Clicking for the big day

What do you get when you take something you love to do and make it a profession? Ask Vishal Naik, and he’ll tell you all about it. Although all through his school and college his love for science outdid everything else, it’s only after that he realized his passion lay in photography and decided to take it professionally. And thus began Photo Pundit.

While pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Ramaiya, Bangalore, his neat and sleek figure along with his interest in the world of glamour and modeling got him modeling contracts with big brands like Arrow, Levis, Wrangler and Lee. “While in college, my passion for photography was further fueled by a colleague who was equally interested in photography. He helped me get familiar with the technical aspects of it such as depth of field, exposure of light and so on. I worked for eight long years as a model and soon started organizing fashion shows,” recalls Vishal.

It was one such fashion show that brought him back to Goa. Here he started working for an events company as an event coordinator having lost his interest in computer science. “I love to capture nature and its beauty but once I started working as a coordinator, it left me with little time to follow my passion and eventually from nature, I began interested in clicking people. Being in events was conducive. To the weddings that our company would hold, I would go with my own camera and click candid shots of the bride groom and the guests in attendance,” says Vishal.

By the year 2009, he began his own freelancing stint called Photo Pundit, where he, even today works as a freelancer specializing in wedding photography. Initial investments were dicey but today the outcome is visibly flourishing. “Finances initially were a bit of a problem. Photograph being a somewhat expensive field, the camera and the likes. But I managed to handle the issue. Working in the events field has truly been helpful,” recollects Vishal. Since the wedding scene is a purely seasonal function, he has up to 5 photo shoots a month. Explains Vishal, “November to the month of May is the busy period for weddings. But I restrict myself to 4 or 5 weddings because I like to give each wedding a personal touch. Taking too many projects in a month does not permit me to do so.” His major clients are NRI’s and foreigners though he treats every client as a client and doesn’t look up to any major client as it’s the experience that matters to his professional career.

So what does photography mean to the 29 year old photographer? “Photography for me is the means by which we can capture a perfect moment and remember it forever. In my opinion, a photograph speaks a thousand words. To be able to freeze a perfect moment forever feels great.”

He happily recalls an incident from when he was young that got him interested in photography, “I was 14 years old when I happened to go to Dandelim forest with my family and friends. A chance meeting with a bison was the beginning of my passion for photography. The site of the beautiful beast amazed me to no end. I went berserk. I wanted to capture every bit possible of the beast on my camera. To be honest, I was quite amazed at how good the picture had come out later. There was no stopping me then on.”

As for the future, Vishal can picture himself only doing what he loves doing the best. “Photography is my life. I want to establish myself as one of the best in town. I work hard on my skills as a photographer to improvise on myself.”