To start at the beginning — what first made you pick up your iPhone and start photographing the world around you?
It actually began with something very simple—the urge to preserve moments that caught my eye. I started using my iPhone to photograph things I found beautiful in everyday life: changing skies, quiet landscapes, reflections, fleeting light, and little moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. But somewhere along the way, photography became more than just taking pictures. It changed the way I look at the world. I began paying attention to light, colours, textures, perspective, and the emotions hidden in ordinary scenes. My iPhone was simply the tool; curiosity was what kept me going. What started as a casual hobby gradually became a way of expressing how I see and feel the world. Every photograph became less about simply capturing what was in front of me and more about capturing the feeling of that moment.
Was there one early photo, or one moment, where you looked at what you'd just captured and thought, 'this is what I want to do'?
I wouldn’t say there was one single photograph that changed everything. It was more of a gradual realization. There were moments when I looked back at a photograph I had taken and felt that I had captured something beyond what my eyes had seen—a particular mood, a quiet emotion, or a fleeting moment of light. That feeling stayed with me. I realized I wasn’t just interested in taking photographs; I was interested in telling stories through them. That was the moment photography started feeling less like a hobby and more like something I genuinely wanted to pursue.
Your bio says 'every click is a piece of someone's forever.' Where did that belief come from for you?
That belief comes from how I see photography—not simply as capturing an image, but as preserving a moment that can never happen in exactly the same way again. A photograph can hold a memory, an emotion, a place, or even a person at a particular point in their life. The moment we capture may last only a second, but the photograph can remain with someone for years. That’s why I believe every click becomes a small piece of someone’s forever. For me, photography is ultimately about giving fleeting moments a chance to live on.
What's the story behind that frame — where were you, and what pulled you to shoot it?
That frame came after a lot of frustration. I went out with a specific idea—to capture the sun in an unusual way—and took nearly a hundred photos, but nothing felt right. As dusk approached, I remembered a quote about looking closer at what’s already around you. That’s when I noticed a small leaf near a rock. I quickly placed it on the rock and adjusted it until the setting sun aligned perfectly behind it. The magic truly came alive during editing. After all those failed attempts, I realized—sometimes the frame you’re searching for isn’t in front of you; you find it only when you keep looking. Patience really does pay off.
You clearly love the night sky — what's it like waiting for and catching a moment like the Moon and Venus together?
For me, photographing the night sky is about patience, timing, and composition. Capturing the Moon and Venus together requires waiting for the right alignment and light, while carefully considering the surroundings. When everything comes together in a single frame, the patience behind the shot makes the moment truly rewarding.
Walk us through the journey to that spot — how far did you go, and what greeted you when you finally arrived?
I rode nearly 600 km to reach Deomali, Odisha’s highest peak, drawn by the possibility of witnessing its landscape at first and last light. The journey was demanding, but arriving at the summit brought an entirely different sense of anticipation. As the sun moved across the horizon, the mountains, mist, and sky gradually transformed—offering fleeting compositions that could not be recreated. For me, the photograph was not simply about reaching a destination; it was about the patience, perspective, and willingness to travel for a moment that exists only for a few minutes.
Your work has such a distinct moody, atmospheric feel — how much of that happens in the moment, and how much comes later in editing?
I’d say the mood begins in the field and is refined in post-processing. I usually look for naturally atmospheric conditions—soft light, mist, shadows, reflections, and subtle tones—and try to capture the feeling of the scene as authentically as possible in-camera. In editing, I focus on enhancing what was already there rather than creating a mood that didn’t exist. For me, post-processing is less about changing the photograph and more about bringing out the atmosphere I experienced when I pressed the shutter.
What made that one difficult, and how did you finally land it?
The hardest part was managing hand-shake and extreme perspective alignment without a tripod. When you're trying to frame a fast-moving sunset dead-center inside the microscopic threads of a plastic bottle using just an iPhone, the tiniest millimeter of movement throws the whole shot off. I finally nailed it by locking my elbows to stabilize, tapping the screen to manually lock the exposure so the sun's fiery glow wouldn't blow out, and relying on precise timing and burst mode to capture that exact fraction of a second when everything aligned.
What drew you to capture this one?
I'm someone who constantly observes the clouds and the sky every single day, watching how their colors and moods shift constantly—much like our own human mood swings. Because of that deep connection, I feel compelled to capture every moment, whether it's a calm, beautiful collection of clouds or a heavy, dramatic one, framing them alongside whatever landscape or structure is available to tell that emotional story.
When someone stops to really look at one of your photographs, what's the one feeling you hope stays with them?
As photographers, we often see much more in a frame than what the photograph can immediately reveal. Not everyone may see what I saw or understand what I was trying to convey, and I think that’s part of the beauty of photography. I hope my images give people enough to pause, interpret, and find their own meaning—while perhaps catching a glimpse of the feeling and intention that existed behind the frame.
Contact and Follow
Email: rajatranjanpriyadarshi@gmail.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sailens1111
