Sheetal Petkar Photography at Utsav exhibition,2014

So being the typical artist who dreads the marketing part and loves photographing part of business, it was eating me up that i am not getting as many clients in. I had a lot of ideas of marketing what i do and none of them really pulled me in. So i just googled for trade shows/exhibitions in Pune and got this entire list of upcoming exhibitions. I clicked on the first link and posted a general enquiry to know how much it costs to put up a stall. The event organizer calls me and gives me the details and the next thing i know is i end up paying the advance without giving myself the space to think if i should do it. If i would have analyzed i would have definitely talked myself out of it.

Now that "to do" or "not to do" was out of question, i had to arrange for the money needed for the entire thing. (Yeah i know!) I had no clue what to expect out of the exhibition. The exhibition had an estimated footfall of 2 lakhs in the entire 11 days. All i knew was this was the way i could meet the end consumer directly and show people i exist on a big platform. The primary reason i needed to do this because my self doubt kept saying i couldn't. Fears, self doubts roaming in my head needed to rest in peace now.

The Branding stage: Even though it was going to be a 6ft x 9 ft stall, i wanted it to be the best looking space that stop people in their tracks and look. I wanted it to be a space people wanted to be in. So i focused my energies on the branding. 

I printed over a 1000 cards and brochures for people to take away.

The way i got the stall

I covered the stall with black satin and filled it with huge prints on the shelves. 

Satin background and shelves

 I put some lilies and carnations in vases so that it smelled and looked good. I put all my products i offer on display. My portfolio box of portraits, magazines, before and afters and also my promo videos, behind the scenes of the shoot and slideshows were looping on the television.

Even the name on the top of the stall, i did not want it to be the default naming with the white background. So i pasted a flex with my logo for the top banner.

A unique before & after :D

Got a standee made and placed it at the entrance. Many people saw the standee and came searching for the stall so it was totally worth it.

The Introduction/Client education stage:

Now that involves a lot of talking :D I have never spoken to so many people and so much in a single day ever! I had some really meaningful conversations with so many people. I got to tell them about why i do what i do. I could understand different requirements of people. I could study some really honest reactions from people too through their micro expressions. Some people were vaguely ignorant and rude but so many were so nice and appreciated the work. After a while you stop taking people so seriously. You just learn to move on quickly if the interaction is not so pleasant.

The Learning stage: I have been an artist and an employee before but this was the first time i felt like an entrepreneur. The exhibition showed me the spirit of entrepreneurship.I was never exposed to watching how hard people work to setup and run their businesses. I had a huge sofa stall in front of me and watching them sell their sofas all day, the technique, the hardwork, pitching to people without any fear of rejection. People coming from different cities to sell their products may it be clothes, jewellery or expensive artifacts. People manufacturing beautiful clocks with their own original designs and artistry, lamps, huge brass statues. Here a 11 day exhibition was so physically demanding for me, i was stumped when i heard some businesses do 100 exhibitions a year. It was like a bootcamp for  me in pitching, marketing, market research, sales and getting real bookings.

Starting day 3

The Booking stage: Even though everything looked good and people loved the concept of my business, the first 5 days i had no bookings. That is because i did not push anyone to book. I did not even ask people if they wanted to book now. I thought my product was good enough for them to take a step themselves. You see all kinds of awesome stuff in the market, it does not mean you buy everything. I let them go when they said they will think and get back, discuss with wife, mother, sister, friend, etc. They never get back - Lesson learnt! When they are physically present at the stall, things are in your control. Ofcourse i don't mean followups don't work, they do but you can make the most impact when they are physically in front of you. So yes by end of day 11 i made a total of 12 bookings which are spread across till the end of this year. Plus i have a nice email list i can stay in touch with and share my updates with.

On day 5

 Weekdays when the flow of the crowd was less, it was boring to sit there. It needed a lot of patience to be sitting at 1 place and doing something that is not so much in your original nature to do. I kept asking myself why am i doing this?! When people are not so pleasant, the entire effort feels pretty stupid. People have enough things to crib about, be sad about and I just want to spread some goodness in the world. Although i knew it was necessary i had to keep reminding myself of the bigger picture here.

