How Photography Changed My Life: Umang Sagar, Senior Manager at ICICI, Pune
An introduction about who you are, what you do for a living and how you got into photography.
A warm hello to all the creative souls at Creative Pad.
I am Umang Sagar, an artist at heart, Senior Cluster Manager at ICICI Direct, Pune by profession.
Since the advent of camera phone most of us have the artist in us come out, even a VGA camera was thrilling in those days, before I graduated to a digital camera much later. However, when my daughter was born, that was when I thought I need an SLR to ensure I capture the memories, a decision that eventually turned out to be one of my most favourite passion.
How was your first experience with your camera?
The first 3 years with my Canon 600D was all about being into AUTO mode and occasionally let the camera make me look good behind it……
I was thrilled whenever a good pic came out, probably the only thing I practiced was keeping my hands still and ensuring my artistic heart was working in identifying the moments to capture.
Whenever I saw a stunning pic from someone else, I would think the equipment must be very expensive, hence such pic!!! Till last year when I joined Creative Pad Photography’s basic photography workshop.
What were the things you did to get better at photography?
After considering myself a photographer for 3 long years, finally a year back, for some reason I just googled what are the options to learn photography in Pune? Thus I landed at Creative Pad Photography, one of the most rewarding decision I have ever made.
I was very sceptical to begin with, as I thought others who would come to the workshop would be BONDS and I would end up making a fool of myself. I can safely say after the first 45 min or so, our mentor Kush ensured that all our nerves and self-doubts were settled and we enjoyed the two sessions immensely while learning the nuances of what photography basics were.
End of the session when Kush asked to go back to all the pics we ever clicked and post the one which we thought was our best, I could hardly find any, some disobeyed the rule of 3rd, some were over exposed, some had some other flaws !! The flaws were evident and my photography journey had started eventually that day on….……
Your favourite shot of yours up till now and its details
The one shot which I feel really warmed my heart most is actually not shot from my DSLR, but my mobile…It is of two birds flying (below) and caught in a moment that made me tag it as tango in the air. For me, the moment was serene and beautiful, hence I added back flares in editing to add to the aura of the moment. If I had the same pic shot using DSLR that would surely be on my wall.
What is your favourite type of photography?
I enjoy shooting anything that I can capture well and is not just a run on the mill shot, but I have always enjoyed shooting animals most. I rarely needed to worry about bad hair or bad expression, improper make up, shut eyes or other stuff that becomes a nightmare while shooting humans!!!….just kidding, I just feel more comfortable shooting animals and I feel their shots come out more natural and reflect the most serene and beautiful side of nature for me, the side where there is no rush to outrun anyone for no reason, where there is no reason to be lesser than what I was born as or meant to be…
What is the equipment that you use?
Currently I own and use the following:
Camera:
Canon 600D EOS DSLR
Lens:
50mm Prime Lens
18-55 mm Lens
70-250 mm zoom Lens
10-20 mm EFS Wide Angled Lens
150-600 mm Contemporary Lens from Sigma
Flash:
Neewer Speedlight 580
Tripod :
Photron Pro Tripod
And Of course I have additional battery and 32 GB * 3 Cards with 10x Speed
How photography has changed your life
Photography has brought sea change in me, it’s not just overtaken all other hobbies that I had, but made me look at things differently. A lot that goes around me, I try to visualize how my lens would capture it. The beauty in the smaller things are more evident now. There certainly are more colours to things around me. Nothing gives more satisfaction than being able to capture a moment in its grandeur, capture it in its full bloom and glory.
Other shots that you would like to show
What are your future aspirations in terms of photography?
There are way so many things I wish to achieve. Among generics I would learn to get better at editing pics, click better portraits and be more creative while shooting landscapes. My all-time dream is to capture through my lens, the beauty of the Grand Canyon and some underwater shots.
Anything else you would like to add
Above everything else, thank you Kush for being much more than an awesome mentor. You have no idea at what levels you inspire us all. I am very thankful for this opportunity to share my little journey and to you all for patiently reading it all. I am looking forward to read other journeys and learn from them. I am a proud CPPian and I am so glad to be a part of such amazingly gifted artists’ fraternity. Keep clicking…..
