WallMag : Could you give our readers a bit of information about you, where you’re from, and tell us a bit about the kind of work that you do?
We are Harish and Shankar, childhood friends with a shared passion for the lens. We started out down this road six years back because we wanted to be storytellers and expression capturers and have never looked back since.
Each of us is a master of all trades. If one of us focuses on Photography and the other on Cinematography. We both adore nature, and often travel to feed this love of ours. You’ll see the mountains, the rivers, the seas and the trees a lot in our work because our love of nature is often reflected there.
Apart from this we are movie maniacs and work with the Tollywood industry often.
One example of our recent work would be the movie Sahoo, we have been covering its making since the past two years and have been featured in the credits.Currently we operate from Hyderabad and have a team of talented visual artists with us who have helped us build a name in the Wedding Photography Industry.
WallMag : Tell us a bit about your journey? What inspired you two to get into wedding photography?
Our first wedding project was an accident. We shot my sister’s wedding and friends liked it so much that they all started to come to us.
After looking at the pictures we clicked all of the couples’ families were overwhelmed with emotions and invited us to lunches with them. We felt really appreciated and realised that pictures make an impact. Our pictures made people happy and their happiness gave us the satisfaction that our 9 to 5 jobs didn’t at the time.
WallMag : What are the unique trends in wedding and pre-wedding photography this season? What’s been the most popular?
- Conceptual pre-wedding shoots and pre-wedding shoots in exotic locations are in trend this season.
- Candid photography and candid videography are the gold of the industry and have consistently been in trend since they began.
WallMag : Do you have a favorite among the photos you have captured or a film you have shot … Anything you hold close to your heart and why?
Our Village Shoot with Rohit and Priyanka is the first thing that comes to our mind. This shoot was full of rural vibrancy. Rohit’s ancestral home was colourful and had an old world charm to it. We used sunlight and artificial light to make sure that the couple was visible among the shadows of the huge home. The whole shoot was sweet and nostalgic. It took us back in time!
There is a maternity shoot also that is very close to our heart because of the connection we formed with the couple. Isaac and Apoorva invited us into their home because Apoorva’s delivery was due very soon and she wasn’t well enough to step out. Throughout the shoot we felt like we were part of their family as we captured their small and personal everyday moments.
WallMag : What’s your advice to couples searching for their dream photographer? Any other tips for them?
Every Photographer has a different style, you have to choose the style that best meets your vision. This will help you filter out most photographers. Next thing you need to look for is a team with face. It is crucial for you to choose a team with a representative. A known face or a representative can help you better communicate your vision to the rest of the team and is also responsible for ensuring that the shoot fits your vision for it.
One more important thing is not compromising on your choice of photographer due to slight variation in your budget. Do not lose out on your dream photographer due to slight differences in your budget and their package costs.
Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event so you should hire the photographer that will be right for it.
WallMag : What has been your favorite project so far?
We enjoy every wedding so much that by the end of all events we become close enough to our clients to be considered family.
We like intimate weddings where the crowd is less so the couple is more comfortable and we are also able to mesh well with everyone.
WallMag : Tell us about your best picture that makes you proud - why?
This is a spontaneous shot that we took of our clients Pavan and Vidya at the end of their shoot when we felt like we hadn’t yet gotten the ‘Picture of the Day’.
The different perspective that struck us in that moment in such a short time and the final outcome of our work that day always makes us proud.
WallMag : What would you say is the biggest challenge you’ve faced over your years in photography?
We never faced a big enough challenge because we were well prepared when we began and even down the line whenever a small obstacle came our way were able to learn and stay ahead of the times.
One small but significant obstacle that we faced was our grasp of client preference. It is something that took us some time to understand, in the beginning we shot whatever we liked but slowly after much observation we understood that we should also consider the client’s perspective. Without compromising on our signature style we should be able to balance the client’s vision for the shoot.
Today it has become a major part of how we operate. We believe that the best way to preserve our clients’ memories is by doing it the way our clients would like it. Little things like the choice of songs for the videos, the choice of colours and the style of editing make a huge difference to the end result and so these are some decisions that we let our clients make. We believe that after all is said and done, our clients should be happy with the end product. And due to this customization in our services, we have an almost 100 per cent client satisfaction rate.
