In Camera

LET'S TORQUE

Another year, another 100-odd gigabytes worth of photography. That's not counting the 100 or so rolls of transparency film I've gone through during my "work" trips around the country (I still don't own a digital camera "" you just can't beat the tones you get with film).

The point is, that's a lot of photographs, and for a fellow who only stepped in as a stand-by photographer, I'm quite amazed at the kind of output I've generated over the last two years. I was the sort who only did the occasional party/family function sort of pictures, so to suddenly be entrusted with a magazine's worth of photography was a bit intimidating at first.

I remember my first shoot vividly, mainly because it was an unmitigated disaster. The second generation Pulsar had just been announced and, on an overcast afternoon at Bajaj's test track, I manfully clicked away (on my old film-based SLR) as Shumi rode the bike.

When the film came back from the lab, I was mortified "" everything was almost pitch black, and you could just about make out the bike via its headlight.

Thankfully our Photoshop man is a genius, so he was able to save the day. Since then, I've learnt on the job and shot all manner of vehicles, from ratty motorbikes to the grandest Rolls-Royces, and once again I'm amazed "" this time by the fact that I've been able to produce shots that have been printable.

Waking up early for shoots is the part I hate most, but once I'm into the swing of things, there's nothing I like better. I've had many memorable shoots over the last while (this time for the right reasons) and two come to mind; the time when we shot five classic and vintage cars from five different countries, and I got to drive one of them, the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith.

My first vintage car drive, in a Rolls! People on Mumbai's Marine Drive gave me the thumbs up as I wafted by, and you should have seen the grin on my face.

The second was when I shot the absolutely gorgeous Lancia Flaminia against an equally beautiful synagogue in Mumbai. The pictures looked straight out of southern France, or perhaps a sleepy Spanish village. You know what they say about pictures and a thousand words...

pablo@business-standard.com