Seshu and I became friends through Twitter, and while we have met in real time before, most of our communication has been through the social networking client of Twitter. Early on, I noticed that Seshu always had something helpful or interesting to put out there in his tweets.  I also noticed that he had quite a following–  as of this writing he has 2834 followers — no small feat in twitterland!  If you haven’t joined the fanclub of Seshu on twitter, make sure you check him out at www.twitter.com/Picseshu.  It is always fun to get to know another talented individual in our industry, and Seshu will not disappoint.

Seshu (say it like “say shoe”)is a documentary wedding photographer based in Connecticut, specializing in multicultural, ethnic and interfaith weddings in New England and around the world. He is happy to call himself husband to his beautiful wife, Sangeetha, and father to his two sons, Rohan and Ketan (seen below– aren’t they cute!?). Seshu was born in New York, grew up in India, then returned to go to high school and college in the US. His cosmopolitan perspective helps him bridge cultures and traditions for his clients, but his disarming and charming personality both online and off is what makes him a success.  

To put it in his own words, “Even the best equipment can’t guarantee a powerful image… for that me and my client, we need to, well, click.  Before I snap a photo — before I even pick up my camera — I get to know them, their family, and draw inspiration from the relationship we build.”  Seshu is all about relationships — he even names his blog.  His current blog, Saffron, is a bold red blog that colorfully demonstrates his Indian heritage.  Some of his work shown below are wonderful images of the grandparents in his family, another sign of how important relationships are to him, and how that spills out into his photography.

Most photographers feel like they have enough on their plate keeping their own businesses running, and I’m always impressed by those who take it one step further and use their talents for good to the community. Make sure you check out the Good Works article in this month’s issue of Professional Photographer magazine– you’ll learn all about Seshu’s charitable project, “Phases & Faces: The Kids of Connecticut” a portrait project designed to benefit Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.  The project will culminate in a Coffee Table book published by Seshu Photography in time for the Christmas Holidays!

Just reading Seshu’s Coffee Break will give you an idea of just how generous and thoughtful he is… his answers read like a blogroll with all of the connections and websites he shares.  I love his  advice as well…”Always seek to inform yourself. If it doesn’t help you directly, it may just help someone you know down the road indirectly…Look for ways to help people, with absolutely no expectation to get anything back in return.”  Well said, my friend, in the true spirit of Learn, Grow, Share of Jules Cafe.  Read on, you’ll be glad you did!

LEARN: What’s something that you feel like you’d like to learn more about, something you are continually learning? What is something that you wish someone would have told you before you had to learn it the hard way?

A: Other than lighting, it’s the business side of photography that I am continuing to learn about. I started out as a business major in college and a part of me wishes I had a business degree now. Instead, I graduated with degrees in History and American Studies, then spent two years in Japan trying to learn Japanese. Whether it is marketing, sales or accounting, there seem to be new ways to approach each one now and so I am “in school” perpetually trying to figure out what would make the best sense for my business. It is about adopting and adapting best practices because what someone down the road is doing will rarely work for your own unique situation. I think that’s something to remember.

GROW: How have you grown in the past five years in your business, in your own personal quest for growth, in your awareness of the world around you? How would you recommend others grow—do you have a favorite marketing tip, workshop suggestion, or convention to attend?

A: As I tell people, I don’t live in a bubble nor operate in a vacuum. I have a great many people to thank for either directly or indirectly bringing me to where I am today. Given the rapid growth in blogs, workshops, online seminars, podcasts and video posts, I have learned a great deal in the past five years. My lighting has improved a great deal thanks to people like Zack Arias (onelightworkshop.com), David Hobby (strobist.com), Joe McNally (joemcnally.com), The Wiebners (thewiebners.com) and of course the Digital Wedding Forum (digitalweddingforum.com). That’s the technical side of things.

