Interview with Ravikumar Jambunathan

Hi Ravi! Tell us about yourself in two sentences - who are you?

My name is Ravi, I live in Singapore. I am a computer science graduate presently working with a multinational Bank in Corporate Banking division dealing with Corporate Clients. Although I had interest in photography since childhood and played with some kodak film cameras to shoot family functions, I really got serious about photography about 4 years ago when I bought my first Canon DSLR camera. Since then, I have been trying to improve my skills everyday. Photography is my real passion and it really helps me to get out of my monotonous and stressful banking job..

QWhat's the weirdest situation you've found yourself in while taking a photograph?

AI had been to my usual beach spot in the morning a few weeks earlier. It was low tide on the day and the sea water was well beyond the shore. There was a big tree fallen amid the shallow sea shore which I wanted to capture since it was a good subject for my ongoing project “Broken Trees”. But, I had to walk on the shore in order to achieve composition I had in mind. I assumed the surface was strong and firm as there are few mangroves near by. As I started walking in suddenly the surface started collapsing and lot of small baby crabs started crawling out as I had broken their home. I was stuck and the mud was well above my ankle. It was difficult for me to balance and take a step further. It was also difficult to find a firm place to keep my tripod sturdy. Finally, I managed to find few stones to keep my tripod firm and took the shot I wanted. I followed my steps and slowly walked back to the shore with my gear. My tripod, camera bag, legs and my shoes were full of mud. Despite the struggle, I am happy that I got the shot I wanted.

QWhat do you shoot on? What's your favourite set up?

AMy gear is very simple, just one camera with one lens. I shoot with Canon 6d with 24-105 f4L. I have two Hoya ND filters and a circular polariser. My post processing is with Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro 2.
I recently upgraded to a Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod with ball head. For long exposures, I use my ND filters and my polariser is always attached to my lens. Although I used to take hand held shots, since the beginning of this year 99% of my shots are taken using tripod with live view for better composition and accuracy. My image quality is really improving after changed the way I shoot.

QWhat's your number one tip for an aspiring photographer?

ALearn & Practice. This is not something new nor did I discover it, but this is the best way to improve your skills. Do not afraid about failures. In fact, mistakes are the best way to create better images. Do not rush to shoot your image. Take your time, read the scene, envision the image and execute it. Because, execution is simple but envisioning is difficult. It takes lot of practice and time. In addition, constantly improve your post processing skills as well. It will help to attain the result you wanted.