Meet budding entrepreneur and shutterbug par excellence, Sankalp Malik. All of 25, Sankalp is a self-taught budding photographer in Goa. Full of enthusiasm and zest for life, in a candid chat with Itsgoa.com, he shares his secrets.
When did your tryst with photography begin?
“My interest in photography began when I was only 5 – 6 years old. I was interested in just clicking. The picture didn’t matter. I used to go clicking anything I saw with the automatic camera that was in the house.”
“By the age of 16, I got a part-time job that helped fund my very own Cyber-shot cell phone – a Sony Ericsson K810i. It had a good inbuilt camera. I shifted to insects, animals, anything interesting. It was just for fun. I began to click sunsets and landscapes. I even uploaded one photograph of a sunset on Deviantart.com that got me noticed.
When and how did you realise you wanted to get into photography?
“By 24 I actually felt I wanted to get into photography.” Working for Taj Vivanta, Panjim, in the Human Resources Department gave me ample opportunity. Clicking every event and CSR activity added another feather to my cap as ‘Network Member Communicator.’ My new role led me to photograph any food dish the Chef created or a delicately crafted cocktail. I was even called to capture pictures of team building activities of the staff.”
How did you hone your skills?
At 25, fully into the nuances of the art, I gifted myself with a new DSLR camera. The basic, cheapest one available that would promote hobby photography. Then came my first break. A friend who saw my work invited me to do a shoot at ‘Capetown’, a night club in Tito’s Lane, Baga, North Goa. This was in December 2016. The event was ‘Shit Happens’ and it was my first attempt at night photography (low light photography). The results were amazing. But not professional. On seeing them my friend suggested I edit them. Editing was new to me. With the help of YouTube, I worked on a software called ‘LightRoom’ in Adobe which made the pictures ten times more lively and ten times better.”
How did ‘PendulumPhotography’ come into being?
“Extremely pleased with my work, I decided to create a Facebook page. Within an hour I had a name, a logo and voila the page – ‘PendulumPhotography.’
I then sent the edited photographs to my friend who had asked me to take them. He was quite happy with the results.
My page ‘PendulumPhotography’ picked up likes in no time @ 40 to 50 a day. That’s when I saw the potential. From then on I understood how pictures needed to be taken for nightlife.”
“Today my Facebook page averages 100 likes a month, with 600 likes till date and counting.” Sankalp says his goal is to reach 1000 likes by the end of October 2017. Excitedly, he points out that on the 5th of June he crossed 400 likes milestone and then on 10th June he crossed the 500 likes milestone. On 19th June he crossed the 600 likes milestone and counting. According to Sankalp, “The excitement of getting 200 likes within 15 days was overwhelming.”
Sankalp got his first official paid shoot in December 2016 through a PR firm. It was for an upscale Mexican restaurant ‘Habanero’ that sported Mexican ambiance and cuisine.
Were you satisfied with the remuneration, I asked? His reply was plain and simple. “ I was happy with any remuneration I got,” spoken as a true budding artist.
From then on there was no looking back for him. His photography assignments grew. Sankalp never gave up on his working career. He ably balances his job along with his hobby. He quips happily, “HR by day and photographer by night’.
Today he has branched out into still life, product & food photography. His main focus being night-life.
A bit of advice from the self-taught professional: “My advice to budding photographers, experiment with your own style and way of photography to make your pictures unique and stand out among the rest”.
To contact Sankalp: Facebook.com/PendulmPhotography
