Second Exclusive Interview with Sanjoy Sengupta

An O&G surface facility designer by profession who loves to travel all around the world and capture memories and moments of life to cherish forever, meet Sanjoy Sengupta from Muscat, Oman. Starting from a hotshot point and shoot camera in late 80s to a Nikon FM10 film camera in late 90s, when he used to get most of the exposures wrong, Sanjoy slowly moved to the day of digital cameras like canon Powershot A520 and Canon hybrid SX20IS in early 2000. Then he finally could not resist the alluring pricy Nikon DSLR, and realized that his actual learning started from that very moment.

In this “Exclusive Interview” section, today we have the opportunity to talk with Sanjoy Sengupta, as his photograph was winner of Photo of the Month – 52nd Month, 2nd Place. Let’s discover more about Sanjoy Sengupta, and his forays into photography in the following interview with him.

Light & Composition: Greetings from Light & Composition, Sanjoy. It’s an honor to have you with us for your second interview as you are the winner of Photo of the Month 52nd Month, 2nd place.

Sanjoy Sengupta: It’s one of the most wonderful surprises for me and special thanks to the judges and all Light & Composition fans around the world who appreciated the beauty of this Halong Bay Bridge, an architectural marvel, I should say.

L&C: Your photograph “The Cable Bridge” in the category of Night Photography became the winner of Photo of the month in our 52nd month. How do you feel to be in a position so few photographers were able to reach?

Sanjoy: I am very delighted to find my photograph being there in top three once again after 50th Month.I still believe myself to be a traveler and not essentially a photographer. However, after investing in a pricey DSLR, I am trying to do it the right way. These travel photographs are my sweetest memories for the years to come. This also gives me a chance to show others how beautiful the world is.

L&C: Becoming a winner for the Photo of the Month in our 52nd Month must be a tough competition for you, as those photographs, which won 1st and 3rd positions are also magnificently captured.

Sanjoy: Yes, I am always impressed with the quality of photographs which finally gets the honor of ‘Photo of the day’ after critical evaluation by the judges. I personally feel all pictures featuring 30 days of the month have the potential of being in top three and I guess the difference between them and rest is very less.

L&C: The winning photograph “The Cable Bridge” is a beautiful photograph with artistic perspective, correct lighting and it was very well presented. Overall, it is a great composition! Tell us more about your experience of taking this photograph.

Sanjoy: After investing heavily and quite stupidly on gears and attires, I am realizing slowly the golden rule of photography which is – It’s all about being there at the right time and at the right place.
This photograph was taken after a steep hike across the bridge to a favorable location and at the blue hour. The shots were taken after a long wait just to make everything as perfect as possible.I prefer night shots, long exposure shots at blue hour and I am glad that it has come out quite nice. It was always my dream to visit Vietnam and Halong Bay, which has its own charm, but the Cable Bridge and the night view across it were a bonus for me.

L&C: That’s a wonderful story, our reader will love that. So how long have you been a photographer?

Sanjoy: Not for long, as now I understand the difference and meaning of being a photographer and having a camera and taking pictures.

In school days, the first camera I had was a Hotshot PnS and photography meant just pressing the shutter. In 1999, I had my first film camera Nikon FM10 and had a horrible time as I used to get very few shots correctly exposed. I escaped the pain, shifting to a digital PnS in 2005, mostly used during my travel around world. Taking snaps with it was not challenging but a desire to go for DSLR was ever increasing. Finally as I decided to move to DSLR in 2011, I slowly started watching works of great masters and many of my friends, who take wonderful pictures. However my desire for a DSLR geared and forced me to invest heavily without yielding any results. Guess, its then my actual learning started, which holds me from pressing shutters and makes me think for a while before taking any photos.

L&C: How would you describe your style? And what type of cameras do you shoot with?

Sanjoy: I am still trying hard to learn the basics and in such a phase I don’t want to restrict myself to any particular style like portrait, landscape, travel, street, wild life, macro etc. May be in future, I have to focus on something very particular as I realize it’s a huge ocean in each genre of photography. However, being a traveler, I do enjoy travel shots and street photography the most.
I am a die-hard Nikon fan with a few decent Nikon lenses to suit different situations.

L&C: What is your favorite photography accessory, other than your camera? If you had to choose one lens, which one would it be and why?

Sanjoy: I love my LucroitHitec filters which I use for landscapes and I do love my 50mm prime the most, which teaches me the basics of photography in terms of focal length and DOF, though 24-70mm/f2.8 is the lens which is always mounted on my camera.

L&C: Tell us more about your day to day photography workflow. And what gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing imagery?

Sanjoy: I take my photographs in Camera Raw. I am trying hard to learn two basic things as of now- get the picture sharp with right focus and try to get exposure correct first time. It helps me as a hobbyist as I hardly get much time to post-process my snaps due to many other commitments and interests. A constant effort is there to also reduce the number of shots and to “make a photo” rather than taking it.

L&C: Thank you, Sanjoy, for sharing your feelings and experiences with us.