Engineering student turned wedding photographer, Namit Narlawar talks about his journey with the camera and discovering a passion for photography. With a sizable following of 23k followers on Instagram, Namit and his business partner Vipul Sangilkar are the founders of ‘Knotty Affair’ – an award-winning wedding photography service.
Before entering the world of weddings, Namit was just a regular student who decided to pursue engineering. After completing his studies in Hyderabad, he worked for a year in Pune and then worked for a short while in Delhi. Later, he shifted to Mumbai and started another stint there. This time there was travel involved, and when Namit had to fly to Hong Kong, he decided to get a camera to capture the city. He ended up buying a lavish camera. He laughed about it and said that he was just interested in the camera and decided to get a really good one. Namit claims to have invested his salary in constantly buying equipment and learning new techniques. At this point, he still never considered a career in photography.
Finally, he decided to quit his job because he wasn’t enjoying it. He decided to start something of his own. His mother supported his endeavours. However, he didn’t reveal this decision to his father until much later. On a trip to Sikkim, Namit’s friend told him about candid photography and the art of capturing natural moments. It’s at this point that Namit decided to start a venture in photography. He spent the next few months learning from YouTube and exploring his creativity with the camera.
“In the beginning, it’s not the time to shoot but the time to explore”, he says when asked about how he dealt with not getting clients at the start.His cousin’s wedding was the first shoot which got featured on other pages. Next, he displayed his work in the 2013 Chembur festival from where he earned new clients. Soon, after meeting his business partner at another function, they got together and launched Knotty Affairs. In 8 years, they have shot over 300 weddings which have been featured on prominent platforms like Wedding Sutra and ShaadiSaga. They started focusing on only cream-of-the-crop clients and lavish destination weddings. Namit recalls an INR 200 Crore worth destination wedding which took place in Barcelona and Milan. These photos also went viral.
His attitude of constant improvement motivates him to click better pictures. “I don’t have a favourite picture. Every time I click one and think it’s the best, I click other pictures that end up being better.” He does, however, have one photo that’s close to his heart – a simple colour bomb picture shot in Lonavala, where he captures the different colours with the right light, at the right time. “It’s not a difficult technique, and it’s simple to shoot, but it was just captured at the right time.”
Most of his clients are through Instagram, but now that he has recognition, it has become easier to acquire the higher-end clients. Namit laughs while remembering how his father felt proud when he found out about articles listing him as one of the top 20 photographers in Mumbai.
Starting on his own and learning with time, Namit has always tried to keep a positive attitude. He says that in the beginning, it’s important to keep working and pushing yourself so that you don’t remain at the same level for years. With awards already under his belt, we are sure that Namit Narlawar’s ventures will continue to prosper. The future of wedding photography flashes brightly!
namit ji is always one of my favorite photographerðŸ™ðŸ»