WallMag : How would you say your photography has changed since you started out?
When we started out it was just the two of us and we were handling everything, we even had a small office where everything was extremely chaotic.
We were doing so many things that we were unable to keep track of all of them. That’s when we realized that we had to use our prior experiences to make things easier for us, to make them more streamlined. We then started building a team and assigning things to each department. Today we are a team of 24 members in-house and we work with over 50 freelancers all over.
WallMag : Can you please tell us about your clientele with proper description?
We have a lot of NRI clientele. Couples who live far away from their home are often tensed with planning their wedding from across the seven seas. They find out about us through word of mouth and usually contact us to ease their worries. We help them by planning and coordinating with them even when they are not present in the country, when they finally arrive for their wedding events, we are able to capture them just as they wanted us to.
WallMag : How you are different from other wedding photographers?
All photographers by the nature of their job are quick. But we change the definition of quick not just in reference to our shutter speeds or our ability to catch a moment while it's happening but through our ability to be spontaneous. Most of our best shoots were spontaneous. An example of this is our couple shoot in CA 1 highway in California which was only decided on, one night before the shoot day. In the morning we just woke up and drove with the couple by the seaside to stop and set up at whichever spot we felt was scenic.
One more thing that’s different is how we are able to understand the importance of personalizing wedding photography. Our focus on clients’ perspectives makes us stand apart. A lot of our couples feel the same emotions that they did on their wedding day when they look at their pictures years down the lane. Our pictures usually act as a cure for their nostalgia. Because of this, we have a lot of clients who get back to us even 3-4 years after their wedding to thank us for the wonderful memories we helped preserve in time.
WallMag : What’s your best advice for those starting out in photography for the very first time?
First, don’t expect quick returns in the first few days. The fruits of your labour will take time to come. Things will change once you establish yourself.
Second, if you’re getting into wedding photography make sure you are client centric. For other genres, make sure you’re passionate about your work.
Third, stay motivated and have the zeal to learn. Experiment with everything, the angles, the lighting, the location, the lens and the colours.
WallMag : Share your 5 best photoshoot
Photoshoot - 1
Rohit wanted to heartily welcome Priyanka in his family and what better way to do that than by taking her for a visit to his ancestral home in Khanapur, Medak.
Rohit and his family are emotionally vested in their village, his grandfather helped the Village flourish to what it is today. Also, their home here was made by his grandfather with much determination and hard work and in a time when transporting building material was difficult. When Rohit was a young boy he used to play with a calf whenever he was here. That calf has now grown up and has her own calves. You can spot Rohit playing with one of them in this picture.
Photoshoot - 2
We shot Santhosh and Shreya at 14,270 ft in Ladakh.
Although the pictures look pleasant and our work may look effortless, shooting in Ladakh was far from easy.
For this picture we had to move really far away to make sure every element was included in the picture, we were hardly audible to the Santhosh and Shreya and managed to get the shot by coordinating with hand gestures.
Also higher altitudes bring with them a set of challenges in the form of acute mountain sickness.
For our ascent to Pangong we climbed a height of 750 meters, in addition to the 3,500 meters we’d already climbed to reach Leh. Despite taking precautionary measures, Shankar and one of our team members got extremely sick, even Shreya had started showing the early symptoms of mountain sickness by the third day of shoot but held on and gave us these marvelous shots.
Photoshoot - 3
In the city of palaces,Udaipur we stumbled upon a street completely in sync with the costumes of our couple Harsha and Anusha. We felt like the entire set up was done for our shoot and decided to quickly snap some pictures. But before we could begin a kid peeked out the window of a house on the street, so we asked for his and the owner's permission and proceeded to capture this fabulous shot.
Photoshoot - 4
Shruti and Krishna Teja decided to keep their guest list small. It resulted in a vibrant and intimate wedding full of close friends and family, a true celebration of their joy. Shruti is one of the most energetic brides we have shot and this picture is of her entire family walking her down the aisle in swag.
Photoshoot - 5
In the chilling temperatures of minus 9 degree celsius, we stood on the London Tower Bridge for forty minutes as commuters rushed by. We were waiting for a red route bus to pass us. It came with no warning and we captured this picture with a frame containing all the three things that form the essence of London in it. Love, the red bus and the London Tower Bridge!
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