Guess who is on the cover of the latest Outlook magazine!

The answer to the above question is easily guessable since I am making it so obvious. :p Yes, it is ME! Well, not solo, but still. The article was about “Twitter’s real stars” – basically about people who are not real life celebrities but have a huge following/popularity on twitter. It has quotes from a lot of usual suspects and then a list of various ID’s that can be followed for various topics. This was the cover story in this edition, so they got their photographers to take images of some of the people to be put up on the cover.

Since my twitter id is @twilightfairy, they wanted me to wear a gown & wings, hold a wand etc and basically portray the id. I wasn’t so sure of the idea and initially I vetoed it completely and told them that I would rather have them take a simple picture because a “fantasy” shoot with such props would need a proper make up artist and stylist etc who would be able to make sure that it all comes together beautifully. Since I would be in front of the camera and not behind it in this case, I would have no idea what’s going on. There was also the problem of props. They were supposed to get the other props but they couldn’t have done so for the gown bit .. it had to be something long and flowy to give that feeling. Eventually with no time left and no options left either, I decided to use the next best option. I washed my hair, conditioned it, disentangled it, combed it, serum-ed it and what not in order to be spread around me, the length not being an issue The other thing I did was – put on some eye makeup (read blue kohl & black liner) and I was good to go. The photographer Narendra Bisht & I had had a discussion about the shoot and the obvious conclusion was that it should be some time in the evening which gives that “twilight” feel (For the record my id has nothing to do with the vampire series – it is all about that time of day). It had to be a green sort of place with lot of trees and the best location for that was Leisure Valley park in Sec 29, Gurgaon.

off for a shoot. in front of the camera this time. fotu to appear soon in a mag :p
@twilightfairy

So we turned up there. I found a nice “jhurmut” (pic above) at Leisure valley park and we decided “this was it”. There was no wand but Narendra had managed to get the wings from some place in Chandni Chowk after much research. All the ones he initially found had been very tiny in size (meant for school girls). Then he found this shop that had theatre costumes and stuff. Back to action. Wore the wings. Felt a bit silly. Spread the hair around self & then the toughest part – followed the directions of “another” photographer :p. But it was good that he was open minded, had some shots in mind & took some suggestions. I saw the shots in between, saw what worked, what didn’t and tweaked it. During all this while, obviously The Great Indian Tamasha had launched itself in our background with people watching & commenting. It was most disconcerting, but I just shut them out. In some cases when guys would walk by too close staring with their neck twisting at 180 degrees, I had to be brusque with them & asked them to move on with their business. One of them walked into a tree during a similar pursuit and much hilarity ensued. Eventually our audience got bored and left. Plus it was getting dark. During the time I was supposed to hold my phone in my hands and take some shots, I quickly tweeted

Shoot in progress. Some nincompoops watching. Good hair day becoming bad hair day
@twilightfairy

Cutting to the chase, here’s the Outlook Cover and you can read the article here. I have 3 images in the magazine overall (which I’ll probably add later separately after getting them from the photographer). One on the cover, one on the index page (which talks abt the cover story) and one in the cover story. Triple bonanza . Here’s an excerpt.

Blogging also helped Priyanka Sachar @twilightfairy increase her tweet-worth. Priyanka passed up eleven-and-a-half years as a computer engineer to become a fine art wedding photographer, and regularly tweets links to her work. She hardly blogs now, having “lost patience with lengthy posts”, and can’t say enough about the mercurial nature of Twitter, though her strike rate of 70-plus tweets on a good day says enough.

Though I have been on the cover of Telegraph India’s “Graphiti” mag also, as part of a wedding photographers cover story with 2 others, this was an entirely different thing altogether. Outlook mag is a bigger deal .

Next in line – hopefully a cover image shot by me.

Got featured in Hindustan times’ Sunday Brunch!

After getting featured in Telegraph India, Mid-day and more, I recently got featured in Hindustan times’ Sunday Brunch magazine! The story was called “A different shot” and featured 4 wedding photographers including me. It also included some images from the weddings I have shot. Excerpt follows.

“Marrying (no pun intended) ‘Fine Art’ with wedding photography was only natural,” she says. “It involves clicking the same situation artistically and without turning the subjects into bunnies caught in the glare of headlights. It is probably one of the most challenging forms of photography ever.”

The keys to getting that perfect candid shot, she says, lie in spotting moments as they unfold and being almost invisible so that people are not conscious of being clicked. Priyanka loves what she does, particularly weddings that have some sort of twist to them. “I can’t wait for gay weddings to be legalised in India so I can do something different,” she grins.

