We speak to Sandeep MV and HR Preetham of Sunburstt Visuals on one of their recent shoot to find out more about the duo's amazing works.
Being photographers for over a decade, we feel that there is a need to showcase India to the world. Social media makes it easy for the world to look at these images. We strongly feel that the Indian perspectives of India is not adequately represented to the global audience. We focused on showcasing the strong culture, tradition of Maharajas, Queens, palaces of India and Indian woman to the world in The Princess Shoot.
Modern India is a melting pot of many cultures: two centuries of British rule has certainly made an impact not just in education, systems of governance but also in dresses and culture. New-age reality TV celebrities like talent featured Niveditha Gowda are also mainstream social media influencers. Keeping all this in mind, we pre-visualised The Princess Shoot to have all these components and the treatment was to give it a cinematic feel and a proper Indian canvas for the shoot.
Q: What are your inspiration?
A: The biggest inspiration for us is the city of Bangalore, its amazing climate, the mix of its people, and of course the ladies. All this push us to craft better and better images. The work of photographers like Tarun Khiwal, Lee Jeffries and Chris Knight inspires us.
Q: What are some challenges that you have faced on set, and how did you overcome them?
A: The biggest challenges we face on the set is being India, people, especially girls are very withdrawn because of the strong cultural influences. During the shoot, putting them in a comfort zone and then shooting them fully relaxed in the poses is the first challenge. We really take time to make them comfortable, and then shoot. Other challenges include on site difficulties of working within schedules and timelines, which we often had to improvise on site.
Q: How do you think your work has evolved over time?
A: Like with many photographers we have had the similar start of shooting of what we believed were good images, but we soon realised that a powerful image was one which had drama. Lighting was the crucial ingredient to bring out drama. We focused on upgrading our lighting skills, and in all our recent work we try to play around with lighting a lot especially with the Profoto B1 and A1 systems which have liberated us from cords. We now lay a lot of emphasis on not just light, but on the placement of the it and the light shaping tool used. Shadows now are equally important to us and how they shape the picture is something in our minds to constantly push our limits in image making.
Q: Can you share with us your thought process before embarking on a shoot like this?
A: Our image making is central to the people we shoot. We have a series of discussions with our subjects and what they expect from us. We then analyse and suggest broad points for the shoot. Initial consultation with all concerned is important because everyone can then work toward the vision of the shoot. Moodboards, costumes, makeup ideas, location and props all discussed before hand and then the previsualisation of the images is also done. We normally start with the general mood of the shoot whether it is lively or dark. We modify light once we start to push deeper and deeper into the theme we have in mind. Once we have reached the desired mood for the light we start playing around with posing and composition.
Q: Both of you have differing styles of shooting. How do you both come to a compromise to achieve the final image?
A: There is a constant war of words between both of us, we are so comfortable with each other that we do not hesitate to speak our mind. We know between us each of us have a comfort zone for images, we try and play to our strengths, the best advantage is we get to share our vision during the shoot by constant feedback and slowly we move to a space where we are shooting harmoniously. The final image is generally when we get into the zone which is aesthetically pleasing and artistically satisfying for both of us.
About
HR Preetham in his mid-twenties is a charmer. Though from the IT industry, he is well nuanced about the world of fashion photography. His strengths lie in visualizing images which can be connecting with people not just across countries, but continents. With a patience to match his smile, he is someone where the word ‘sweet’ come across short. Apart from photography, Preetham's interests run across fast bikes and cars, and the word ‘fast’ needs a new definition when you travel with him. Follow HR Preetham on Facebook here, and on Instagram here.
Sandeep MV is in his early thirties. After his 9 year stint in the IT industry, Sandeep moved to his true calling: Photography. He is a traveller and loves to capture his journeys through his lens. With a fine eye for portraits, Sandeep loves to surprise his clients with perspectives which only he can pull off. Sandeep opens up instantaneously when he is shooting, and drives the creative content part of Sunburstt. Follow Sandeep MV on Facebook here, and on Instagram here. To see, more of Sunburstt Visuals, check them out on Facebook and Instagram.
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