Hitesh Sawlani Photography

About Image Rights:

Hitesh Sawlani owns the copyright to all the images on this site. You are NOT allowed to download/distribute/make money off any of these images. Images are available for sale as prints and/or commercial use (both in Print and on the Web). I am generally blogger friendly and if you want to use an image in your blog please let me know (although I can’t guarantee I will say yes).

All enquiries should be directed to: sawlani@gmail.com (Photos are available for sale as print and/or other use)

About the Blog:

This blog shows a daily photo from my travels and surroundings. Sometimes accompanied by text, it follows the events I attend and people and things I interact with.

About Hitesh Sawlani:

A Spanish born Indian raised in Madrid and currently studying in his final year at Loughborough University studying Information Management and Business Studies in the United Kingdom.

About Hitesh’s Photography:

My interest in photography arose sometime after getting my first digital camera in 2003. Although I dabbled in some film photography during my GCSE’s at school it never really took, partly due to the fact that I lost my camera within three months!

With digital’s advantages of instant-review and almost zero-cost per photo taken it provided an ideal platform to learn and practice. The point at which I can say I was “getting into photography” was some months after joining flickr in 2004. The popular online-sharing site made showcasing my photos easy and the participative community behind it provided encouraging commentary and support. Being able to see the work that others that were skilled in the art motivated me to improve my own skills which really took off in 2006 when I purchased my first dSLR.

Before I had the dSLR the rate at which I took photos was somewhat sporadic and mostly confined to social events and holidays, in essence I was a “snapper”. The dSLR was an important tool required in my development since the versatility of the camera (high ISOs, interchangeable lenses, manual modes etc…) provided me with a tool that was ideal for expanding my capabilities and finally being able to produce something I could proudly showcase.

Although I did attend a Canon-certified evening seminar two weeks after purchasing the dSLR I largely learnt my photography from magazines and the internet. I started this blog shortly after I began gaining confidence in my photography as a means of both showcasing a selection of my work to both friend and family (any anyone else interested) as well as giving me the push to produce something on a regular basis.

To date I am still particularly enthusiastic about photography and tend to dabble in different aspects of it such as travel, portraiture and night. Although I’ve been told my portraiture stands out as my forté, it is night photography that I enjoy the most at the moment but for various reasons I engage in the least.

Between 2006 and 2007 I was working as an industrial placement student in Reading, UK. With some free time on my hands during weekends (and some money in my pockets) I took the opportunity to travel to different locations across England and attend various meetups with photography enthusiasts in London and elsewhere. By the end of this year I had managed to see more towns and cities in England than I had in my own home country! The culmination of this travelling was the production of my first book which showcased my transition from compact cameras to a dSLR and the sights I encountered in my travels across England.

During 2008 I became the chairman of my university’s photography society during which I organised events and outings with other members although due to logistics, my photography was mainly constrained to Loughborough and neighbouring Nottingham. This year’s photography mainly focused on student-related activities such as social events and concerts.

Although by definition I’m not a professional (i.e. I don’t do it for a living) it doesn’t stop me from trying to achieve professional looking results, not being my main source of income allows me to be as creatively free as I want with it.

Some of my photos have been published in a handful of magazines in Europe and some images have been shown on digital displays in the Tate Britain (London, UK) and the Elysee (Lausanne, Switzerland).

About Hitesh’s Influences:

Although I have had many influences over the years there are a couple of photographers who I admire and whose work I visit regularly, unlike traditional photographers who look up to famous photographers such as Henri Cartier Bresson and Ansel Adams I have found amateur photographers who are also learning like myself to be more interesting and engaging than any distant celebrities.

Sam Javanrough (www.topleftpixel.com) – The first photoblog I ever came across and I’ve been tuning in every day for a number of years. His images are probably the single biggest influence in garnering my interest in photography.

Andrew Peterson (thomashawk) – The first time I came across his work I was totally blown away by his particular style, composition and simplicity. His photowalking series began roughly around the time I got my first dSLR and began learning the technical part of photography, which helped immensely seeing “how things were done”,

ISTO-ICA (www.istoica.com) – Dynamic duo, with incredible creativity in the studio.

Maciej Dakowicz (maciej) – Photojournalist in the making, his people photos are simply the best.

I do check many other people’s work, in fact I have over 700 contacts on flickr!