On The Streets – Gandhi Bazaar

Ganesha Chaturthy Shoot @ Gandhi Bazar

I have to say today was something to remember. I’ve been very interested in street photography, but something stopped me from getting into it. Sanju called me yesterday night at around 11 PM and informed me that there will be a BWS(Bangalore Weekend Shoots – A group on Flickr) meet @ Gandhi Bazaar. I checked the thread, and confirmed my attendance. Come today morning, wake up, check the weather. It’s a wee bit cloudy, and with a mild drizzle, but he manages to convince me into going. We synced up at Airport Road, and proceeded towards Residency Road. On the way, the clouds pour out, and we got totally drenched. Halted near Command Hospital, Sanju calls Peevee to find out that he ran off to Chennai We make up our minds to go ahead. Rain slows down, and off we go again. Since neither of us was familiar with the location, we find it after a couple of inquiries. It’s half psat seven, and there’s no one at Vidyarthi Bhavan. We decide to have breakfast. In the mean time, Dennis Zach gets Sanju’s number from Peevee, and gives him a call. He walks into Vidyarthi Bhavan, and after exchanging pleasantries, and finishing off the breakfast, we get onto the streets. It’s not raining as badly as it was before. We wait for a few minutes, and then start to walk. When the rain slows down, Sanju tells us that he’s going in and walks off with his camera. His action inspires all of us, and both of us decide that we’ll not miss the action. Well, the rest of the report, is below. Somewhere in between, Jyoti also joined us, but we lost track of her after a while.

Elderly gentleman at a Garland shop:

A Young Girl: Sanju was busy taking shots of this girl. She was looking at him, and her mom’s orange dress made a perfect backdrop. Click!

Gentleman at Ganesha Idol shop: Sanju and Dennis had walked in and started shooting the idols. I was outside getting some shots of this man. He asked me to come inside and get some photos of the idols he had. BTW, the first shot was from his shop.

Fresh roses:

Some more decorative artifacts:

Vegetable Vendor:

Mr. Dennis:

Father and Son : My favorite shot in this series.

Puncher / Pancher / Panchor Shop:

Ideas for Headgear Manufacturers:

Young Girl on the streets : Sanju was busy on the left getting shots – The child was distracted by Sanju – I got my chance to get a candid.

Woman with Bindi : Off all things, her large bindi stood out.

Girl in Tears: A pretty girl in yellow dress, just about to break into tears. Please note, I didn’t have anything to do with her crying.

Florist : He was fast, and was getting the flowers into the required layout very quickly.

World Champion: He finished his talk on the mobile, he and his few friends approached me and spoke to me for a few minutes (I speak broken Kannada – One of them translated it to a language I know better). I showed them the photos that I’d got since morning. He asked me to come over for the special lunch for Ganesha Chaturthi at his home. I couldn’t make it though.

Tying a Knot : She was fast, very fast. With constant interruptions, I had quite a bit of trouble getting the shot.

Man in helmet with an Umbrella:

Florist from across the road:

And the last of the series : This cute kid in the car was staring at me, as I got this pic, he waved goodbye to me.

This was my first attempt at street photography – I had some issues with framing, as clearly visible in almost all of the photographs. I was not prepared for the speed at which I had to complete composing, and getting the shot on time. It was a challenge, and I hope to get better as time progresses. All shots are right out of the camera with no processing done.

No, I’m not turning this into a photoblog. I want to improve my writing skills, and photography skills. Hopefully, I’d be able to write what I see – I’d rather want the photo to speak for itself though.