Focus On The Moment: It Works For Parenting And Photographing Your Child

Be it Amitabh Bachchan, the late Sridevi, Karisma Kapoor, or Generation Z celebrities like Tara Sutaria and Janhvi Kapoor, Dabboo Ratnani is every star's favorite photographer! The 49-year-old ace photographer started his career way back in 1995 as an assistant to well-known fashion photographer Sumeet Chopra. He gradually went into portfolio photography, started working with some top fashion magazines, and had the biggest names of Bollywood under his belt in no time. Last year, on April 17, he completed 25 glorious years in the Hindi film industry.

To celebrate World Photography Day (August 19), we caught up with this exceptional and versatile photographer. Here's an exclusive interview with Dabboo Ratnani with ParentCircle.

Q. How did you spend your time during the lockdown?

In the pre-pandemic era, most of us kept whining about not having enough time, but because of the pandemic, we had a lot of time! Like everyone else, I too saw the lockdown as an opportunity to spend quality time with my family. I also used it to do some productive things like backing up my data and cleaning the house other activities that usually stay on the procrastination list.

Q. Online school was a challenge for most kids. How did your kids cope?

Online schooling has been quite exciting for my kids, Myrah (12), Kiara (10) and Shivaan (8). Like every other kid, they love gadgets, and getting to use technology for school was a new and thrilling experience for them. My kids are quite tech-savvy and created their remote learning space all by themselves, including setting up accounts on Microsoft Teams. They would explain the new-age digital world to me! I would like to appreciate their school and teachers for handling this shift quite well. They arranged multiple conference calls and made both parents and kids understand the whole process of online learning.

I too saw the lockdown as an opportunity to spend quality time with my family

Q. How did you and your wife Manisha help your kids navigate this digital shift?

Since Manisha and I were also working from home, we could help the kids whenever they needed us. For quite some time, I used to scan their homework and upload it myself, then slowly I taught them how to take pictures of their work and upload them using scanning software. They grasped it pretty quickly. Had this pandemic happened when we were kids, we wouldn't have this luxury and opportunity of distance learning, as there were no computers back then. So, I guess they've managed this shift quite well and certainly have emerged as champions. Now, if I have Zoom calls or meetings, they are the ones who set things up before I enter the frame.

Q. With three kids around the house, there must be a lot of sibling rivalry. How do you handle it?

To be honest, the age gap between the three of them isn't much, which is why they are very close to each other. They are very good friends and don't have any kind of rivalry. I think it's the responsibility of the parents to make their children feel equally special and to encourage healthy sibling relationships from the very beginning. Here's an interesting story. Since the very beginning, my wife and I have ensured that whenever we buy something, it's bought in threes—chocolates, toffees, whatever. I once went for an eye checkup, taking my son Shivaan with me. After the checkup, the doctor offered him a chocolate, and my son immediately said, "I'm going to take three." He was very young at that time, but he added, "I'll take one for me and two for my sisters." This is why I said parents play an important role in building the sibling bond.

Q. You are known for your easygoing nature and personality. Are you lenient when it comes to parenting?

I'm 95% fun and cool father and 5% strict father. I think some kind of balance is required when it comes to parenting. In the past year and a half, my wife Manisha and our kids have been busy making memories by creating Instagram reels and taking fun pictures. We became kids with them. My wife is the same. She is best buddies with them. However, in situations where we have to be firm, there's no way they can get away with something.

Q. Coming to your professional front, every photographer has their own approach. How would you define yours?

I'm not a photographer who sticks to a particular theme, but a lot of planning and conceptualization go into my work.

I believe each photograph is a concept and story in itself, and certain elements like styling, location, lighting and props add a lot of value to it.

During the shoots for my calendar, my team and I plan and conceptualize how we want to portray a specific actor. For example, this year I had a photoshoot with Ananya Panday where she posed with my puppy. It was shot in a serene outdoor location to give it that Goa vibe. So, you see, there's a lot of thought and brainstorming that goes into each picture.

Dabboo Ratnani's Tips And Tricks For Photo Shoots

FOR BABY PHOTO SHOOTS

• Be patient
• Explore and familiarize yourself with the different settings on your camera or phone camera.
• Be quick
• Make sure your space has enough light
• Have a good sense of humor
• Converse or play with your child
• Always be ready, because a baby can smile anytime!

FOR MATERNITY SHOOTS

• It's a lifetime memory. Focus on subtlety. Choose personal or dreamy shots over dramatic ones.
• Make your spouse, or whoever you are shooting, feel great about herself
• Work on giving a positive vibe and energy
• Don't rush. Let your subject get friendly with the camera

Q.  Maternity and baby photography has become a trend. What dos and don'ts would you suggest to photographers?

Baby and maternity photography is a wide industry in itself, and many professional photographers specialize in this genre.

As a people photographer, you should be able to communicate with people. If you feel that you're not a people person or you're not good at chatting, then you should probably stick to still-life photography, like shooting products or jewelry. But as a human photographer, you have to communicate and tell the model in front of you what to do and how to perform. Also, one should have excellent visualization skills to interpret what color scheme will look nice, or what the background should be. All this should be visualized before the photo shoot so that you don't waste any time and miss the moment.

If you're shooting with a professional model, they will know what to expect. But if you're shooting real people, you have to behave like a real person. Be compassionate and relate to that person. You cannot rush into intimidating shoots because you have to give the subject enough time and make them feel good about themselves.

One should have excellent visualization skills to interpret what color scheme will look nice, or what the background should be

Q. A lot of parents don't have professional cameras. How can they take professional photos of their kid's best moments with their phone camera?

When your sole purpose is to capture your child's milestones, technical bits shouldn't be your concern. Very often, when I'm traveling, even though I have my camera with me, I keep my phone handy. It's not possible to pick up the camera to capture something, especially when youre trying to shoot candid moments of your child. So, I would suggest you focus on capturing the moment rather than trying to be technically sound. Another tip would be to shoot a picture in a raw file format; many phones support raw format. The advantage of this is that it gives you a high-resolution picture, which can be reprocessed several times and still look freshly clicked.

Q. Lastly, your annual calendars make a lot of noise. How did it all start?

In December 1999, conversations around the upcoming millennium year 2000 got me thinking about launching a calendar. So, in December, I compiled a few shots that I had done over the past years. I began my career in 1994, and by 1999, I had collected many photos. I created a calendar from those photos and printed about 1,000 copies of it.

Honestly, at that point, I thought it was simply something to celebrate the millennium year, but the responses I got were amazing. Then the idea struck me to start shooting dedicatedly for such a calendar, and this is how, from 2000, the Dabboo Ratnani calendar became an actual thing. For me, my annual calendar is an expression of art, as it helps me put my creative side out there, and I enjoy it! Throughout the year, I do commercial shoots, and having a dedicated shoot once a year to embrace my passion and strengthen my learning keeps me all fired up for the upcoming year.