Dabboo Ratnani reveals how he maintains the exclusivity of his celebrity calendars

I prefer to give copies to my relatives, to the advertising of my friends, to fashion and to Bollywood. Apart from that, the electronic copies are posted on Dabboo Ratnani's website or on the handles of my social media. Celebrities have also put on the handles of their social networks for their followers.

Your family is mainly on the set while you photograph the celebrities. Does this create distractions?

I am really happy to have Manisha (woman) and children on the sets. Sometimes Manisha and I slept just two hours, we had to work tirelessly all day and sometimes night. She has always stood with me as a support system.

Will fans ever have the opportunity to own these calendars?

I have not thought of putting the calendar up for sale, but later in the year plans to launch a social media contest for my fans and distribute to them copies of the calendar .

Social media has helped a lot in creating such a large fan base?

Before social media people do not even consider photography as their career choice I believe that social media is the future. I have about 1.2 million on Instagram and 2 million on Twitter because of my work. Now, people expect photographers to publish their work as everyone wants to see it. They want to ask them the concepts and the thought behind the shots.

What do you think of social media photographers confronted by professional photographers?

Social media as a platform is good, but here we tend to exaggerate things. Some photographs can be manipulated dangerously and we do not even know to what degree. But at the end of the day, it's up to the public to decide the difference between a professional photographer and an amateur photographer.

Prilli 2019, the international calendar, covered cinematographic femininity at the time of #MeToo. Are you also planning to do something similar in your calendars?

Many social movements are slowly emerging in our country and the understanding of such concepts of the fashion industry will materialize in the future when people will fully understand it. Even if it happens to cover such social movements, I will probably choose to publish it as a separate property, such as displaying it at an exhibition, perhaps creating a separate property or a separate schedule. I could even collaborate in the future with brands or NGOs on a particular social theme.

When it comes to New Age actors, their raw personality and acting skills speak louder than their style statements and prefer less tinsel. Are you also planning to shoot with them?

I have shot with some new age actors and I think they are all very talented and interesting. I find the face of Radhika Apte very interesting, she is a brilliant actor and would like to take some pictures of her someday.

How much photoshop is it worth?

If you have seen my work, I am more focused on real photography and I do not manipulate the images. Even when it comes to celebrity shooting, I prefer to be very minimal in my approach to image processing and retouching.

In fact, at the beginning of my career as a photographer, we had to do everything during filming and there. had no way to modify or manipulate numerically. It is thanks to this practice that I do not use too much photoshop. Unlike the current scenario where celebrity shots rely heavily on digital manipulation.

Inspired by iconic fashion photographer Herb Ritts. Which of his works inspired you most?

Herb Ritts! I love his work It's difficult to choose between his works or even among his series because he is legendary in every respect. I was a big fan of Madonna. I loved her music, read all the magazines in which she appeared and most of her beautiful photos were made by Herb Ritts

At the beginning of my career, I also worked with Pooja Bhatt, who was also a fan of Herb Ritts. In 1995, when Pooja and I did a lot of black and white photo shoots, we shared an inner joke. Pooja Bhatt called me Herb Ritts and I called her Cindy Crawford, who was the muse of Herb Ritts.

What makes you say "This is a perfect shot?"

It's hard to put into words what defines a perfect shot. If it's an actor with whom I have a relationship built over the years, I think we both realize that the shot is perfect, we just feel it.

In general, I am with the flow, my instructions change quickly, my click speed increases and before we know it happens, organically. But technically, there are so many things that contribute to a perfect shot. The first thing I see in a perfect picture are the eyes, the expression and the mouth. For a complete picture, focus on body language, angle, and more.

To be honest, I often come back to my work that I might have done 6 years ago and I find myself looking at it thinking that I would have liked to do it differently. To go back to the work you've done in the past and badyze it, it's very important to continue to evolve, which I think is a growth.

What is your two-point guide for amateur fashion photographers?

Fashion photography is a very glamorous world, but budding photographers should not get into this kind of photography just because they wanted to be surrounded by famous actors, models, and people. Who's Who from the industry. In photography, it is important to evolve with new concepts and techniques.

I would also advise budding photographers that if you have a chance as a trainee or badistant, you have to give it all and make your own. When I was working as an badistant, I did not shoot as if I was working for someone else. I worked as if the filming was mine. Personally, I find that this kind of pbadion is lacking in today's generation, few people do not want to work for long hours and few people want an easy solution. The aggression is absent.

One of the reasons I am one million more followers than any other fashion photographer in the country is the hard work and pbadion that I have devoted to my work over the years.

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