Everglow

That's a beautiful word, isn't it?
It's stuck with me ever since I head the song. Sure, it isn't officially a word but it alludes to something so beautiful that it probably should be.

Having to make some major decisions that could shape your future really forces you to put things into perspective. Right now the future seems so uncertain. There are times you almost feel trapped, like you're in a cave longing and looking for the light so that you can crawl out to freedom.

To me, this is one of my favourite pictures because of the meaning and sentiment behind it. It might not be the most technically sound but it's one that I love and will probably have on my wall at some point as a reminder.

We stumbled upon this cave during a hike up a hill and we couldn't help but stop here for pictures. I knew exactly what kind of a photograph I wanted when we entered (is this the process of visualisation that Ansel Adams spoke of?). I tried to express the mental picture I had and explain it to my friend and then asked her to look up at the open ceiling as if she were longing for something. I assumed she would go with a rather sad or serious expression but she went with a faint hint of a smile and as I was working on the picture that really stood out because it really brought out the emotion I was trying to convey.

Looking above for guidance, hope and reassurance might seem silly but that's something I've tried to do because without God's help and His guidance I would truly be lost. There are moments when I fail to see it or even refuse to because I'm arrogant but that light, that glow is always present. All I have to do it look for it and follow the everglow.

Concealing Glow

Exams are always a pain, especially when you're give the timetable just one week ahead and then you scramble for your books and barely manage to finish the syllabus the night before.

Sometimes in life nothing seems to be work out no matter what you try or how hard you work. I know this is something I've said before but it's exactly how I've felt for the past few weeks/months. However, ever so often I'm reminded of God's love and grace. Ever so often there are little things that remind me of how beautiful life is and keep me carrying on.

Someone called me a tree-hugger before as a joke but I think that might be true to a certain extent. The world around me fascinates me and God's creation is just amazing! Today's picture is another reminder of that. We were returning home after a rather not-so-exciting trip to the hills and the driver suggested we make one last stop before the final leg of the journey.

After much deliberation we agreed and I'm so glad that we made this stop to take in the view. The sunset did look amazing as we were travelling but I'd never seen this view before. The previous times I'd been here had been really cloudy and you could barely see a few meters ahead of you so this view was stunning to say the least and I hope the picture does it justice.

Things might not always be going the way you want to go or how you want them to be but you've always got to remember that clouds move and eventually they part enough to let the sun shine through and when it does you realise that it's going to be OK because at the end of the day you have a God who loves you and cares about you and only wants what's best for you.

Now I should start studying to tomorrow's paper and stop boring the few of you who actually take time to read my blog. Thank you guys! :)

Vilasita

Let's take a break from black and white.

There are rare moments when clients give you creative freedom and allow you to do your thing and those are clients I absolutely love working with because it's not suffocating.

I went into this shoot not know what I was going to photograph or even how - all I was told was that it was a product shoot and it had to be done outdoor. Now, I absolutely love shooting outdoor using natural light so that was an interesting offer that I couldn't turn down.

This is one of my favourites from the shoot. What do you think?

Broken Frames

It's been a year since earthquakes devastated Nepal so I asked a good friend of mine to write a little something to go along with the pictures as a message to and from the people of Nepal.

Article by Upashana Gurung
Pictures by Daniel Raghu

Life was never "normal" after that day, and even if we wanted to we could not forget the unimaginable loss we suffered. It has already been a year since the devastating earthquake hit Nepal. One of the most beautiful countries had been turned into pieces of ruins. As we look back upon that day, there is no way we won't feel the sorrow all over again.

Even though words cannot describe the unbearable agony we had to go through; even after everything we lost, we were still smiling with tears in our eyes and with the hope that one day it would all be alright.

As I'm writing this, I really cannot express the pain and grief of someone who lost everything in the remote villages of Nepal. I really cannot. And if for one second I put myself in their shoes, I could not bear the heaviness of my heart.

The pain and anguish they must have felt is beyond mine or anyone's conception.

But YOU, you are a warrior who survived a great catastrophe.

You are the brave one.
Don't ever forget that.

The hope, the strength, the unity that we all have, let's not let go of that. Because when we look back, these are the only things that kept us going froward. We're fixing the ruins, we're reconstructing buildings, we're helping the ones in need - providing food and shelter and clothes; most of all we're giving away love and hope to the ones who lost it.

Every country, every organisation, every individual from all over the world that has been helping us in these darkest days, we are profoundly grateful for all that you have and are doing for us.

 Because we have each other we have the courage to believe that we can move forward.

"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. - 2 Samuel 22:29

Happy Earth Day

I guess it's never too late to say that even though the day's nearly over in India.

Here's an abstract shot a dead tree that I found while wandering around one afternoon.

Have a good weekend :)

Vilasita

A while back I had an opportunity to shoot products for Vilasita They make "hand crafted luxury soaps and cosmetics". Usually I wouldn't take on a product shoot because that's not really my piece of cake but this was different. Since their products are organic they wanted something outdoor.

I'll be honest and tell you that I've only taken on a handful of commercial product shoots so this was exciting because it was a challenge. They wanted something that was unique and something that made their products look good. Plus I love shooting outdoor in nature under natural light so I just couldn't refuse.

We spent an entire evening out shooting products and it was a lot of fun. It was really tiring in that my hands were literally shaking towards the end of the shoot but it was a challenge and it worked out well.

It's always a good feeling when a client tells you on their own that they love the pictures. Here's one of my favourites from the shoot. These are bath salts.

If you live in India and want to try out home-made organic stuff definitely check out their page on Facebook and get in touch with them - Vilasita I haven't tried out their products because I'm the kind of person that will use whatever is cheap because I couldn't be bothered but going by the reviews they have they seem to be doing a good job.

Have a good week ahead! :)

Wandering Loss

Today's post is kinda related to my last post.

When you have major decisions to make and your future seems uncertain - so uncertain, in fact that you don't even know where you'll be the following month or what you'll be doing; that's when things can get scary and you really start to question where you're at. At times you might seem lost in the crowd, struggling to stand out and make your presence felt in one way or another - that's when things can get tricky. You have a decision to make - give up or carry on. Like I said last time, the right thing to do would be to carry. It's not going to be the easy thing to do because, I think, it's a lot harder to carry on than to even start in the first place.

As a Christian, one of the results of falling on times like this is it teaches you to rely more on God than yourself or people around you. It's never easy to hand over the reins to someone else but you've got to do it since that's what's best for you.

This picture had been lying on my drive for years and it wasn't until recently that I got to working on it. Each leaf, twig, branch is part of something so much bigger than itself and yet it's always lost among all the other parts that are almost identical to it. Sometimes life's like that. You're wandering and you're lost in the crowd. These twigs would have been lost too if I shot them head on but a slight change in perspective and a different angle and VOILA! it stands out and is separate from the others around it.

What if God's like a photographer and we're those twigs? We've got to let Him do His thing and carry on trusting Him.

I hope the people in Myanmar are OK. We felt the tremor hundreds of miles away from the epicentre so I can only imagine what it must have been like there.