On the business side, I have followed Dane Sanders (fasttrackphotographer.com), Laura Nowak (strategyavenue.com), Dave & Quin Cheung (dqstudios.com), Anne Ruthmann (photolovecat.com) and of course Jules Bianchi (thank you Seshu!). I also follow Anna Kuperberg (kuperberg.com), David A. Williams (davidwilliams-heartworks.com), Punam Bean (punambean.com), Huy Nguyen (f8studio.com), Carla Ten Eyck (carlateneyck.com), Brooks Whittington (brookswhittington.com ), David Murray (murrayphotography.com), Emilie Sommer (emilieinc.com) and Marc Climie (climie.com) for inspiration.

But there is another type of growth, the kind that is internal and that one rarely has the capacity to teach because the willingness to learn to become a better person comes from within. Four people who have influenced me in that regard are my friends Paul Gero (paulfgero.com/), David duChemin (pixelatedimage.com), Jesh de Rox (jeshderox.com) and Storey Wilkins (storeywilkins.com). They are just incredible at what they do because they approach their photography with such conviction and resolve.

There are various ways one could grow. The obvious are taking workshops, reading a lot of books, following a lot of blogs and simply getting involved in any photography related gathering near you. But it begins with having an open mind about it all. There are workshops I have attended that were at face value a rather waste of my time and money, but weeks or months later I had light bulbs go off that made it all worthwhile. Always seek to inform yourself. If it doesn’t help you directly, it may just help someone you know down the road indirectly. Extend your hand out at a party or gathering and introduce yourself. Carry your business cards and give them away at the right opportunities. Look for ways to help people, with absolutely no expectation to get anything back in return. Be there for a fellow photographer. I have learned quickly that this is a very small community and what goes around comes around … and fast.

One thing in common among all of the photographers (and those I haven’t mentioned) above is that they are all GIVERS. That might give your readers a hint about how to succeed in this business!

SHARE: How do you feel that you contribute to the industry? What is something you would like to share with your follow colleagues? How can they turn around and do the same for others? Favorite charitable contribution?

A: I enjoy connecting people or guiding them to the right resources. It gives me great satisfaction in knowing that I have helped solve someone’s immediate problems. It could be local or someone living on the other side of the planet. It doesn’t really matter. Stepping up, when you can, to lend a hand is perhaps the best thing one can do.

I grew up in a household where voluntary work was encouraged. With two kids of my own now, I wanted to put my skills to use to help Connecticut’s largest children’s hospital. So, I recently launched a portrait book project called Phases + Faces: The Kids of Connecticut. This was inspired by Tero Sade, an Australian photographer and Paul Gero, who I mentioned earlier. Both have connected with their communities and helped them raise a good deal of money for some very worthy causes. There is nothing stopping other photographers to define their goals, approach a non-profit of their liking and start producing images for that cause. It’s win-win-win for all.

I feel my contribution to the industry is still in its nascent stages. As an Indo-American photographer, I feel I understand both cultures and expectations well. When I am asked about Indian weddings, I am totally an open book. I am happy to share whatever I know. Down the road, I would love to teach and write a book about multicultural and ethnic weddings.

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Thank you Seshu for your inspiring answers! I really appreciate the time you took to invest in Jules Cafe, and all of the photographers who visit here for inspiration. Make sure you check out Seshu’s blog for photographers, Tiffinbox.org. Seshu is trying to develop it as a go-to site for those photographers who are interested in South Asia. Recently Seshu was featured in a local article, and you can read more about him here.

And finally, in the spirit of sharing, here are two of Seshu’s favorite blog postings for you!

20 Giants of Photographic Lighting
31 Must Follow Photographers On Twitter

Seshu Photography
Elegant. Memorable. Real.
Website - http://www.seshu.net
Saffron – http://www.seshu.net/saffron
Twitter account – http://twitter.com/picseshu
Facebook account – http://www.facebook.com/seshu

p.s. I know a little secret about Seshu.  He really wants to photograph a wedding at the Oberoi Udaivilas in India, so much so that he’ll do it for free if you take him along!  So if you are looking for an amazing location for your destination wedding, and a photograher who can do the job… look no further.  :-)

Check out his amazing work here!