5 years later!
Time flies when you are doing what you love!!!
Today marks FIVE years since I first launched my photography website! I realize 5 years is not much in the big picture, but I am proud and humbled by the journey that my business has taken me through over these past few years. Because of my photography, I've been lucky to meet so many new people, experience some of the most beautiful scenery, and witness countless amounts of love! I am grateful for all of your support - my family, friends, mentors, clients, and followers - whom without, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish all of this, so I would like to say thank you! Many of you will never even know how much of an impact the smallest things have made on me!
I know many of you have heard my story several times, but today marks a good day to reflect and to share! I write my story in the hopes that it inspires that one person who is feeling stuck and feeling worried that they are too far invested in something else to be able to switch gears to follow their passion. I know you may be afraid of failure, but it is a greater failure to not even try. The scarier thought is that you could be passing on making your dream a reality simply because you never gave it a shot. The quote on the left by Steve Jobs was something that really spoke to me while I was going through my transition.
Ask yourself, what would you do if you could do anything..
and then start taking action to make it into a reality!!! With persistence & hard work, anything can be possible.
I spent EIGHT years of my schooling geared towards becoming a doctor, yet ultimately became a professional wedding & fashion photographer! I had a tough time deciding if I should continue with my residency or take the leap and completely switch gears. I can't imagine how my life would be today if I had decided to take on residency after med school. So 5 years ago when all of my peers were announcing where they matched, I was announcing my photography website :) I couldn't be happier that I didn't allow myself to take the easier route and to continue the motions of doing something that I was honestly alright at but just feeling miserable doing on a daily basis. If you asked 25 year old Sachi - the anxiety of leaving medicine seemed like it was the end of the world and that I was such a failure for wanting to switch careers. 30 year old Sachi - the thought of never having created all the images that I have in the past 5 year gives me even worse anxiety! Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I am a firm believer of 'everything happens for a reason' and I can now clearly see that the reason for my med school experience was that it led me to pursuing my true passion. I have so much more to learn, but I am excited to see where photography takes me in the next several years!
I want to say a special thank you to my Mr. Benny Anand for all of his support in helping me to build my career and for always letting me live in my 'la la land'. For being patient with me through the countless number of weekends and evenings we have to spend apart so that I can build my dream. You give me everything and I am so lucky to have you as my husband. 'I love you like the stars above!'
Ending with this fun fact - This was the very first Christmas gift that Benny gave me to back in 2006. It was a framed picture of a photo that I took of this flower on my canon point and shoot! Somehow he knew my true calling before I even knew it myself! :) I have displayed on my inspiration shelf in my studio now!
THE FIVE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT ARE MOST MEANINGFUL TO ME IN MY CAREER
March 2012. The photo I used for my website cover page the very first time I launched my website. I created this shot using my own wedding jewelry and placing it on top of the kitchen table to get the reflection effect. I had to get creative to be able to build my portfolio and imitate a wedding day shot!
September 2012. This beautiful couple hired me to do wedding portraits because it had rained on their wedding day and were unable to take outdoor photos at their venue on the day of. It was one of my very first few wedding portrait shoots, and seeing this photo gave me hope and inspiration that I can become a full time wedding photographer!
June 2013. I took this shot on one of my summer frolic days walking across the Ben Franklin Bridge! Feel proud that my friends wanted to display this photo in their home and in May 2015 it won best of show & is a full wall display in the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
February 2014. My first published feature in a print magazine (South Asian Bride Magazine) was from this photoshoot! I've been teaming with Pauline (Flawless beauty by Pauline) since the very first few months of my career to create stylized bridal photoshoots. She was my makeup artist for my own wedding before I started photography and she became my biggest mentor once I became a photographer! I am so proud of the shoots that we create together and the progression in our stylized shoots.
October 2016. Making the impossible feel possible. Hints of my love for fashion photography have always shined through over the years of my career. I've been wanting to take my fashion photography to the next level, and creating this image with the help of a super talented team gives me hope that I can make it in the fashion photography world!
