Hey everyone!
If you don’t already know me from my socials, I’m Garima Bhaskar, a 25-year-old Photographer based in Delhi, India.
I’m writing this blog post with the hope to inspire and motivate someone like me who studied a completely different subject and wants to pursue a polar opposite career.
At the end of the day, you only need YOU yourself to believe in what you’re capable of. You don’t need anybody else’s confirmation.
I’ve talked in bits and pieces on my Instagram stories about how I transitioned into a Product Photographer from Engineering but here I will tell you everything!
Table Of Contents
From the beginning… 2014
My college began in the year 2014. I was pursuing B.Tech in Computer Science. And no, I wasn’t doing it because it was the most common choice.
I was genuinely interested in it, had been for a long time.
I stumbled upon the idea of a blog in the same year, 2014. I signed up for a free account on WordPress.com and started a blog by the name ‘Garimawrites’.
For solid 6 months, I was unaware of what actually a blog was supposed to be and how you work on one. The majority of my time was spent in college studies so I didn’t get much time to jump into blogging in depth.
Also, in the first year of college, I was very focused on studies to compensate for the not-so-good results in the 12th standard.
As I entered my second year, I found more time to read and learn about what a blog is and how you can build content for it. Around the same time, I took up various content writing gigs to earn a few extra bucks for my pocket money. I remember ghostwriting for as low as Rs. 250-300.
Along with this, I was writing for my own blog as well. Earlier, the blog posts were mainly about life, tech, the latest smartphones, etc.
Then I started writing about travel too! Soon I realized that the name GarimaWrites didn’t feel relevant anymore because I wasn’t just writing, I was sharing my own voice too. That’s when (2016) I bought a domain name and linked it to my free WordPress blog – garimashares.com.
Introduction to Photography as a career option… 2017
I’d loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember.
But I had no clue that this could be something done for a living. Because back in 2017, you didn’t have so many photographers sharing and talking about their work on Instagram.
So, I was basically pretty intrigued by the idea of Photography as a career option. Intrigued but unsure.
There were Photography competitions in the college fests, few of my friends had a DSLR camera. I tried my hands on it and it felt so daunting to suddenly have so much control over a picture that a camera is shooting.
Through YouTube videos, blogs, and my generous friends who let me borrow their cameras, I learned the basics of a DSLR camera. While I was doing this, I was taking pictures on my phone and sharing them on Instagram.
They were pretty bad, but you’ve to start low if you want to reach somewhere. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
I tried saving for a DSLR with my content writing gigs but it wasn’t enough cameras are expensive! So my mom pooled in (most of the money) and got me my first DSLR – Nikon D3400.
I started going out around the city to take pictures and worked with some fashion bloggers to try out portraits and fashion shoots. I finally went around in the city when I got an opportunity to shoot with thatbohogirl – Kritika Khurana.
It put me on the map and I started getting inquiries from brands.
The year of BIG CHANGES – 2018
A LOT HAPPENED in the year 2018.
I graduated, I bought my own hosting from Bluehost, I got placed in a reputable software company, I ditched that for Photography.
2018 was the final year of my B.Tech. Not to brag, but I was the first person to be placed in my college.
When the teachers broke the news to me in a room full of hopeful Engineers wanting to be placed, that I’ve been shortlisted right after I got over with my interview, I wasn’t as happy as I thought I’d be.
The first thing I did was, I called my mom, then my dad. And by the time I got home, my entire extended family knew I was placed on the first day of campus placements in the first company that came to our college.
I was relieved that I don’t have to sit for more companies anymore. But at the same time, I was confused about whether I made the right choice.
Do you know how you don’t know if you want something until the very end?
When the time came to accept the offer letter, I decided to reject it and try my hands at being a Photographer full-time.
I wasn’t fully confident in myself, but I still chose it because it was the only time when I had the least number or no responsibilities at all, I hadn’t worked at a job so I wasn’t financially stable to miss it later.
It was difficult. Very difficult. To see my friends from college moving to different cities for their jobs, starting to earn some stable amount every month. While I was struggling to build a base as a newbie Photographer.
Gradually, I started booking more shoots, I was invited to events for media coverage on my blog garimashares.com, I wrote sponsored reviews for apps and brands on my blog, was interviewed a few times by online portals and different colleges of the Delhi University, judged contests, won a GoPro Hero 8 in a photography contest, featured in a few newspapers, Vogue Italia, Picton Magazine, and more!
Along with Photography, I spent more and more time expanding my knowledge of SEO, digital marketing, brand aligning, and brand management. When I bought my hosting, I managed everything myself since I didn’t have the budget to hire someone.
The tasks included shifting my blog content to Bluehost, installing WordPress on Bluehost, linking my domain to this hosting, designing the blog, setup my own email info@garimashares.com. I read uncountable blogs on how to get my blog approved for Adsense and it finally came through after 4 months! In addition to joining a handful of affiliate networks.
And then the pandemic hit… 2020
As the pandemic led to unending lockdowns, I couldn’t shoot outdoor portraits and streets anymore.
I gave flatlays a shot and little did I know that I would almost entirely shift to flatlays and product photography in less than a year. I signed my first major social media campaign with OnePlus India that went on for almost two more additional years.
Fast forward to 2022…
I raised my pricing, invest in a whole lot of new gear and equipment, did online courses to keep upgrading my skills, spent time working on personal branding, started some new services, as of now I do the following:
- Tech content writer for a magazine
- Blogging on garimashares.com
- Social media management for brands
- Photography + Short videos
- Travel content creator on @garimatravels
- Instagram growth tips on @garimasharesblog
