Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful new year! If anything, Ive learnt that its not about setting resolutions or goals for each year. But rather putting more energy and working harder towards what you believe. Heres to more hoping, dreaming, believing and doing!

On that note, I am so excited to share that I just bought myself a Canon 5D Mark III. I have to thank my baby bro, amma and daddy for all the support. They still haven't given up on my dreams. Whatever little success I have gotten is because of them. Thank you from my entire heart! Love you!

Here are pictures of me unpacking the beauty! Thank you for your continuous support. I am so excited to jump into more future projects. I want to sign off saying: Dare to dream a little bigger, darling!

Painting

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you are having a wonderful time with your family. Today I spent most of my day finishing of my final work for the art I started yesterday. Here is my painting of Krishna.

Happy Ganesh Chathurthi! :)

Hope everyone is having a good festival season! I wanted to share my play-doh ganesha creation. I guess this is why I love my career choice - play-based therapy! Play-doh creations are so much fun. Here's to hoping neshi clears everyone's obstacles! Happy Vinayakar Chathurthi! :) Eat lots of kozhakattai's!

Spark Me Saturday's: A Happy Intro

This month - yes this very month- I've decided I have lots to say. And where better place than my blog!  And no this isn't going to stop...I think I want to be more active. And here is my attempt to be more active. Every other Saturday I've decided to share goals, new videos I enjoyed, thoughts, process, randomness...etc...etc...anything - anything I am ready to share. Thus came the title: Spark Me Saturday's. Why the word Spark? Well, we all need a little spark or Inspiration for creativity.

Lets start

I am a big music buff. I love all types- I could never particularly say I am drawn to one. Recently I have been avoiding pop - no katy perrys no rihannas. I find them just blahing it out. Here is one of my favorite from this year: Jason Mraz baby! This one's just smooth and nice. And what's more inspiring than the words: I wont give up :]



Vimeo is just awesome and they awarded their Grand Prize winner. I'm in love with the video - very simple thought but very powerful. I enjoy the simplicity. 


Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

I am always in love with TED. I think every morning should start with a TED talk. I love love love the ones that inspire you and the ones that share such deep stories. Also the top TED's (for me) are technology in Photography. Here is a very interesting TED on Light Field of Photography (Lytro):


Now lets look at some pictures just cus:

      

RAW: Solstice San Diego

I love going out and sharing my photographs. Its much more fun when you see a viewer passing by ...then come strolling right back and look at each picture in detail. Thats exactly what RAW does for me. RAW: natural born artist is a great platform for showcasing new work and networking. Its a great place to learn customer service and showcase work in a unique-gallery type way. It was a lot of fun and so so so happy to say Ive SOLD my first ever prints $$! :] Thanks once again for supporting me. So here is a collage of pictures of the show/video of me being silly and just giving you a gist of the environment. Please keep following my work on Youtube, Facebook and here! :]

A Letter

I love getting emails about compliments and criticism, good or bad. I mean who doesn't?  I look forward to these emails! :] So I got a really nice letter and thought this was a good time to share it since its been exactly a year since I photographed my first editorial in April 2011. I've learnt so much in this year and I thought by sharing this email I would share how much I've learnt. Photography grows with a person and I totally believe that where I am and what I am is because of all the mistakes and lessons I've made. "There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience." - Archibald MacLeish


the letter:

Hi Pavithra,


My name is Anonymous and I want to be a fashion/lifestyle photographer. I have been following your blog and your amazing progress. I have a camera, Canon Rebel T3, and 50mm 1.8 lens that I love. But I haven't done any real shooting with them because I can't get vendors to invest their time in styled shoots and I lack confidence in my skills.
Can you give me some advice on how to start? I really hate my job right now and would like to pursue photography full time but I have limited means. How did you start? Do you have a part time job that you use to supply your photographic business with? I don't know if I should quit my job and start freelance photographing. Please advice. I will really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Anonymous



