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Not a 5 D mark story – Engineer turned Photographer – Saurabh Desai 50 MM

Not a 5 D mark story – Engineer turned Photographer – Saurabh Desai 50 MM

So you did engineering. What exactly do you do?
I am a photographer

That was a tough question to handle when you know that the only reaction to your answer would be rolling eye balls and disbelief. Especially when you hail from a conservative and conventional family. In the summer holidays of 10th Standard a young boy from Surat- Saurabh Desai, went on a summer camp with the ever passionate wildlife photographer – Snehal Patel (Nature Club Surat ) to Dang and got his first camera ( Cosina )as a gift and ever since, his passion for photography has only multiplied.

India’s top ranking wildlife photographer, an engineer, one of the founding members of Drashtikon Surat and now the founder of 50 mm Media Productions, Saurabh Desai has had his share of ups and downs. The photographer in him had immense passion and patience to pursue wildlife photography, a rare combination especially during the ‘Camera Roll days’, when there were no memory cards and picture production was an expensive affair. I have made multiple trips to the Gir Forest, and I take multiple safaris in a day and it so happens that we don’t spot a single lion in 10 days. But according to me wildlife photography is not only about capturing lions and tigers. It’s about the forests, the birds, other small creatures and most importantly about patience, says Saurabh.

The turning point in his career was when he quit his job at L & T to follow his passion as his romance with camera always overpowered him. It took a lot of thought munching and an insatiable appetite for doing something creative to ditch the corporate job and that is how 50 mm was founded. It was a roller coaster ride full of experience.They specialize in creating and capturing candid moments. A true romantic, he strictly believes in doing things he loves besides running a commercial venture

Saurabh Desai today, is one of the most talented wildlife photographers in India. He had been selected in the top 100 finalist list in the ‘BBC wildlife photographer of the year’amongst 70,000 applicants and has been awarded and featured by many international magazines

He says that there is always a thin line between being successful and satisfied. And he is blissfully happy with all that he has been doing till now. A wildlife photography enthusiast, he wants to explore more in that field and you guessed it…follow his heart.

On a closing note he shares his golden nuggets to budding photo artists, “DON’T SELL YOUR ART FOR FREE, MAKE IT LOOK AS PRECIOUS AS IT IS FOR YOU.”