The first pictures Jathin Premjith photographed were of nature — and using his father’s old Canon EOS 350D camera. His love of flowers was what drew him to the hobby two years ago. “Whenever I look at them, I feel like capturing their images,” the teenager says.
From the manicured environs of his home in the Gulf, Jathin one day chose to shoot the scenes from outer space. The result was stupendous. His first-ever attempt at astrophotography has found him a chance to win a prestigious international title. The teenager’s ‘The Full Moon’ has found a place among the first five short-listed entries in the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2009 competition, organised by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. In short, the 13-year-old has managed to do through his first shots what veterans have found hard to accomplish.
The competition, endorsed by UNESCO, is as part of the year-long International Year of Astronomy celebration. This year is also, incidentally, the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations made using a telescope by Galileo Galilei.
In addition to astrophotography, Jathin is also extremely interested in shooting fast moving objects. His first-ever attempt at photographing the fast-paced cars at the sixth Formula 1 in Bahrain — where he resides — in April this year saw his pictures being published in the internationally acclaimed Canon-Photoplus photography magazine. Experts will vouch that photographing F1 cars moving at the speed of 250-300 km-per-hour needs not only skill, but also great concentration and patience, more so in hot climatic conditions like that prevailing in countries like Bahrain.
This is what Drew Gibson, an expert photographer, said about his F1 photographs: “Your smooth panning technique and intense concentration have helped you to capture a great looking action shot.
“In my experience, Bahrain is particularly difficult track to shoot well, so you have done a good job to get yourself so close to action.”
Back to the beauty of nature around and the sky above, Jathin got interested in astronomy when he first saw the four Moons of the Jupiter and the rings of Saturn through his father’s telescope. The interest intensified when he had a breathtaking starry sky experience in a large 18-metre dome planetarium.
His knowledge of cameras and love
for photography apart, the Kerala boy is like any other school kid of his age. So, how did he manage to take such prize-winning shots in his first attempt. “My father has taught me all about camera settings and photography techniques,” he says coyly.
His father, Premjith Narayanan, an engineer by profession and a photographer and astronomer by interest, attributes the boy’s success to his steady hands. “The prize-winning Moon shot was taken using Afocal method. This involves placing the camera at the telescopic eyepiece hand-held and clicking. This method in photography has got greater chance of the images blurring. But Jathin took sharp shots.” His parents accompany their two sons for night-sky viewing once in a week. While the mother, Suja, is good at mapping the celestial objects in the sky, the father is proficient in photography.
Jathin now wants to learn more about astrophotography and night photography. He wants to shoot Nebulae, galaxies and stars. He’s also interested in wildlife and wants to capture animals in motion.
Meanwhile, he’s eagerly awaiting the final results of the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year and is looking forward to visiting the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to see his prized photographs put up at the exhibition in London. Till then, this student of Asian School in Bahrain is happy playing the violin and keyboard — and, of course, capturing nature around his grandparents’ home in Thrissur.
— The writer is a freelance journalist.
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