My mission is to create Beautiful portraits of people especially women, I want every woman in my city/country/wherever to have their stunning portraits hung in their homes. I want people to exist in photographs for their loved ones. I want homes to have these huge family walls filled with portraits of people that live in them. I want them to be a reminder of love, beauty and happiness for years to come. It gives me joy every time i show somebody how beautiful they are through my pictures. And every time i dread doing something that i don't enjoy, I just need to remind myself of my mission occasionally and i get back to work ;)

Wrapping up!

How much photoshop is acceptable? Purpose, ethics and aesthetics of a photograph.

Photoshop or no photoshop? This is a highly controversial topic and people have strong opinions regardless of what they know about photoshop. Some photographers proudly claim they haven't retouched the image. What they don't realize is straight out of camera results differ in the choice of camera, lens choices as well. Enhancing starts in the camera itself. The quality of an image from a DSLR and a mobile phone camera will differ ofcourse. Not that a mobile phone will not shoot a good image but the quality, resolution will be better in a DSLR. A prime lens will give better depth of field than a zoom lens so they are widely used for portraits. 

Lets look at some basics ~

"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed" ~Ansel Adams

So the forever controversial subject - Photoshop or no-Photoshop? Lets keep this question aside for a while till we really understand what image editing/post processing/photo retouching is.

The dictionary meaning of Image Editing : 

"the analysis and manipulation of a digitized image, 

especially in order to improve its quality."

A little flashback of Image editing : Photo editing has been into existence right from the time photography has been invented. Earlier it was a tedious process working with negatives, now it has become easier and faster with Photoshop and other image editing tools. Photo manipulation has been  used till now for political reasons, glamour portraits, creating fantasy stories, increasing tourism, product marketing or just simple enhancing.

Levels of retouching an image : There are various levels to retouching an image. It depends on what really the purpose of the photograph is.

Minimal level of retouching - eg : Photojournalism. You wouldn't want to see altered images of war, floods, tsunamis, political news, etc. You want to see and know the truth about what is really happening around the world. Magazines like National Geographic, Discovery, etc. have pretty strict rules about how much retouching is really allowed on an image. Reality matters here.
That being said there has been a lot of tampering here too. Here is a link showing a list of photo tampering history many of which have been in the photojournalism category - http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/

High level of retouching - eg : Fine art photography, matte paintings, conceptual photography, HDRs, etc. These are created with an artistic vision of a photographer. It could be created to tell a story, create an eye pleasing art, creating film sets that would be expensive to create, creating a completely non-existent fantasy world. Its purpose is completely in contrast with photojournalism. Brooke Shaden being one of my favourite fine art photographers. 

Rest all categories come somewhere in between. It is really upto the photographer to choose their level depending on what their purpose for the photograph is. What a photographer needs to ask him/herself is -

Purpose : What is your purpose of creating a photograph? Is it for a magazine, advertising products, fashion photography, portraiture, street photography, advertising tourism, celebrities?

Aesthetics : in photography concerns with making an image pleasing to the eye. Image is enhanced in different ways to make it look beautiful and attractive. Since judging beauty is subjective, this is where image editing can get controversial . It will be different for everyone according to their personalities, culture, tastes. So how much enhancing is really good?

Here is where the subject of morality comes in.

Ethics : Digitally altering image to an extent namely
- Airbrushing extensively to create a false body image. Distorting and creating a over perfected body, making them overly slim, changing the skintone of a dark-skinned person excessively. This has been done for many years but has been noticed by public in the recent digital years.
- Creating false imagery in photojournalism.
- Manipulating public in believing political, war news that do not depict reality.

So is enhancing necessary at all?
Yes it is. Even if it is a little. Even in case of photojournalism - brightness, contrast, cropping is alright and necessary at times. The purpose should be met. That is what matters. 
As Ansel Adams quoted

"The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score
and the print, the performance."

Essentially it comes down to this -   

Photoshop is an amazing image editing tool. Remember that with great power comes great responsibility. You can either use it or abuse it. How much to use really depends on your vision. What is more important is to have one!

Know your purpose, 

Enhance the image for your aesthetics and 

Respect the ethics.

My Purpose

My brand is Glamour portraiture for everyday women. My purpose is making them feel beautiful and happy through makeovers. Tranformations always feel amazing. It feels new and refreshing. My clients are simple women who don't get their hair and makeup done everyday. They don't give that much attention to themselves in their daily busy lives with their jobs, housework, etc. They don't wear clothes like these, they don't stand like this everyday. So every once in a while it definitely feels good to pamper yourself, doll up and look sexy and beautiful. The portraits are for them and them alone. Not for products, not for magazines, they are just intended to make them feel happy. 

