How Photography Changed My Life: Mudita Chaurasia , IT Professional, Pune.

An introduction about who you are, what you do for a living and how you got into photography. 

Hello Friends!!

This is Mudita Chaurasia and I am from Madhya Pradesh, working in an IT Firm in Pune and a photographer at heart. My hobbies include dancing, exploring unknown places and of course capturing the beauty of expressions i.e. photography.

As far as the question of how I got into photography is concerned; to be very honest it’s not me who initially thought of doing photography, it was my husband (Gaurav Verma) who believed that I can be good at it. I still remember, he bought our first Camera (Nikon D3200) on EMI to let me take my first step into photography and that’s how I have been introduced to photography which now has become one of the reasons of my happiness.

How was your first experience with your camera?

I clearly remember when I held the camera in my hand and the first thought was “How interesting it looks”. However, I was totally scared and felt the camera as some kind of a fortress. I was looking at all the buttons, trying to understand the different modes and the letters written all over the camera.

The feeling was a mixture of excitement and fear, though the experience was satisfactory and rewarding to the soul. Of course, it got more fun eventually.

What were the things you did to get better at photography?

Initially, I had gone through a lot of YouTube videos and loads of blogs to understand the functionality of a DSLR camera but was unable to understand them fully. And then one day I came to know about Creative Pad Photography through Facebook , went through their Google reviews and without a second thought I registered for their two-day weekend basic photography workshop.

On the first day of the workshop I was nervous and was hesitant to communicate. But Kush sir, I must say is a great teacher as he clearly understands what a beginner goes through while learning photography and answers each and every minute thing very clearly. He made me feel at ease.

After completing the workshop, I felt confident and had a better understanding and since then I tried my best to not shoot in the “auto mode”.

I faced many challenges while clicking pictures in manual mode. My shots were blurry, noisy and over exposed but I did not stop myself at trying the various combinations of aperture, shutter speed and ISO and after continuous practice I started to feel more confident and comfortable.

Another thing I started to do is to never go outside without camera (except office; p) which allowed me to do more hands-on practice and I was able to capture some candid portraits, expressions of people and street photography.

Also, reading different blogs of travel bloggers, photographers and explorers gave me a better vision of photography.

I soon started following different photography pages on Instagram and Facebook so every time I opened Insta or FB, I was able to see new photos with a completely different perspective.

Your favorite shot of yours up till now and its details

I always wanted to take this kind of shot with light falling on the right place on my subject. And I got that opportunity in Seattle, Washington in a theme based photo shoot.

What is your favourite type of photography?

Initially I used to capture everything I liked, but gradually I have developed an interest in portrait photography and maternity shoot.

I loved the emotions, the energy, the mood and feeling I was living within this genre and I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to photograph more!

But again I don’t want to limit myself and want to try my hand at wedding photography too. I know its weird but weirdness is good right 🙂

What is the equipment that you use?

Nikon D3200 with basic kit lens combo i.e.18-55 mm and 50-200 mm lens.  I recently upgraded to the 85 mm f/1.8 lens.

How has photography changed your life?

Photography has certainly changed my life for the better. It made me a good observer and a good person within. My perspective of looking at things has changed a lot. I found beauty in almost everything; a leaf lying on the road, a small reflection of tree in rain water, colorful hangings on the street, sun rays falling on the floor from windows of my home, a child playing with parents or a person selling bangles to his customer. Each and everything around me looks beautiful now.

Photography made me believe that “Beauty lies on the eyes of Beholder”. It gave me a different direction and introduced myself to the other side of me.

Each and every click of mine till now has given me plenty of memories, experience, new people, and new stories.

Photography is like a companion to me who helps me in expressing my thoughts and my creativity through the shots I take.

What are your future aspirations in terms of photography?

I want to get even better at the technical side of things. I am looking forward to opt for photography as a full time profession.

I want to do and learn portrait photography with different lighting set-ups and keen to click portraits in low light. I know it’s harder to shoot in low light, but the results are much more rewarding. It creates some dramatic and extraordinary pictures.

And somewhere in future I want to get into new born and wedding photography too.

And last but not the least I want to open a small studio for me (I guess I am not that far as I have already planned to turn one of my rooms into my home studio ;)) . But seriously, may be one day I will have my own space for studio where I will be able to create memories, spread smiles and find a newer and better version of me each day by experimenting with different aspects of photography.

Other shots that you would like to show

Anything else that you would like to add

Yes, I would like to thank Kush sir again and Creative Pad Photography for the guidance and help in understanding photography better. The interesting point of being a member of CPP is you clearly know your progress, you know where you are standing right now and what are the areas of improvement.

Thank you, thank you so much for all the learning.

In my life, I have left many things in middle and did not complete it due to some or the other circumstances, but I will not leave photography for sure. It will be forever with me throughout my life.

Photography is not only a passion; it’s an emotion for me.