Photographer Dinesh Maneer has been photographing the many moods of monsoons for several years now. In this story, he shares his experiences of learning to photograph the rains and the monsoons, from almost giving up on photographing the rains, to finding inspiration and adapting to the conditions. Dinesh will be leading our ‘Monsoon Magic in the Western Ghats – A Photography Workshop‘ in July. Come on board this workshop to learn from Dinesh and learn from him on the joys of photographing the monsoons.
I am from coastal town of Karnataka and I love the rain. I may sound like a high-school boy but I think kids from coastal region have the best childhood memories compared to any others. We went through sweaty summer which brought us those two full months of school holidays and then the pouring monsoon rains. Even today, smell of the first rain, new umbrella, new notebooks, grandma’s fresh pickle, wet cloths, smell of jack fruit trigger countless childhood memories of monsoons!
After I took up DSLR photography, I tried to recall all such memories and express through photos so that I can preserve them forever. Whenever it’s raining or if there is a chance of rain, I would grab my camera and start chasing the rain. Sometimes I just drive to experience the early rain. In the beginning, the photos I took were all bad. I was not sure whether to protect camera or take photos when it rained heavily. I realized it is not easy to take pictures while standing in the rain. There was a moment i almost gave up that it is impossible to take photos while standing in rain. And then, I saw an image of legendary Steve McCurry holding his camera in chest deep water. If he can go to that level for a photograph, why I cant even stand in rain under an umbrella?!
I changed my bag, got rid of few unwanted lenses, bought a raincoat and a big umbrella. First, I had to learn the techniques before I could think of any different compositions. It took me months or may be one monsoon season just to learn how to take pictures in rain. Subsequently, I started exploring different ideas, such as shooting long exposures, or shooting in night. Techniques, compositions and ideas got better with passage of time.
With progress of time, I realized that rain and monsoon are not really the same. Rain is just a subset of monsoon. These days, I am shooting more monsoon than just shooting rain. I am trying to capture those moments that define monsoon. It could be clouds, rough sea, flooded rivers, gushing waterfalls, wet roads and many more. I am visiting places such as Udupi, Agumbe to explore the monsoon cultures. I am exploring all those elegant elements through photos , that confine to these monsoon places.
Dinesh will be leading our ‘Monsoon Magic in the Western Ghats – A Photography Workshop‘ in July. Come on board this workshop to learn from Dinesh and learn from him on the joys of photographing the monsoons.
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