Varun Aditya, a 25 year old stock trader turned travel photographer, has won Nat Geo’s Nature Photographer of the Year for Animal Portraits, winning $2,500 in the process. His collection of pictures are mesmerizing and wonder struck, with its perfect timing. He has been able to capture the nature in his lens in the most significant way, which shows a story behind each picture. The self made photographer has been lauded for his picture of a green vine snake. This particular picture titled ‘Dragging You Deep into the Woods’ was chosen from among the 23 shots of the snake that he captured. He might not consider it his best work, but being picked above the submissions of over 20,000 photographers from across the world and the $2,500 cash prize tell a different story.
1. What inclined you to your passion towards photography? How did you find focus in London ?
I fell in love with London and started clicking photos on the mobile and shared it with parents and friends back home. I then persuaded my parents to get me a DSLR and continued clicking photos. I started uploading these pictures on Facebook, which was just booming back then. My pictures hardly fetched me 10 likes but for an individual who was discouraged by teachers and the outside world all his life, social media acknowledgement gave a huge boost.
2. Which was your first official project? How was the feeling at the end of it ?
Bandipur in Karnataka was my official first project along with my very dear friend, Saravanan Sundaram when we traveled together. At the end of my trip, I was only liberated as I scrolled through my collection of pictures.
3. What was the reason that you couldn’t make a feasible living in India, despite your passion towards photography ?
The struggle in India is real. As a beginner, I had to build a portfolio that visualized my love for photography and today am glad that I can associate myself with a brand like NAT GEO.
4. What was the motive of your trip to Amboli? How did you manage to capture the perfect shot of the vine snake ?
The agenda of this trip had been to capture the Malabar gliding frog, which is native to the Western Ghats. On that particular day, while looking for his subject, I noticed a green vine snake on a small dead branch.
Until then, I had been using the macro lens for capturing the Malabar gliding frog. I initially began photographing the snake with the same lens but eventually shifted to a wide-angle lens (16-35mm). I had to lie down and reach the eye level of that baby snake, which was around 10-15cm in length. As it was a very mildly venomous snake, I gathered the courage to get really close and composed it using the wide-angle lens. I took a series of shots and then left the place with a sigh of relief.
5. How did your action photography started ?
Freezing your subject is possible only in photography and this pushed me to visit all the parks in London to capture the flying birds. I also realized that it was so challenging to picture a bird but that is what people love to see. So my action photography started with the birds.
6. How would you measure your success, reaching to this level ?
I measure success when my audience is able to see a story through my photos and it stimulates them to think of the photo in different dimensions and perspectives. Hence, I try to do justice to the composition as it is something very powerful and can drag the viewer in instantly.
7. Who were your mentors in your journey from an individual to a famous photographer ?
Youtube and Google were my mentors towards my journey to success.
Also read “The Milkyway Photograph, featured in National Geographic Traveler India led his dream come true”
8. What kept you going with your passion ?
I am driven by my passion for photography, which gives me the kick and I do believe that a strong passion will never let you sit idle. I have learnt all my life lessons through photography and strongly believe that everyone has a talent. We would be comfortable in something which others find hard to do. I am glad I found talent.
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