© Skynesher
Our family had a flimsy tradition of going to Goa every year for three days. Even though we always used to start with going everywhere in the world but tickets always got booked for Goa. It was a running joke between me and my father where he will start the vacation discussions by ‘Let’s go to Switzerland or Singapore this time’ but I always laughed saying we are going to Goa again, aren’t we? And, we always did.
So, the first photograph I took happened on one of these trips. It was not a conscious decision on my part to take this photo with the idea that I will become a photographer. I was not confident enough to think about becoming anything. But, on the last day, and at the last minute at the hotel before we left for the airport I took a photo in a hurry. I had my Sony Ericsson orange flip phone. It had a 2 MP camera but the image quality in good exposure settings was great for its time. It was late morning when we grabbed our bags and started leaving. For some reason, I turned around and captured a scene. I have never done that on any of the previous trips. And, that random press of a button, as it turned out, will be the first-ever image I have taken which will have an immense impact on me.
The photo you see above is just a representation of what I took. Unfortunately, I don’t have that picture with me anymore. But, I remember it as if I took it a minute ago. In the foreground, both sides had palm tresses’ silhouettes creating a circular frame. In the middle ground, there was a single palm tree exposed beautifully on a golf field. Whereas, in the background, the blue ocean dissolved itself in the blue sky. This image could have belonged on a postcard. That was actually my first thought. And, for the first time, a photo itself made me feel something. I can’t describe it but something in it made me go back and admire it again and again. It was for weeks that I kept looking at that picture and thinking to myself ‘Damn! I take good photos’ even though this was the first image I took.
I will not take the route of beauty when I actually did start photography because of a particular image I saw by one of my favorite photographers which I will talk about next week to complete my photography journey.
Such an adorable story! Looking forward to the series :)