Analysing 4 of my Favourite Images

Bonus writing tip as well...

Hey friends,

Greetings from Bangalore, India!

I’ve just come home from a long road trip through 5 cities across Southern India. It’s been a whirlwind. Going to keep this part of the newsletter brief.

I’m finally finishing up my first book draft. So many moving parts. Will keep you posted.

Did a lot of photography this trip. Will post the work on my Instagram in the next few weeks.

Here are some links I enjoyed this week:

• James Clear, Atomic Habits — Strategies for Mastering Habits, Questions for Growth, and Much More: Two of my idols sit down and chat. I learnt a lot about habits, writing and book marketing from this episode.

• Level Up Your Confidence on Camera:Taking this course by Ali Abdaal. Spoiler alert: I plan to start making videos at some point in the future XD

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Photography

It has been a while since I wrote about photography and why I love it. So I decided to break down some of my favourite images from my favourite photographers.

Also, I recently finished the course - Photography for Creatives - by my friend

Envio by Steven Foster

. It gave me the tools and the inspiration to analyse my favourite shots and decipher why I like them.

Now I must say, I have WAY more than 4 favourite images. But for the sake of brevity, I’ve narrowed down my options to these stunning shots. 

All the images here belong to the respective photographer. I’m merely including them for educational purposes.

1. David Yarrow - Squad

Anyone who knows about my love for photography will know that David Yarrow is my favourite photographer EVER. There is something about his BnW, high contrast, super detailed style that draws me in.

This shot captures some of the few really large elephants left in the world. The first two images are “big tuskers”, meaning their tusks are so large that they touch the ground. On this lucky day, Yarrow managed to capture two of them, along with a few other images, all in the same shot.

I love the wide crop. It gives the shot a cinematic feel.

Yarrow shoots primarily in black and white. He recognises that colours are often distracting and that to have impactful images, you need to focus on the subject. This shot captures that maxim.

His style also emphasises texture, and if you’ve ever seen an elephant (or even seen pictures of one), you’ll know that this animal has a bunch of textures. So many wrinkles and folds—they look prehistoric.

I guess I just really love elephants.

If you want to learn more about why I love David Yarrow, you can read this article on my website. 

2. Will Burrad-Lucas - Black Leopard in Kenya

There are a bunch of reasons I love this shot. 

Firstly, it was taken by a camera trap. That means that he left the camera with a motion sensor along a trail, hoping that the black leopard would walk across. He envisioned the shot, set up his gear, and then hoped everything would turn alright.

Secondly, setting a camera trap is no joke. It is a whole other exercise in itself. I’ll perhaps write about that in another issue. 

I don’t want to spoil the story by retelling it. Read it here.

I will just say this. The black panther is a creature of the night, and this shot demonstrates this extremely well.

3. Steve McCurry - Mother and Child at Car Window, Bombay, India, 1993

The reason I love this shot is because of the several layers in it.

Firstly, you have the edge of the car seat that leads to the glass window. It’s raining, so you can see the water droplets and fog misting up against the glass.

Then you can see the beggar with her child peering through. Their faces are blurred out, which is symbolic in a way because they symbolise a large class of people in India.

But even so, the child’s expression shines through clearly. You can tell he’s looking directly into your soul, asking you for money. This, coupled with the strong red that cloaks the woman makes for a compelling visual narrative.

4. Underwater Flight - National Geographic

I came across this shot while going through the Photo Of The Day by National Geographic several years ago.

Underwater photography is hard. Using your gear in an environment that you aren’t meant to be in adds a whole layer of complexity.

The sheer number of mobula rays in this shot gives it a grand look. I love how the photographer has used a wide-angle lens to capture the scale of the school of rays.

I also love the gradient from white to blue that flows from top to bottom. Gives an element of depth to the shot. All these facets combine to make one stunning shot.

I was also thinking about analysing my images, but I don’t know whether that’s too pompous on my part. If you’re interested in something like that, let me know!

I have a question for you. Which image did you like the best, and why? Comment your answer below or reply to this email!

Book Update

I’ve spent the last week recuperating from several grinding months of writing. I was getting so burnt out that I couldn’t open my book Google Docs and not get writer’s block.

Over the road trip, I listened to Tim Ferriss’ interview with Neil Gaiman. In it, Gaiman said that he preferred handwriting instead of typing.

Now I handwrite in my journal every day, but it never occurred to me that I could handwrite my book chapters in a book and then later copy it into my computer. So I opened my notebook, and suddenly, words flowed out of me. I finally tackled a chapter that I had been putting off for several weeks.

Postcard

Last week, my father took this photo of me after we both trekked up to a local peak in Munnar, Kerala.

I’ve spent so many hours sitting on that rock, watching the clouds float beneath me. One day, I should write about what that’s like…

Favourite Quote

Competence over credentials - James Clear

Have a creative, energetic and inspiring week!

If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.

Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.

I would greatly appreciate it if you shared my newsletter and work with your friends. It really helps me out :)