2011 – a year that was

PS: As you all might expect this will be a very lengthy blog unlike my usual photoblog type posts. Read at your own risk and leisure.

As I indicated in one of my blog post late last week, am here presenting you my customary “2011 – a year that was” blog post just like the last years “2010 – a year in the journey“.  Just like 2010, 2011 also saw a lot of changes to my portfolio and the type of shoots that i did and the type of knowledge i gained with regard to the type of photography i do. I did quite a lot of travel and landscape stuff and reasonably less wildlife photography but the entire year was planned and dedicated to videos and timelapses. I spent quite a lot of time, money and of course energy in learning this new arena of digital imaging. This is such a vast ocean that i might take a really long time to get to taste the water properly but it will be done for sure. So without wasting further time, here is a month by month run down of shoots that i did.

(Click on continue reading)

January

It was a very slow start to the year, nothing much had been thought or planned as to how to start and where to start and what to start with. So the kickoff happened in our very own backyard studio called Hebbal lake. But on my career front, i happened to switch my job and started of this new year with a new organization.

February

My buddy or brother as i call him always – Rohit – called me in the very early in the month to shoot something for him and it apparently happened to be a shoot where i have to cover the sequence of events whilst he was getting inked. Yup it was first time for both of us ( in our own aspect ) and decided to give it a go and it was fun ( for me ). Mid of month saw the favorite and most anticipated event for me – Airshow 2011. You can read and see the small video i did during the event here and some images here.

March

This was far-by the busiest of all the months. It started off with me and my buddy Sriharsha heading off to Mydenahalli to camp and do a Astro photography workshop followed by my other buddy from Landscape Wizards – Ashwin to Ramanagar to shoot and document the Super Moon event. Later on in the month, self and Ashwin headed to Ooty for one another small shoot over the weekend which was predominantly a Timelapse trip. End of the month, i got a call from the Royal Challengers Bangalore fan club for the audition for the IPL event. Though i couldn’t get through to the event, the experience and the chance to meet and greet likes of Drik Nannes, Ramya, Siddartha Mallya is something which i will cherish for long.

April

This apparently was the dark or the black month of the year for me. Didn’t happened to do any shoots nor have a good time with anything.

May

First good long and far off assignment of the year. Once again tagged with Ashwin and headed to the mining city Bellary (Hampi) for a Documentary shoot for a Coffee table book ( due to be released in 2012 ).

June

Thanks to the introduction in Feb, I got a call from my friend Sachin for a photoshoot which he wanted me to cover a portfolio for himself for his tattoo work. This was definitely something new and different so grabbed on to it imply. Same day spent some quality time shooting for his family as well with his new born baby. Later on in the month, I happened to visit a old age home within Bangalore called “Little sisters of the poor” as a part of a program through the organization for whom i work, the words and imagery are something which you can read here.

July

First of our on-the-field Landscape photography workshop was conducted at Siris and surrounding areas. A group of 8 very enthusiastic people formed the team which we took them around teaching and talking about art and science of photography. More details and the video montage from the trip can be found here.

August

After a gap of 1.5yrs my sibling or super-twin as i call her landed in India for her vacation, and hence dedicated the entire month to spend time with her and also had a marriage in the family which meant that i had to stay away from the camera for few weeks.

September

Thanks to my classmates Shurti and Padma a very very long pending college meetup got materialized and though it was not a photoshoot as such, re-living all the college days and playing pranks  was once again the best time i had in this year. Later half of the month, went for a refreshing break to BRHills ( Gorukana ) along with my old organization colleagues. Staying away from the camera for more than a month meant that, a trip like this was definitely required to recharge all the creative and camera batteries.

October

First big personal trip of the year to the land of “Sand-Sea-Skies” – Andaman Islands. Tagged along with my hommie Pradeep flew down to the picturesque location i have ever visited. All was well till the fag end of the trip until the point i got a call back from home regarding a medical emergency because of which i had to cut short my trip and head back to Bangalore to be with my family. But overall this was one of my most fruitful trips both with regard to learning and also execution – because this was the first trip where i had dedicated the entire long trip for video and timelapses only. I promise all you JTN viewers to go live with the “Sand-Sea-Sky & Serenity” video at the earliest. October was also a month where i got a beautiful opportunity to meet the Jnanapit award winning writer Chandrashekara Kambara at my dad’s office, during a felicitation ceremony.

November

My new partner for my journey through nature and life, yup as you see above a new member replaced the older one on 11-11-11. After months of planning and preparation, we pulled out what was apparently the first CNP meet – Srujana 2011. 3 days dedicated to eating, breathing, drinking and everyone on art of photography and art of seeing differently. The 3 day event was hosted at Simha farms  run by my friend Adithya Biloor in Kodachadri foothills. A very detailed and a humorous account of the CNP meet can be read over here at Krishnan V’s blog and some behind the scene images here.

December

Year end wrap up time, lots more leaves to encase in office. So the final destination – Rajasthan. For a change ( reason described here ), I decided to go solo on this trip and man-o-man it was really rewarding and fun learning of how to survive on your own. I had never before done a solo long trip like this and this definitely helped me spend some quality time for myself in understanding what i really wanted to. Though you got to see some quick images from the trip here and here, most of the images are still lying in the memory cards which are due to be transferred to the system for further work.

Hope you all enjoyed reading the account and seeing the images from 2011 and also will continue to support me in the journey in the coming years.
Wishing you all a very happy holiday season and wishing you a very happy and a prosperous 2012.

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