Nikhil Kapur Photography

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6 Things About Heritage Photography That Will Make You Fall In Love with It

Historical monuments and heritage sites create a surreal bridge between the past and the present. These locations offer a unique opportunity for photography as the monuments' beauty and art can be intricately depicted. That is why many photographers love to travel to these places, searching for rich heritage.

Here are 6 things you will adore about heritage photography

1)      Individuality

Each monument or site portrays rich culture and heritage in its architecture, design, and aesthetics. Even the Taj Mahal, being one of the most photographed locations in the world, can offer a photographer different perspectives, if they make an effort to look for it. How you portray the subject depends entirely on your skill and understanding of it. The art of capturing the monument's individuality and uniqueness is an essential factor when looking at it.

2)      Ideal Location

Heritage monuments/buildings are unique because of their history. You can take quick shots of them on your phone as a tourist and move on. Or you can spend time understanding the architecture and appreciating the efforts that have gone into designing and creating these amazing structures. As a photographer, you will have a vision of how to capture the structure. To implement that vision, you have to spend time exploring the place in detail. It is important to understand the sun’s movement across the building to understand the exterior and interior lighting better. This also applies to architecture photography in general and not specifically to heritage buildings. Since you can’t move the subject, you have to use light as it moves around the subject.

3)      Place for Showcasing your Photography Skills

When you understand history, you can look for details in the design that relate to its history. Capturing those will help showcase the true beauty of the structure.

Another aspect of photographing heritage buildings is to create awareness among people about its existence. There are so many buildings lying in ruins due to neglect. Many unknown heritage monuments in India's corners are quite easily accessible, but people don’t know about them. As a photographer, I enjoy traveling and finding these rare buildings to shoot, so more people can see and appreciate them.

4)      Capturing Heritage Sites in natures hue

Natural light heritage photography has its own beauty. The right white balance can change the entire look of your photographs. While the exposure and colors of nature play a vital role in bringing out your shots' best result. A clear blue sky or beautiful orange shade of sunset serves as a perfect background that gives the natural effect to your photographs.

5)      Chance for Capturing Exclusivity through the Lens

Exclusive photographs can be taken through the lens. A lot of heritage sites do not allow photography without permission. So there are not many photographs available. If you can manage a permit, you can show your full creativity to take exclusive shots. Some places have a rare sight to offer at a specific time; therefore, they have more visitors and demand amongst tourists and photographers. It becomes the photographer's job to get hold of that rare moment to capture its rare beauty.   

6)      Weaving a Tale

One can tell a story through these photographs. Here, the photographer’s creative mind comes to play. Every person has their own way of expressing themselves. Therefore, it becomes incredibly essential to believe, understand and weave a story with the help of perfect shots.

The chronology or series determines the execution of the pictures. It is important to be able to turn your vision into reality. The viewer should be able to understand the photographer’s inspiration behind the shots.

Conclusion

It is important to understand the value of India’s rich cultural and historical heritage before visualizing and clicking it. A combination of all the skills mentioned above should be utilized to help you bring out the best results. It also promotes and educates people about the heritage and age-old history of the country. The tourism industry also gets a boost based on the beautifully captured pictures. Thus, photography is a multi-faceted profession that affects different sectors of society. It is a diverse field that involves several factors to bring out the best in each shot taken by the photographer.