Rachna and Niranjan – Part 2

I am glad that this happened. This was the much-needed boost to her confidence otherwise things could have gone sideways and maybe she would never have tried again. If I look at her today, she is completely a changed person. Today, when on the field, she takes the charge. She handles people perfectly!

𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒂 – All thanks to Niranjan!

He always pushed me to break my barriers. If he hadn’t been there always pushing me even though I was reluctant, I would have never made it to where I am today.

In 2016, as our visas were going to expire, we were supposed to return to India. At that time of all kinds of photography that I had tried, I found my calling in wedding photography. The love, emotions, and family bonds that you see during weddings are something indescribable and I found utter joy to silently witness it from behind my lens and capture it for those beautiful people. So I had made up my mind to pursue wedding photography after moving back to India. I had done 4 weddings in the US solely for experience and never charged as it wasn’t allowed. At the time, I had always made it clear to the couples that I was doing it just to gain experience and they were ok to let me do it.

After returning to India, apart from some hiccups, the first year proved to be lucky for me. The first thing I did was – I looked for established photographers and requested if I could assist them. However, I couldn’t get any positive response. Then as luck smiled, I got a lead from an Infosys photography club on Facebook and I got hired for that wedding – my first Indian wedding.  Even though I had no prior experience of any Indian wedding, other clients also came forward to count on me looking at the pictures I had already taken. At that time, Niranjan was also thinking of quitting the job. We thought about it. I asked him to wait for a year and see how things turned out for us. Then neither of us is in a job, didn’t look like a good idea.

He was mostly able to accompany me on weekends. The rest of the time, I had to work all by myself. Whenever it was an outstation wedding, both of us felt uncomfortable with me traveling alone. After a year, we decided to take the risk and he quit his job. Things got better for us and we got more clients. Now we can take up more weddings (within & outside Pune) & provide more services to clients. It has been four years to this journey!

𝑵𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒂𝒏 – While in my IT job, it was seldom possible for me to accompany her. It was easy for me to help her when the weddings happened in Pune and on weekends.

𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒂 – Oh… I remember this one time very well! It was my second wedding photoshoot in India, in Varanasi. To help me out, Niranjan had taken three days leave. However, it wasn’t possible to take such leaves frequently. So I had to set the expectations with the clients that they would be having one photographer covering everything. I ran around having two cameras with me. It was indeed very tough. Now, with him around, things are very easy. He has learned how to shoot and edit. From day one, he has always been my pillar of support.

𝑵𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒂𝒏 – When she quit the IT industry, I didn’t like the idea of her sitting idly at home.

I am glad that she took photography seriously. Seattle remained cold and rainy for 75 percent of the time in the entire year. So at home, she started learning more of photography, going through the camera manuals, which most people tend to avoid; going through the tutorial videos… She is self-made… I always kept thinking that she should become a full-time photographer. The sense of satisfaction and happiness she got from this and direct appreciation from clients, motivated me to join her full time. Her hard work and the difficulties she faced drew me in this direction.

𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒂 – Now we are enjoying being together and working together as this feels like we have earned it after going through all the hardships during our 6 years of being apart.

𝑵𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒂𝒏 – Yeah… as of now we are enjoying what we are doing – shooting weddings, connecting with our clients and their families, and hearing the words of joy they express once they see their photos and videos… And yes! We do have a big wish now – of getting to shoot a foreign destination wedding! That would be great!

Total Work Experience : 7 Years (Rachna), 12 Years(Niranjan)

Company : Infosys

To read part one : Click here