How much do i retouch?

I prefer getting it right in the camera itself how much ever i can. I shoot in Raw. I love playing with brightness levels, colors. I love warm and vibrant colors. There are some pictures which look adorable in black and white but i choose to decide during the post-processing. I love the old vintage film look. Since i have never used a film camera, i like getting that look in with grain and vignettes. Extra flab that my client is not super proud of is fixed in posing itself. It does not mean completely cutting it out. It just means making it less prominent. Maximum ladies are conscious about the same things - they don't want the double chins, flabby arms, paunch. Yes it is there but they don't want it to be eye catching, "rubbing it in the face" obvious in their portraits that would be hung on their walls. So i direct the focus to their eyes and their smiles which make them look gorgeous and stunning. Also i can't go too far and they would never buy an image in which they do not look like themselves. This is my style and it fits my standards of aesthetics and ethics. 

Here are some of my before and afters of retouched images.

  

I prefer choosing black and white during post processing.

How to make sure you hire the best photographer for yourself or for your important day?

Its a spectacular phase of your life. And you want to have a photoshoot that creates the best images of yourself or your wedding or any other important day. You want to own beautiful captures that reflects the essence of who you are, or creates beautiful memories of your wedding day. How do you hire an amazing professional photographer in the huge pool of existing photographers in your area who would understand your needs and capture that essence for you? 

Model : Amruta Yelmar, Photographer : Sheetal Petkar, Makeup & Hair : Bhuvini Shah

A photographer is an artist and not a commodity. If you just select your photographer on the basis of pricing, the cheaper photographer would save you money, but the expensive photographer will give you more in terms of the experience, value and service through their packages. They can provide you with products/service that the cheaper photographer would not be able to afford. The amount of time they would spend in planning your shoot would be more, giving you a lovely experience, high quality products and prints.

Ofcourse on the contrary, you might find a cheaper photographer who is a great artist who isn’t comfortable charging his real worth or you may find an expensive photographer who would give you out a mediocre result. That would be just leaving it to chance. It would be like hiring a photographer and praying they be good. How can you be sure that you are picking the right photographer for you? Can you risk compromising missing out on capturing the moments that exist in a split of a second that would mean so much for a lifetime?

Always setup a face to face meeting with your photographer beforehand. Here are 8 points you should know and check for in a photographer to see if he/she is a perfect fit for you.

1) Ask them why do they do what they do? 

What drives them to pick up their camera and click pictures?  Passion is essential for every art. If they are not doing for the love of it and just for the sole reason of making a living, chances are they won't be interested in what the images mean to you and that will reflect in your images.

2) Portfolio!  

Always check their portfolio thoroughly. Do the images he/she created, steal your breath away? Do they make you want to keep seeing more of their work even if it belongs to somebody else? Does the idea of being photographed by them thrill you, excite you? 

In today’s world, just good isn’t good enough. Don't settle for mediocrity..You deserve more than that.

Model : Pratibha Shah, Photographer : Sheetal Petkar, Makeup & Hair : Sheetal Petkar

3) Remember the camera doesn't click the picture, the photographer does! 

Just because someone owns a superexpensive DSLR doesn’t make them a great photographer. It doesn't guarantee you having stunning images of yourself. There are many more aspects to photography than just the camera. A good photographer can capture a beautiful image with any camera. You, the subject, are the more important aspect than the camera itself. The camera is just a medium of achieving the best picture that you ever have of yourself. The end result should be breathtaking and ofcourse they should be printable in big sizes. That is all that should matter at the end of your shoot!

4) How important are you and your needs/requirements for the photographer? 

Do they listen to you or keep blabbering away/ask you nothing at all and state the price directly? During your conversation/meeting with them is there a vision taking form for your shoot? When you hire someone and you pay them, you need to get the service and the quality of images that justify the price.

Model : Kashmira Shah, Photographer : Sheetal Petkar, Makeup & Hair : Sheetal Petkar

5) Do you like the photographer as a person? 

How comfortable and relaxed do they make you feel? Do you feel better about yourself or nothing at all to worse about yourself in their presence? You being comfortable for the shoot is very important. If you are relaxed, comfortable and can trust the photographer it reflects how comfortable and peaceful you look in your photographs.

6) The concept of photogenic is a myth! 

