times when I’ve not had enough clients to reach my set target. However, looking at all these variables, I felt the best option was to just keep learning and honing my craft without paying heed to the noise. And with time, this approach did pay off! My clientele grew mostly through word-of-mouth and I began expanding my portfolio to areas like family shoots as well. Again, it does involve a lot of planning and time management but at 35, I wouldn’t wish for life to be any different!”