Each year, a person takes a few hundred photographs but attaches the word ‘cherish’ only to a few. For Siddhartha Joshi, it’s about capturing the high drama of quiet streets and people around India. The storyteller has a substantial base on Instagram because of the way he trains his camera on subjects to capture moments of spontaneity.

Recently, he led a session at the recently-launched Today at Apple programme in India, speaking largely about his style of taking portraits. Today at Apple is a global initiative during which anybody can join the free sessions to learn how to take better photos or create music on Apple devices and much more.
We dialed up Joshi a few days ago to speak about his session and more. Here’s what the man — who is now armed with the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the 12 Pro — told us.

You were recently a part of a Today at Apple session. How does it feel?

It was really nice. The event had a positive vibe to it, be it in terms of how the session was organised and the kind of response it received. It was quite nice to see so many young budding photographers joining in to hear about the process of taking pictures. There are so many good photographers who can become a part of these sessions. It’s an event format that has a lot of value.

Siddhartha Joshi calls these recent photos that he took in Varanasi “some dark and mellow shots that represent my mood these days.” He shot it using the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Follow him on Instagram @ siddharthajoshi. Pictures: Siddhartha Joshi Siddhartha Joshi

Are you enjoying shooting with the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max?

I think the biggest difference that I feel is on the video bit. I was using the 11 Pro before this. Earlier it wasn’t that great to shoot at night but there have been some significant changes. It’s so much brighter and cleaner when you do late evening or night shots. I feel that that’s the most obvious difference. I have not done a hand-to-hand comparison between the two (phones), but I feel the stabilisation is much better. I’m able to do like short walking shots and they come out really good. The in-built stablisation is really good now.

The night mode has improved a lot this year and the wide angle lens is good and combined with this is Deep Fusion.
You can also take portraits at night. I did that a lot because during Diwali when I went shopping with a friend. It was quite dark but the portraits came out really well. Focussing is also not an issue, pictures have less grain. The Lidar scanner must be playing a big role in giving a better segregation while taking portraits at night.

Apple will soon offer ProRaw technology, which sounds promising and should help while editing RAW files.
I think it would make a huge difference, but frankly they have only talked about it so far. Everything is guesswork at the moment as to what it would do. I have always shot in RAW while using cameras and on phones sometimes; it’s so much easier to shoot and edit those pictures later.

A photo from Siddhartha Joshi's Varanasi series. Siddhartha Joshi

You picked up a camera at age seven or eight. How much of an encouragement did you enjoy?

I think in the beginning when I got a camera, it was really about the technical side. I remember my dad would teach me how to use it. This was a Canon SLR, so it required films. I was very confident doing all of that because I was not afraid. And my dad was a big encouragement. He never said this can go wrong or that can go wrong. But as you keep learning, new things keep coming your way. What I was taught was mostly on the technical side — getting the exposure right, how to focus… all of those things. I did not explore so much on let’s say composition. That’s something that happened once I started shooting on my own. So in the beginning it was mostly my family and my sister who used to be my model. My sister is four years elder to me and I would always make her pose in weird place. I guess I was trying composition but without really knowing anything, like the rule of thirds. Now, someone who is 10 or 12 years old would know all these things. It was a different world. My relationship with the camera moved from the technical side to a more organic one. I started photography as a skill. I am still learning.

Are you enjoying iPhone photography?

Phone photography is definitely changed quite a bit. The ease of it… I think the iPhone is great for me only because it’s so easy to use. Usually I don’t go into other apps to shoot or to edit. I just use the iPhone’s native app because it’s just so easy. You can, of course, complicate the process and add a lot more to it, but the basic part is quite simple. There is nothing like phone cameras would replace traditional ones. It’s a new genre. I am being able to use the phone camera for some of my paid projects also; the requirement is mostly on digital media.

Another photo from Siddhartha Joshi's Varanasi series. Siddhartha Joshi

You are an active Instagram Reels user. Enjoying it?

Yeah, I’m enjoying it. I think at times I am being careless there! In fact, I don’t even have to be a photographer to do this. I can just be a guy who is seeing a moment and sharing it to some old Bollywood songs. I like old songs and I like pictures. It’s a good combination and it’s engaging. People don’t necessarily have to interact in terms of replying. You can just see it and move on,

Any advice for young photographers?

Photography and camera are powerful tools. The camera is not just a tool for taking photographs; it’s a tool for storytelling. There’s always a story there. It’s a distinction I learned later on in life. You know, how your pen is more powerful than a sword. The camera is also really powerful and I think it’s a privilege to have it, even if it’s a mobile phone camera. So I feel that if somebody is starting out, it’s quite important to be mindful of the pictures that are being taken. Of course, for a kid, it’s too early to think that way since they like to experiment, which is good.