3 Minutes With Photographer Seshu

Great photographers always have a knack for making their work look effortless and their subjects look natural. Wedding and portrait photography may look easy enough, bit it can be extremely hard work albeit extremely rewarding. To capture the joy and essence of someone’s persona takes great skill and determination.  An exemplary photographer who makes wedding and portrait photography look is easy is Seshu who is today’s guest on “3  Minutes with…”

1. Describe your photography in 100 words or less.
I would like to think that my photography is about two very basic elements: light and life. My approach to weddings or portraits is philosophically the same – allow my subjects to get comfortable and they in turn allow me in to their lives. As a documentary photographer, I choose to participate rather than merely observe and capture emotionally charged moments.

2. What gear/software do you use?
Ever since my Canon camera was stolen out of my high-school locker, I have been a Nikon photographer. I prefer to work with FX bodies but an older DX body like the D300 is just fine. I depend more on my lenses. I love the 35 f/2, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.4, 17-35 f/2.8 and the 70-200 f/2.8. I wish I got a lot more use out of my 105 f/2.8 (macro), though. They are all Nikons. I have a couple of Nikon SB900′s that I use off-camera and trigger using PocketWizard Mini TT1/Flex TT5 or Paul C. Buff’s CyberSync transmitters and receivers. All of these sit securely in my numerous ThinkTank photo bags and rolling cases. As far as software is concerned, I can’t live without CameraBits’ PhotoMechanic to cull my images. After the images are selected I send them through Lightroom or Photoshop depending on how many there are to process.

3. What’s one quick tip that you’d give people interested in wedding & event photography?
I am going to be a rebel and give you two quick tips. One, like any art form, you’ve gotta go out and practice and practice a lot. Make creative mistakes and learn from them. Take your RAW files and put them side by side and compare them. Look at the metadata and see how under-exposing or over-exposing a scene helped or hurt you. Practice makes making images intuitive and that’s what you want to do … shoot from the heart and give it your all. Two, while it is art, it is also a business. Learn to value your time, your creative skill-set, your experiences, your products. Because if you don’t value what you do, you can’t expect anyone else to place that much value in it either. At that point, it becomes a hobby and that’s ok, if that’s what you want it to be.

4. What 3 photography sites blogs do you recommend?
For me David DuChemin’s Craft & Vision eBooks is a daily reminder of WHY I do what I do.

My friends Rob & Lauren Lim have taught me a lot about photo editing and album design through their website Photography Concentrate.

And lastly, bias aside, I would love it if people checked out my site for photographers called Tiffinbox. I invite guest bloggers to post articles as often as they want on topics that they feel most passionate about.

To view Connecticut-based Seshu’s wedding photography visit seshu.net. His children’s portraiture can be found at seshuportraits.com. He also has a dedicated website for headshot portraits.