Kaustav Saikia

As a model friend had summed it up a while back, my style can be perhaps described as “intensely personal in a public setting” - meaning the connection I create between the camera and the subject is tunnelled into something very personal, in-spite of being surrounded by multiple people/team.

Since I am a fashion photographer, all or most of my pictures are ’made’ as opposed to ’taken’. Hence a lot of pre-planning and post-production goes into it. It takes multiple rounds of discussion with the client/talent and the team, research, storyboarding and of course planning the actual shoot.

The number of lights depends on the project at hand, but mostly I like to work with a single source of light. I believe that the best light to shoot is available light, which is a singular source (the sun) and hence even if I re-create the setting in a studio, I try to minimise the no of light sources. Right now, I am working with the full set of Elinchrom lights and the occasional Broncolor. My favourite light modifier is the Litemotiv Para.

The moment an idea strikes me, I try to sleep it over! If I am still as excited about the idea the next morning, then I would like to accept it as worthy of a project. Next, I would do as much research as possible on the theme/concept and also try to see any previous interpretations done, if any. Then I would prepare a mood board (and present to the client if necessary).

The next phase is to assemble the best team possible - and this follows from the theme/storyboard: and sometimes within budget constraints. I like to pre-plan a lot as to not have any nasty surprises on-set on the day of the shoot.