SINCE 2001
As the academic year drew to a close on 14th of June, 2018 for the students of Light & Life Academy, Batch 17, nostalgia was a close companion.The students spent as much of their time as possible in the places around campus that they fell in love with,on this their last day of classin college. From the Table Tennis room to the lawn outside the cafeteria, the students made sure that they captured as many memories as they could before they left to begin working on their portfolio.
As dawn turned to dusk, the students gathered around the cafeteria fireplace to relive the year that was, through song and dance. The talented singers of Batch 17 entertained their colleagues and the faculty with a medley of popular hindi songs and The Tone-deafs, a student band from Batch 17, performed ‘Coconut’ by Harry Nilsson (a favorite of the founders), and entranced the whole gathering with a great performance of ‘Wish you were here’ by Pink Floyd, while the dancers dazzled everyone with their performance.
As the day came to an end, a rollercoaster of emotions took over and many hugs were had and many tears were shed as they bid adieu to each other and a very special year at Light & Life Academy.
The Light & Life Academy staff too were overcome with emotion as they said goodbye to an amazing group of extremely talented individuals who now have a home away from home in in the hills, amongst the clouds.
The students of Batch 17 have brought about a new trend at LLA, camping out in college. They began the evening by cooking dinner, from lasagna to pizza to cookies, in the college cafeteria, for everyone on campus. Then, as night fell, they decided to pitch tents and camp on the football ground, one of most picturesque spots on campus, so that they didn’t have to leave.What followed was a nightspent by, the fire-side, with endlessconversation, reminiscing about the year gone byand the company of Light, the campus labrador.
Here is how Priyanka Rozario describes her experience, “It's not often you find a home away from home, and when you do there's a huge amount of joy that comes along with it. And one such day was 15th June 2018, the day some of us camped in college, it felt like home. We had one of the best nights which continued to a beautiful morning and we couldn't have had that happen to us anywhere else other than at “Light & Life Academy”.
The students learnt about mixing natural light and artificial light and how to add new dimensions in aesthetics to their pictures.
Shantonobho Sir is very experienced and has a high level of knowledge. His views and reviews on the photos we take are very useful and we learn a lot. His techniques are very interesting and helpful with his guidance. My photography skills and techniques are improving day by day.
- Shriram Bala, Batch 17
Here at LLA more than the techniques we learn the ultimate source of photography “Light”. And in the location portraiture class we learnt so much on the posture, lighting and more importantly we learn to bring the actual essence of life into our portraits.
- Rohith.S, Batch 17
It always gives us immense pleasure when our alumni decide to visit and spend the day at Light & Life Academy, especially when the Alumni is from one of the earlier batches we had the pleasure of teaching!
Here's a friendly reminder to all the alumni out there: You're more than welcome to drop by anytime, we would love to hear your experiences and stories, it is, after all your second home!
Here's what Neha Bajaj from Batch 2 had to say about her visit to LLA:
"Nostalgic. Awesome. Can't get enough of being here. Love, love, love, this place. Hoping to be back here soon."
- Neha Bajaj Batch 2, Light & Life Academy
A difference in visual perspective can open up an unlimited window of opportunity and inspiration for a photographer.
This year, LLA conducted a session on Drone photography for Batch 17 students and it opened up a whole new world to them. They had hands on experience of exploring drone photography and made full use, capturing videos from perspectives that they wouldn't be able to capture on ground. They were taught the use of various drones like the Mavic Air, Spark, Phantom 3 and Inspire. They worked in groups and planned creative themes and stories that would be best exemplified through drone photography.
Here's what one student from Batch 17 had to say about her experience during the Drone Photography class:
"It was good to know the tech side of drones and understand how each part works and the purpose of each. The best part is capturing images from a totally new perspective. Looking forward to working with drones."
- Usha.R
Joined THE HINDU in 1978 and for 12 years till 1990 covered almost all sports at the national or international level which includes 2 cricket world cups 2 Asian games and 1 Olympics.
A very informative and knowledge inducing class. Learning areas of photojournalism under the guidance of Mr.Krishnan who has worked in the industry for so many years gave us a new perspective and thought. The many examples and ideas shared with us will help us click better photographs in the coming future.
- Sneha Chandra, Batch 17, PG Diploma in Professional Photojournalism.
Great interactive attentive students. Teaching was a pleasure!
It is a nice experience coming back every year and sharing my knowledge with new students. This year, the batch has been extremely co-operative. It was a great experience teaching them and I wish to see them flourish in their creative world from the core of my heart.
Dr. Margaret Thomas is Head of Department of Fine Arts at Stella Maris College, Chennai & Dr Swapna Sathish is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Stella Maris College, Chennai
It was necessary for us photographers as creators of the image to understand what goes into creating a work of art; that patience and attention to detail was primary. We were also equipped to understand what colours went together and how certain colours evoke certain emotions. This probably is essential for any photographer hoping to create meaning through their images. Dr.Margaret and Dr.Swapna's workshop helped us learn these essentials.
- Shawn Jacob, Batch 17, PG Diploma in Professional Photography
Having over 35 years of hands-on experience in creating advertising and brand communication, Dr Subash Tendle is also a former Course director at Crafting Creative Communication at MICA.
These sessions begin with why we need to be creative and what stops us from being creative. It will also explain how to get rid of the mental blocks that prevent us from being creative. Why creativity in today's life matters more than ever.
Followed by sessions on idea generation techniques. How do you generate ideas? Do the ideas happen to you as a happy accident? And if they don't, should you just wait for some divine intervention to take place? Or are there some ways to make ideas happen without any waiting? These sessions will help you learn how to generate ideas at will through variety of techniques.
We are really pleased to have you as our mentor. We enjoyed your class and gained a
lot of knowledge. You were really patient and helped us see our future projects in a
more creative and aesthetic way.
- Anushya Asokan, Batch 17, PG Diploma in Professional Photography
I really enjoyed interacting with this batch. Though, I was taking a slightly different course than the photography per say, the students were quickly able to understand the relevance of it. I found they are hungry to know more, willing to put in efforts and are open minded. Simply loved the interactions.
After a relatively quiet 2 months, Light & Life Academy was filled with the familiar hustle and bustle of the new students on the first day of the new academic year. Batch 17 has 60 students from 15 states and 33 cities, our biggest batch yet! The halls and corridors of college were once again rejuvenated with the life of the students as they were excited to embark on their new journey towards becoming professional photographers. The day started off with a standard registration process, after which each student was given LLA merchandise. This was followed by a much awaited ice-breaking session and a special lunch to end what was a truly memorable day!