Amit Rane, one of the pioneers of DCP Expeditions began his journey along with Dr Caesar Sengupta. A passionate wildlife photographer since past two decades who truly witnessed the evolution of camera in the digital industry. He is an ex-banker who chose to give up the desk job and moved out to capture the beautiful world. To have an in- depth knowledge of wildlife, he thoroughly studied geography and hepatology to be the best. Team imd1 was ecstatic to have a word with such an enthusiast in the field of photography.

We are really keen to know; how did your journey begin?

I was involved in photography during my college days and after completing college in 1993, I began working professionally in commercial photography with my brother and this is how it all began. In 1996 I joined the BHNS - Bombay Natural History Society, where I got to learn about ornithology and herpetology and since then I started liking documenting those species and wildlife photography.

What were the hardships / hurdles you have encountered during your journey? How did you overcome them?

I belong to a typical lower middle-class family where buying the equipment was a very big hardship but eventually I made it.

Know me Beyond Photography

Success is incomplete without its share of setbacks. What advice do you give to others about handling the setbacks?

Failure is the essential part of your success, you won’t understand success if you don’t fail. The only thing after failing multiple times is to get up and start working towards it. Without failure you can’t measure your success.

Who has been the main influencer in your journey & how?

My first official teacher under whom I learned photography is Mr. Mehta, mentioning him because he is the first person who influenced me. Second is my friend Dr. Caesar Sengupta, who has inspired me to join him and set up this company - DCP Expeditions.

Which was "that" moment when you considered yourself as "I Am The 1"?

Being a commercial photographer, I don’t cherish projects, rather I feel “I Am The 1” when the project gets delivered to the client on or before time, since in every business client’s satisfaction is of utmost importance so that they become our permanent customer.

Could you reflect on the importance of systematic training in Photography?

I must say that Photography and Videography is a very disorganized sector, their schools have an outdated syllabus. There must be a very structured approach for learning photography and videography..

What are the pre-coaching essentials e.g. right age, mindset or anything else?

Age doesn’t matter for me, as I have seen 6-year-old kids composing amazing images though they don’t have proper technical idea and its not about the technicality but your framing and composition matters.

Technology is changing the way people get trained in Photography. What's your take?

Technology is changing every day and one needs to upgrade with it. I belong to the era of film rolls and later the digitalization took place. We used to opt for the traditional method but eventually the digital aspect took over us. Slowly the DSLRs came and tomorrow is the era of mirror-less cameras so if I don’t change now then it would be too late for me to carry on the trend. Earlier the digital media wasn’t entertained for marketing but now everything related to marketing depends upon it.

What qualities must one look for in a 'Guru' for training in Photography?

A Guru must have an amazing knowledge and must equally motivate you. There are many photographers but not all of them are good teachers. One must deliver correctly to the audience they’re teaching to.

If you were to bring one big change in the way people get trained in Photography what would that be?

There are various online courses available but what I strongly believe is there has to be a human touch in the training, not fully but a good blend of digital as well as physical interaction is necessary..

What do you suggest for better accessibility of Photography training in remote parts of India?

Various mediums are available today from internet but most of the people do not fully get the knowledge because of the language barrier. Today YouTube has the largest amount of interactive learning content put up from the west but there has to be Indian teachers so that it could reach out to all the parts of India as India is a big market and a course must be available in all the languages to make it accessible for everyone.

Your piece of advice to parents and new generation especially when some people are skeptical about career in extra curriculum.…

I have seen lots of parents being aware about the scope in extra-curricular careers and I myself would want my children to do something beyond academics. As photography and cinematography is a growing medium, there is a lot of opportunities for newcomers to work and excel as it is a growing medium in India..

What's your success mantra?

Do the right things instead of doing things in the right way.

One thing which you feel you want to change from the past while you walk down the memory lane…

I wish I could have left my job early to start photography.

Any other thoughts you want to share?

Your team is doing a fantastic job as when I interacted earlier today, I got aware of the imd1 concept which made me very happy to see such kind of startup emerging in India, encouraging lot of employment for the youth and changing the perspective of people towards extracurricular activities.