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.

Beautiful Loneliness

I shared a black and white version of this image a while back but I'm sharing this now because I just couldn't decide which one I liked better.

This was the only flower of its kind in that beautiful garden. That seemed a little odd since every other species had at least two of its kind growing. Another thing that struck me was the placement of this flower - it was growing in a corner almost hidden from plain sight but it was still so beautiful.

This is getting philosophical but I think there's a lesson to be learnt from that and I know it's something I struggle with as well. I post updates regularly and upload pictures to my blog and various other social media sites but what have I really accomplished? Sometimes you might be bogged down by thoughts like that or the fear of obscurity but I think it's important to carry on and keep doing what you're doing even if no one else understands or cares.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week ahead! :)

If Hope Dies

If you follow me on Instagram ( @danielraghu ) you would have seen a BTS picture I posted right after I wrapped up shooting with a local band. We had a great time and we created some beautiful images that also pay tribute to the natural beauty of the place they live in.

One particular image really stood out and today I can finally share it with you all. I think it perfectly captures the band's persona as well as the quality and beauty of the forest there.

I would love to know what you think.

Convivial

Sometimes when someone says "Please take a picture" you just have to no matter what the lighting is or what the circumstances are. This is one such picture. I wasn't prepared for a late night photo session with friends as I had just got back from photographing a band and was looking for some time away from photography but I couldn't say no.

The lights in the background provided for a nice colour contrast against the warm colour of the bulb behind me as I shot my friend's mother (not with a gun...obviously).

I've been experimenting with tones and colours for a while now so I would love to know what you think of this.