Every single person existing on this mother Earth can look beautiful in their photographs. People who are called “photogenic” are the ones who are comfortable in front of any camera and instinctively stand/pose or simply just smile in a way that shows their beauty. That does not mean the rest of the lot cannot be photographed well. Its a photographer’s job to make you comfortable, guide you, pose you, direct you. If you believe you are not photogenic, no matter what your body type, color, age, gender, teeth structure, length of your neck, broad face or 10 million other reasons you give as to why you don’t look good in photographs, the fact is - You just haven’t been clicked by a good photographer!

Model : Hema Petkar, Photographer : Sheetal Petkar, Makeup & Hair : Sheetal Petkar

7) What products/services and value does the photographer offer you in their packages? 

Ask yourself this question. What do you want to do with your images from the shoot? Hang huge prints on the wall, have coffee table books or albums, have a slideshow video on youtube..How is the quality of the products they offer? Is what they offer

8) Does your suited package, quality, service fit in your budget?  

If yes, it is a match made in heaven! If not, is the product,service and images thrill and tempt you to experience it? It might pinch you for a while but 20 years later when you look back at your images, would you look back and say “I’m so glad I did this”? If not, move on to the next. You will find your best match.

Add caption

You can always earn back the money, but the moments once gone never come back. And that is what a photographer does for you. He captures that moment and keeps it alive for a lifetime making it timeless...And that is Priceless!

Happy Photographer hunting! ;)

12 steps to Germinating the Seed of a Creative Idea! ..And a few beauties i photographed in these few months.

Nothing in life is achieved without a VISION! There is always either an outcome you want to create or a feeling you want to feel at the end of your creation process. The only difference between a person who creates an idea and who doesn't is the person who creates does little things that he/she learns along the way. DOING makes the real difference. Although I am not a preacher, I am jut somebody who is going through this process and i wanted to share what i am learning along the way.

Sharing the beautiful faces i shot in these few months too.
If i have missed out on something feel free to add in the comments your ideas of getting a creative idea to fruition.

1) Show up everyday for the inspiration no matter when your breakthrough idea strikes!

Dr.Nivedita Page - daughter, wife, Anesthetist

2) Own the outcome of the idea..Be the idea..Internalize it!

Asifa Shaikh - Client servicing

 3) Don't b terrified of it! Expect it to happen..Feel the nervousness when it appears but don't give into the nervousness. Get used to seeing it around.

Dr. Nekee Sejpal - Anesthetist

4) Keep your mind absolutely clear about your path. Mind silence and clarity are the most essential for anything and everything. 

Shravya Randive - my youngest glam model

5) Be ready to act when breakthrough idea strikes opportunity to act strikes. It can come out of the blue.

Dr. Aditee Yelmar - Anesthetist

6) Its alright to have that dream, that idea. Nobody is judging you and if you feel so passionately about it, stick to it and stop questioning your reasons for having it. It could be the best idea you ever have. Stop giving explanations to yourself and anybody about why you want to create that idea. You don't owe an explanation to anybody. Creating is your human nature and your human right!

Vrushali Bhilare - Assistant Manager at a MNC

7) You are not going to be always blessed with all qualities to create an idea. But everything is learnable. Research, hunt, find ways to gain knowledge to get to the goal smartly, quickly and efficiently.

P.S. Your problem is not unique. There are thousands who have lived before you and had the same or similar problem as yours. Learn from how other people got past their weaknesses and problems. If you look for a solution or guidance, you are going to find it.

8) Creation in the present and your past situation are not related to each other in anyway unless you make the relation. Where you go from this moment is YOUR CALL and your responsibility and that attitude decides your end result. 

The next 4 points are to make sure you relieve yourself of your emotional baggage and live with lighter shoulders...

9) Know what your weaknesses are. Be a quick learner and own what you learned immediately. If you make a mistake, admit it quickly, forgive yourself, make the correction and move on. Don't spend years reliving the mistakes, regrets and dreads in your mind. It does no good to anybody! Trial and error way of living is a pretty good way to live than never experiment at all. Keep a healthy relationship with your life. 

10) Apply this even in case where others are weak somewhere and they make mistakes. Don't be too harsh on them. Spread what you have learned, help them learn and then don't be attached with what they do with that knowledge. Help and move on.

11) Be a better person, a better human being in all situations.. Even when your tempted not to be. 