Hi Anonymous

Thank you for following my work and blog. I have heard Canon rebel T3 is a nice camera and I also own 50mm 1.8 :]. I started out the same way. I had a Canon Rebel T1 and few kit lenses and started photographing nature and animals. They seemed to be the easiest subject and readily available. This helped me learn about lighting techniques working in different environments and helped me figure out what to focus on. Once you feel like you understand light its easier to switch to people and fashion. And one tip is: try to always shoot in Manual mode. That's when you really understand all parts of the camera and controlling light. :]
The first portraits where of my dogs before I started bugging my brother to pose for me. lol! :P Anyways I know this is a weird question but Where do you live? Most places have model/photographer scouting websites that you could use to build your portfolio. After I photographed my brother I put them up on the model websites to get actual aspiring models to work with me. And soon figured out we need make up artists and hair stylist to get your vision. Photography techniques where all learnt thru trial and error. I bet you the models I worked with in the beginning where frustrated with what i gave them :P. Its definitely a learning process.
As for the success of the business - if its based on money then I can easily say I am still not successful. If its based on people and connections - I know I have grown so much to work with some great artists. I do have a part time job currently that pays for my passion in Photography. One day I do hope I can earn in this passion. So for now stick to your job and use your free time for your passion. :] Photography is such a job that you could fit it anytime of the day! I spend every evening and weekend on it! Hope this helps.


Thank you once again for all your support. And if you need any technique question...please feel free to ask! I would be more than happy to share the details. Thanks! :]


--


Kind regards


~ Pavithra Ramasubramanian

Website: http://pavithraphotography.com/

Email: pavithraphotography@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PavithraPhotography

Women's Day!

Happy International Women's Day! This day marks a celebration of Women all around the world. :] I think its great day to say to every girl: you are beautiful! not for the makeup you are wearing or the clothes you put on - but because of you. Your smile, your thoughts...because of who You are. :]

Ive noticed women very often put each other down, and reduce each others self esteem and confidence. I have been a part of this too. I think its time to change. Nothing is worth comparing to each other or trying to run a race. We are all beautiful and talented. We do not need to compete but love what we do. Follow your heart. Don't ever think any dream is too big. Practice your art because practice makes you better - not perfect! And do it for yourself, not anyone else.

I hope I wasn't mumbling :] Here is a picture I share with you today. This is my gorgeous big sister I look up to. This was from a photoshoot last weekend and I cant wait to share more pictures with you!

Warrior Princess

So today was a scary day for me. Not only was this my first shoot with a horse it was also the first time someone got hurt at the photoshoot. Everything was going great. The makeup and hair was coming along wonderfully, the designer brought some gorgeous dresses for the gorgeous model to wear and the horse was getting brushed ready for the shoot. As we move to the grass area we hear wind picking up, still everything was fine. And we get to this perfect location - trees all around, the greenest grass you could ever find, everything looking gorgeous. The model gets ready to go on the horse and all of a sudden the wind picks up as she is climbing on the horse and the horse decides to throw her over. She flips over the front of the horse and lands on the grass. I think one of the bravest models I have ever seen. I learned a lot today - nothing is predictable and even if everything is perfect you have to take small steps. And people's safety is first and foremost! Super glad to share that the model is doing great and she only suffered a sprain on her hand. Thank you chauntelle for being so brave! Models like you really show what this Industry is all about - strength and beauty! 

KOLAVERI....aadi!

So Thought I would start the new year with my BIG resolution. Usually you hear about my past - a year recap and what my goals are for this new year. This time I think I want to make it sweet and short! so here it goes! :]

Do everything with a Kolaveri (rage)!