You can read the full article here. The article describes me as “A project manager in the IT industry and an enthusiastic photographer, Priyanka ‘marries fine art with photography’. She’s one of the very few female wedding photographers in India.” The Project manager part is sort of incorrect because I’ve left the IT industry to pursue this profession. It seems the copy editor made some mistake in the original article which went in just fine. That’s fine as long as they correctly identify the part that matters . The .jpg’s of the article can be found here [Page1, page2, page3]. The pdf’s are here [Page1, Page2, Page3]

Slutwalk Delhi – a Photoessay, published in Sunday Guardian

Slutwalk Delhi or ‘Besharmi Morcha’ was conducted in Delhi on 31st July. I attended it and clicked photographs there. Those who don’t know what Slutwalk is, can do with a bit of background first. Some of these images got published as a photo essay in the Sunday Guardian yesterday. The article had a short description of the event and mostly the pictures speak the thousand words .

Slut Walk Delhi, renamed the Besharmi Morcha to suit Indian sensibilities took place on 31 July. Both women and men were expected to actively participate and support the cause. But though some 700 people turned up, not many women did, most likely because no one wanted to be part of a rally where they would be ogled at. However it was heartening to see men support the cause and take the lead. To ensure a peaceful protest there was considerable police cover, including women cops. Delhi Drum Circle and Asmita Theatre Group performed at the event. The media portrayed the event as a damp squib, but the energy at the event was palpable, and it was heartening to see men educating one another about acceptable behaviour.

The photo essay can be seen here – [jpg doublespread], [pdf Page 1], [pdf Page 2] . A ‘very low res pics’ version of the article is online as well.

The entire album from Slutwalk Delhi can be seen at my Facebook page. It got a lot of attention nationally and internationally thanks to the nature of this event.

Got featured in Sunday Guardian!

I recently got featured in Sunday Guardian about how female wedding photographers are perceived by their clients and how they are becoming a popular choice due to various reasons . From my own experience, I can add, that at every single wedding I have clicked, there are always a lot of people (especially women) coming up to me and saying that, that was the first time they ever saw a female photographer and they are proud of that fact. Makes all that jostling around with the other (typical studio) photographers, totally worth it :p

When Mita and Gautam Brahma were looking for a photographer for their son’s wedding, a small and intimate affair, they wanted someone who would do it “in an unusual way.”  Having seen Sachar’s work at her photography shows, the family zeroed in on her without any hesitation. “The highlights of the wedding album she shot for us,” says Mr. Brahma, “are things that a conventional male photographer would have never thought of capturing – say, the flowers in a child’s hair, the bride’s jewellery spread out on the bed, the peacock design on the sleeve of her blouse.”

You can read the full article here. It also includes sound bytes from some of my clients.

Valentine’s day offer!

Looking for a cosy twosome picture of you & your special one? Always wished for your fun moments together to be captured? And err, came short on the budget for the same?

Well, take part in the Valentine’s day offer!

What you get:

1. 50 colour corrected, hi-res (300 dpi) images in .jpg format.

2. The same 50 colour corrected, low-res watermarked images in .jpg format.

FOR FREE, FREE, FREE

(couldn’t resist the Indian ad tactic)

The rules:

1. Join the FB page for PSpective Photography.

2. Post the Valentine’s day offer details and this post’s link on your FB wall.

3. Post on the FB wall of PSpective photography, a description in your own (250 or less) words why you feel that you should be chosen for couple portraiture. Add your best memories, since how long you’ve been together, what he/she means to you, the more details, the better. You can add pictures/video & get creative too.

Terms & Conditions:

1. The couple must be located in Delhi/NCR.

2. Both the people should be available for the said couple portraiture on or before 9th feb.

3. They can be married or unmarried, that’s not important as long as they are in love :p.

4. Same sex couples are also welcome

5. The images may be used for promotion or marketing of my photography or as photography contest entries.

6. You are free to print as many copies of the images, but you can not use the images commercially anywhere.

7. Your taking part in the giveaway means that you acknowledge the terms & conditions.

One lucky couple gets to win the couple portraiture giveaway for this valentine’s day, gets their pictures clicked before 9th Feb and gets their images by 14th Feb – valentine’s day, just in time to celebrate their togetherness!

This is the first giveaway I’ve tried my hands on, so please bear with me. For any queries please mail at info@priyankasachar.com with your contact details.

There will be many more giveaways to come! Since the timeline is short, there’s a chance that the deadline of this giveaway may extend.