It is all about being there

Yes, I realised this two days ago and my views were confirmed today. There's this advertisement by Nikon about photography. I've seen it only once, hence do not recollect the exact content, but the gist is that photography is not only about the camera and your skills, it is also being there at the right time.

Now, if you take a look at this photograph, you can see a streak of light appearing at the left top corner of the Renaissance building. That streak is of an airplane taking off from the Mumbai airport. Now, considering that I am in Powai and that the point of take off is more than 12 kms by road, this streak appears bright enough. This is a classic case of me being present when the plane was taking off. While my intention was to capture the Renaissance Hotel building during night time, the focus has now changed to the airplane, which is just a streak in the photograph. The meaning conveyed by this photograph has changed completely from the intention with which it was clicked.

Another example is this photograph of the monkey. This was taken from the stairs leading to my department. It was an exceptionally cold morning in Mumbai and most monkeys were trying to warm up. This monkey too was doing the same and I thought of capturing it with my camera. Now, the moment I turned my camera on and clicked the button, this monkey turned his/her head and voila!! The resulting image was as if the monkey is posing for the photograph. Well, these two incidents have convinced me that the beauty of a photograph also lies in its timing. Being there to see that is also very important.