Taking a great photo in any genre of photography isn’t easy. Pet photography makes it even more difficult when your subject is not controllable and boisterous.
Color of Wings which was launched in April 2021 is a Bangalore based photography studio dedicated to pet portraits. The eyes behind the lens is Mamta Suresh who has been practising Architecture for last 22 years. After facing a major medical challenge in 2019, she started looking at life differently and gave up her corporate job. Though she has been photographing ever since she can remember, pet photography was like a breath of fresh air.
Mamta Suresh likes to think Color of wings as a vehicle that pet parents board to create memories of their babies. Photographs are gift of love with legacy. Someday in future , when a pet parent is flipping through an album or scrolling through the images of their fur babies, she wants them to recollect the moment of the photo shoot with pleasant nostalgic feelings.
With the current overload of images that mostly likely will get lost in the vastness of storage devices, an exclusively made customised set of images will provide the joy in the present and pleasant memories in the future. She wants Color of wings to be part of the journey.
Her number one priority during the shoots is the comfort of the pet. Hence she does’nt specify a time limit for the shoot but provides a range. She is partial to photographs taken in natural light either early in morning or late in the afternoon. The general idea in pet photography industry is to take photographs when the pet is tired and not very active. She personally feels she gets to capture the real personality during the pets most active time- ie early morning, late afternoon /evening. She also prefers to take photographs in locations that is frequented by the pet or is familiar to them. This again will help fur babies be themselves and express beautifully in front of the camera.
More than a decade experience of shooting wildlife and birds has made her more aware about little nuances like body language and typical animal behaviours. She uses this experience while shooting fur babies.
Her background in the creative field has also influenced the way she post process the images. She leans towards composites. A composite is basically a collage of multiple images. The typical result is a dreamlike image full of life and interest. As much as shooting the pets, she enjoys sitting down and editing the images into a world full of color, optimism and fantasy locations. A hidden benefit of composites is that the pets can be photographed in not so great locations like an open terrace and can be transported to a beautiful location while post processing.
Mamta Suresh, a pet parent of two year old beagle named Scamp, believes the connection with pet parents is immediate since all of us share the commonality of having pets in our lives. It’s a very personal connection that should be respected and honoured. She believes that These values of connection, respect and trust will take color of wings a long way.