CNN says its Murderous rage - but Im not gonna murder anyone.
You might ask : Why this Kolaveri di?

my answer: Life needs some Kolaveri! :]

And for those worried about 2012 being the end- i think u need to take this attitude :]

Enjoy~ And Wish you all a very Happy New Year! :]

New Gear to the Family - 85mm f/1.2

Since I am heading on this wonderful trip - I decided to spend my saved budget for Canon Mark III (which hasn't been released yet) into a NEW LENS. I think a prime lens is a must in any photographers pack. So purchased a 85mm f/1.2 L lens. I already have 50mm f/1.4 (not prime) so couldnt buy it in prime. So here is to purchasing the 85mm f/1.2. Cant wait to share results from Paris and Chennai. :]

New Blog Look

I dunno if you are one of those people who likes changing things around them. If you ask my mom she would say I change too often. Move the furniture, paint the room different colors, change the style...I think I do all of that a little too much. Here is the new look to my blog. I think Im in love with it! :] Hopefully new change means new ventures! And just for fun...Here is how it looked before:

Its booked!

Im so excited to share that I am heading to India! :] I will make a quick stop over in Paris for 5 days. Yay! :] and then in India for 5 weeks from Nov 26th to Jan 5th! Here is to hoping for some fun experiences and greats shots!

Photoshoot: Uyirum Neeye

I love my mother. I think everyone shares a special bond with their mothers and I am lucky to have this bond with my mom. She is my best friend, my teacher, my everything - everything that I am today. So Thanks mom for always believing in me. These were shots we took for fun in matching colored Sarees. :]

Self Portrait: Park Bench

Self Portrait shot just for fun this weekend. Something fun and something natural. Hope you like it! :]

Rain Dance

Today was a Rainy day and I felt like taking pictures. So here are some shots thru the window. I thought this quote was perfect for what I felt the entire day: " If you think sunshine brings happiness then you haven't danced in the rain." Enjoy!

A New Logo

A new year begins and Ive decided to create a New Logo:

A Year in Review

As today marks the last day of this year 2010, I thought I would take some time to post quick highlights from this year. Ive actually been looking forward to the new year. With that being said I do not mean Im not thankful for 2010. I think all the ups and downs have some sort of play in our life- and gets you grounded.

This is my last of self-portraits goals -shot with a Nikon D90 on the last day of the year. My family and I were vacationing at Santa Barbara/Solvang. This was shot just as the sun was setting and I just took a few minutes to enjoy it and soak it in. It is beautifully blue!

I had set a lot of goals for 2010 and I would say I have not completed most. I realize sometimes life can take you in an unplanned path - good or bad we wont know until we reach the end. So I want to just share the good from this year:

• doing a photoshoot with models - working with people your not use to
• getting a job in a studio - learning the work flow
• being able to pour my heart out in tiffinbox - i got a lot of good response
• a new light - opens new doors in photography ;]
• and getting in front of the camera with self portraits- always a good way to build confidence
  

I didnt want to do too much of a detailed post since I want to keep the new year open to change. Here's to the new year...cheers! ;]

Self Portrait - November

Shot with lens flare at our neighborhood park. It was a total fun day in the park playing with them. Thought this would cherish that moment. Sometimes we are all children at heart. I wish we could spend most of lives enjoying such small wonderful things.

Self Portrait: Month October

Ive started to feel that self-portraits have become a commitment. :] Not that I am not up for it but being creative on a target deadline has been tough, especially juicing my brain. Ive looked onto others for ideas but still I do not want to copy something that which i do not feel or have nothing to do with. So here is a simple shot in my studio (my room) with a grey drop. This was just after the models shoot and I thought this might be a nice portrait. Thanks for all the support guys! Much appreciated :]

Working for a Studio

So I have just started working for a local photographer to get the knowledge of Studio style photography. Its at a wonderful location here in San Diego and the best of all the photographer - Jessica (my boss) is a very wonderful person to work with. She is very kind, teaches me photoshop techniques, shows me what I can do to improve on business side (which i have none of) and shows her work flow. It has been a great experience since I get to see from assisting at the shoots to doing the lightroom and photoshop workflow all the way to printing and handing it to the customers. Oh did I say she has the best models!! Babies! :) So here is her website: http://www.jessicadavisphotography.com/ check out the wonderful baby and family photography! :) thanks