An eye for a perfect shot

He believes that photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. According to him, photography is an art of studying emotions and bringing out life from the lifeless objects. Sumit Kumar, a young camera enthusiast, loves to travel and capture exotic moments. His forte is candid, wedding, wildlife, portrait and of course, travel photography.

Explaining his world of photography, he says, “It has been more than four years since I first held a camera and the first picture I remember clicking was that of my parents. It was a very emotional moment for me and I really thank them for having accepted that this is what I want to do in my life. One of the best moments during this period was when I got an opportunity to work with one of National Geographic’s travel programmes.”

He mainly uses his Canon Eos 7D to capture shots apart from which his 18 - 135mm, 50mm and 75 - 300 mm lens, external speedlite flash and monfortto tripod are his best friends when it comes to photography.

Describing his style of photography, he says, “I believe that everyone has their own style of capturing pictures and in the same way, I too have mine. I feel my perception towards an object, be it live or something in nature, and the attempt to capture the best out of it is what makes my style distinct from others. I tend to stick to the basics.”

He is also one of the partners of an automobile magazine named ‘Pitstop’, where he works as a photographer. This magazine was started by two young students, passionate about cars and bikes. 

Describing one of his most difficult shots, he says, “It was time lapse photography that I did. For this, I had to sit at the site for three to four hours at a stretch. It was a challenging shot and I learnt a lot from it.”

About the different challenges that he faces as a photographer, he states, “The biggest challenge was to convince my parents to allow me to get into a career which is not very popular among their generation. Secondly, to have your own DSLR is a huge challenge as today these cameras cost a lot of money and  investing in them is a huge risk. As for professional challenges, I would say that since it is a very competitive world, it becomes very difficult for people, especially newcomers, to make a mark. When one is working under a senior person, it is good to learn a lot and get great experience; however, on the darker side, it is very difficult as your seniors tend to demotivate you just because they see you doing a better job. For me, competition is good as far as it does not get personal and negative.”

In future, Sumit wants to explore newer kinds of photography and in the long run, open his own studio. Steve McCurry, being his inspiration, his life’s goal is to parallel his level of photography. He says, “I look up to Steve McCurry and really hope to reach his level. I have never seen anyone capturing such amazing pictures. He is truly a legend and has set his own benchmark.”