Monsoon montage: Monsoon photography has now got more specific

The trend is becoming popular among astro-photographers as well. “Astro-photography doesn’t happen this time of the year due to clouds, so most of us just look at other areas of photography during this period like monsoon photography. Cloud photography is still just catching on here in the state as it’s very difficult to get good shots of our skies. It usually looks like an expanse of grey cloud cover and the details are difficult to capture. But if you move to neighbouring states like Karnataka, you have better scope for cloud photography,” says Navaneeth Unnikrishnan, an Astro-photographer from Vadakara, now settled in Bangalore.

Thrissur-based photographer, Jidhu M.G says, “Though it’s still not as popular as in the West, cloud photography is catching on in the state because our photographers are very aware of and follow trends in the West. One of the difficulties of cloud photography, however, is that you can focus only either on the area with maximum light exposure or on the shadows. This means you have to edit the lighting of the photograph and retouch it to get optimal images. Also, though we do photograph the clouds by themselves as is usually done in the West, I personally believe the photographs look more dramatic and catchy when the clouds are positioned against a stunning foreground like rain drenched greenery, fishermen, lakes and umbrellas or other props.”

Kochi-based photographer Jan Joseph George echoes the same opinion. “Rather than going for just the clouds, it’s always better to have the clouds set against an interesting visual to intensify the effect. It’s better to photograph clouds from places with the most visibility like the river-sides and beach or from the top of a tall building. Essentially, it should allow for a wide angle shot. Also, the best time to photograph the sky is in the evenings and this means you’ll have the best shots if you go for the South-West angle because of lighting and cloud movements. But you have to know that you can only capture on film half of what you see with your eyes in real time. This means, you need really good shapes and shades to get that perfect shot. At the same time, you’ll only have a matter of seconds to get the shot. One of my favourite images of monsoon clouds was taken by the side of the River Chalakudy. I saw the sky darkening and ran out to the river bank and managed to capture 12 images of the awe inspiring images the sky had at that moment. I had to run all the way back to my car before the storm broke out in all its fury! It was just seconds before the rain started pelting down! I later stitched together the 12 images to get one of the best shots I have of monsoon clouds,” he explains.

Referring to the difficulties and precautions necessary for monsoon shoots, Navaneeth adds, “It’s a little difficult to take photos during this season because you have a generally hazy low natural light available to work with and there is always the danger of getting your camera and equipments wet.” Jidhu agrees and adds, “Not dropping your camera in the muddy puddles, obviously, is the first precaution in monsoon photography! You can cover up your camera and other equipments with rain covers or, if you prefer the cheaper option, use a good plastic cover, like most of us do. But the humidity is still an issue. No matter what you cover up your camera with when going out in the rain, humidity is going to affect your camera and there is a very high chance of fungal infestation of the lenses. So you have to take special care to keep the camera in dry areas as far as possible during this season.”