I own a DSLR, am I a Photographer ?
- 05 Aug 2017
- Nikhil
- Features
‘Photo Chat’, a friendly chat among a group of passionate photographers was conducted at Ledhi art Cafe on 4 August
I don't own a camera of my own, I usually take photographs using my friend's camera. Does this mean, I’m not a photographer? Is everyone who owns a DSLR a photographer?Being passionate about photography, these are some of the dilemmas of which I have not yet got a clear answer to. To find an answer to all these questions, I just had to do one thing. No, it’s not searching it Google. I just had to go out find the answers by myself. To be precise, at Ledhi Art Cafe, on 4 August at 6.30 pm.
I was worried whether I could it make it on time for the ‘Photo chat’ at Ledhi Art Cafe, due to the huge traffic block stretching from Kaloor junction to Palarivattom. Somehow, I reached there on time and being a regular at Ledhi, I knew where to head to. I was informed about this event by Mr. Satish, the owner of the Cafe because he knew I was passionate about photography. I opened the door expecting a group of youngsters. I would like to bring up a question to you, my readers. Who is a youngster? Being young does not mean you have to belong to a certain age group. Being young means, having a young and cheerful heart and soul. If you agree with me on this, yes, I found the youngest and adventurous individuals behind those doors.
The ‘Photo Chat’ was the first of its kind at Ledhi Cafe, even though they have frequent book discussion sessions, art appreciation sessions and so on. From the responses I got from these passionate photographers, I knew this was a just small start to a series of ‘Photo Chat’ sessions. These passionate photographers tackled the most heard questions in the world of photography like :
1)Just because an individual owns a camera, does that make him/her a photographer?
2)There are several editing software available now, does it make someone less of a photographer?
The group later went to discuss their experiences about how they started their love for photography. Radheesh Roy, an animal lover, and a good photographer shared his thoughts about our photographs and how we could have improved the shot, only if it was needed. He commented, “ The audience doesn’t care if you use a high-end camera or if you edited the photographs . all they care about is the output you present to the world.”. He also commented that the ‘live preview screen’ in the camera is the most lying thing in the world. Mr.Antony Prasad commented that “ there are quite a few rules that we need to obey in photography, like the Rule of third. But sometimes I believe these rules can be broken if you can get a finer result”. Mr. Sathyan, Mrs. Sushama, Mr. Dushyanth and Mr. Satheesh were also a part of this ‘Photo Chat session.
( Mr. Radheesh Roy )
( Mr. Antony Prasad)
I left Ledhi Cafe with so much of happiness and joy and Ledhi Cafe has promised that they will keep on continuing having more ‘Photo Chat’ sessions in the future. This session was not just a gathering of passionate photographers, but also a platform where one can present their works and get feedbacks from the fellow photographers. To quote Mrs. Sushama, “ this is a school for people who are passionate about photography.” Well, If you are still wondering if I found the answers I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Yes, I did. Everyone who is passionate about photography and gives the effort to improve their skill set and click good photographs can be called as a photographer. And yes, I am a Photographer.
Photo Credits: Nikhil Wilson