12) Be there for people when they realize their mistakes and when they say sorry. Forgive them. Believe in second chances, third chances, fourth chances, n number of chances. God never gives up on us after thousands of mistakes. He still believes we can be better human beings. Every individual is unique and can be a superawesome human being. Every single person has the potential of greatness. Believe in yourself and the rest of humankind! 

BELIEVE - CREATE - LIVE!

The real Freedom!

My last year employed at Rhythm & Hues, frankly i had been fantasizing being out of office. I used to wonder about what i could do with what i have learnt here. I would photograph, shoot films, go to amazing locations, travel probably, wake up whenever i wanted, etc, etc..It was a mere fantasy. My critical side "yeah probably u will have new problems then"..Thank god to the dreamy side of me which had 85-90% side which replied "mm..Yeah probably.. But wouldn't it be so much fun to explore!"

When i did get out first thing that i felt was that i was on vacation. And after a while it hit me! At Rhythm i had a sense of belonging. I felt i belonged to the company and now i felt orphaned suddenly. I was not doing things i fantasized of because i was confused, lost. I fought that feeling with watching Grey's anatomy day and night. I wasn't a big fan of the series but i just didn't want to stop. Its crazy how u behave when insanity strikes you.

Anyways long story short, i did get back to my senses and i cleared my vision as to what i wanted to do. Today i am truly living the life that i fantasized. I am creating art for the love of it. I have never felt so free and fearless in my entire life. I am exploring art and life like no tomorrow. Every night i sleep, i have a sense of accomplishment. I have something to wake up the next morning for. A dream, a purpose worth living for. For the first time, i don't have worry or fear dangling over my head. I feel I'm living life like its meant to live!

I got a team pretty quickly, amazing vendors. Like they say, when you are living your purpose, the universe supports you and everything just falls into your lap. i have slowly started earning money. I am loving the work i am doing and i am getting so much appreciation and encouragement from people, its humbling. It was easy to get into a temptation of getting into a job. Its safe, u feel financially secured, but its not meant for everyone. You need to decide for yourself what works for you. Nobody, not your parents, not your friends, partner, nobody can decide that. If you are not happy doing something it is not meant for you, Period. If the days of complaining, problems, depression is extending for many days, something needs to change! Do not blame it on anyone then. Don't wprry about money, Money follows. It always follows. Its been 6 months i have not been on a salary and not on a single instance have i taken a single penny from my parents. When i decided money will not control me, it will follow me, the experience has been so surreal that when i need money, it just follows. I either get a project or a photoshoot, its just there. Its surreal to see that money does not have to control you. You are the boss! Just do what you want! Follow your dreams. Jump! Your faith will catch you.

Happily sharing my first promo ever "Meet Namita!"

Meet Namita! Sheetal Petkar Promo from Sheetal Petkar on Vimeo.
Every woman is beautiful! And sometimes to Feel that you need to see it through somebody else's Eyes! Please help me spread this to more women out there..I want more women to feel this way about themselves!
For more info go to www.sheetalpetkar.com . If you would like yourself or any loved ones to be photographed please mail me at sheetalpetkar.2@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

Special thanks to Namita, for doing everything as i say! hehe..
My brother, Akshay for capturing the behind the scenes with his cell phone camera,
my best friend, Samik RC for composing such a beautiful piece of music in midst of his busy shooting schedule
my mom, Hema Petkar for styling and handstitching such a beautiful skirt!
and last but not the least Dinesh Jagtap for being an amazing makeup artist and an entertainer

Happy Valentine's day!

It was a privilege to shoot 2 beautiful couples - Shrijith & Jyoti and Nivedita & Nehal who are also my very good friends. When i was posing them what was so amazing to watch was how their expressions changed as i moved them closer to each other. Looking into each others eyes they blushed, big beautiful smiles spread on their faces and love just swept over..Just by taking a step physically towards..Love just worked its magic! I wish both the couples a very happy, love-filled, crazy romantic married life! God bless you guys!!

Happy Valentines day to all you beautiful people!
Single or not single - love yourself, love each other, live happily, laugh a lot, have a lot of fun, make peace soon after an argument and most importantly Never never regret a single moment that made you smile, gave you joy, made you love someone madly and be loved back crazily.

This is why we are living this life - to FEEL love. Feel it! Its a breath of fresh air :)

Shrijith & Jyoti

Nivedita & Nehal