Sterling GO Shoot Photography Workshop

 “Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them” – Elliot Erwitt

One sunny Saturday, a group of enthusiastic people were seen gathering in a cozy resto-café with an equally memorable name, Dewberry’s. Their faces eager and their expressions curious, these people were here to attend an interactive workshop being conducted by none other than Varun Gupta, India’s leading travel photographer.

Organized and planned by Sterling Holidays, GO Shoot was a photography workshop that Chennai needed and got. Reasonably priced with an accessible venue, this workshop made for a convenient location for the participants attending it. In the first part of the workshop, Mr. Gupta, explained to his attendees the various nuances of photography – line of focus, multi-layered plans, angle and perspective and more importantly, the need for vision – a photographer is attuned in such a way that there comes a time when he/she knows exactly what’s going to happen and captures the surrounding at that precise second, thereby, etching a moment that will live on for years to come .

With cameras coming at a throwaway price these days, the general question that arose from the audience was – Which is the best buy for taking a good picture? It’s a normal question, a regular one, which I think every photographer is frequently asked. But was set Varun’s answer apart was how he stated it – “A good picture is a good picture. It has nothing to do with your camera.”

A two hour teaching session was then followed by a scrumptious tea with an array of dishes laid out for the participants. After the little tea break, the workshop resumed again, this time with a different take altogether. Prior to the workshop, all registered participants were asked to send in their best photos which they would like judged by the mentor, the incentive being, the best photo would win a 3 day-2 night holiday at any of Sterling Holidays’ resorts for two adults and two children. So, the second half of the workshop saw Varun Gupta critiquing and commenting on the photos and giving them suggestions as to where it could have been done better. A couple of shots received extremely positive feedback from the mentor and one could make out, that it was quite a tough decision as to whose picture would be adjudged the best one.

Anticipation and excitement filled the room and there was apprehension visible on the participants’ faces. There was a combination of eagerness filled with curiosity and hope and finally, at the end of it all, Mr. Achudhan was given the prized voucher which allowed him the much coveted holiday ticket to any of Sterling Holidays’ Resorts for three days and two nights. His photograph was one that was shot from the BurjKhalifa which depicted the moving traffic and bright city lights below this trademark  building. (Please find picture below ).

The workshop ended on an extremely positive note and Varun Gupta received a warm applause for the energy and vigour with which he conducted a six-hour long event. The participants received a certificate signed by him and returned home with a broad smile on their faces, knowing that they had a well-spent Saturday afternoon.