Street
Kolkata at eye level: the flower market before dawn, trams in
the rain, the river under a storm. Shot on foot, on whatever
light there is.
- Street
- Kolkata
Six years of stills, freelance throughout. People, organisations and studios, mostly within reach of home.
Worked with
Selected work
Street
Portrait
People photographed where they already are, in the light that is already there. Sittings, editorial and the occasional night on a lit street.
Infographic Edits
Eyes
God
Or
Greed
The golden haze
Minimalism and framing
I'm not lost
Hope lives
Beauty carried
Art is born
Sunshine blooms
Crepe myrtles
Canis lupus familiaris
Forged bond
Colour grading a portrait
This is love
Street
Marigolds, lamplight
Flower market
Tram line, rain
Two windows
Egret
Pillar cat
Front of house
Vendor, marigolds
Portraits
Sunflowers, bridge
Market light
Red room
Riverside
Landscapes
Howrah, under weather
One boat
Rooftop flight
River, first light
Walk the same street until it changes.
Wait for the light rather than add it.
Keep the frame that is true, not the flattering one.
Arkadeep Chakraborty
Background
Kolkata, West Bengal, IndiaJun 2018 to 2026
Editor
Self-employed
- Edited scripts, captions, and supporting content to enhance clarity, consistency, and narrative flow.
- Collaborated with authors and creators to refine structure and themes.
- Worked with the editor-in-chief to shape content direction and special features.
- Partnered with graphic, photo, and video teams to produce cohesive releases.
- Coordinated with designers to align text, timing, and visuals.
- Ensured timely delivery by syncing with publishing and production teams.
- Maintained an archive of published materials for quality control and reference.
Mar 2019 to 2026
Freelance Graphic Designer
Self-employed
- Built brand identities through logos, brochures, business cards, and digital assets.
- Designed graphics, layouts, and visuals for products, companies, and websites.
- Created high-performing social media creatives to boost online presence.
- Managed multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines.
- Edited photographs for web banners and social platforms to maximise visual impact.
- Presented design concepts and iterated with clients and managers.
Jun 2020 to 2026
Video Editor / Cinematographer
Self-employed
- Captured and edited high-quality footage for film, reels, and video projects.
- Collaborated with directors and clients on visual storytelling aligned with project goals.
- Built shot lists and storyboards; executed efficient shoots.
- Operated camera equipment and managed lighting setups to elevate scene aesthetics.
- Edited and assembled raw footage into tight, compelling final cuts.
- Owned post-production pipelines to deliver cohesive, on-time outputs.
Jun 2020 to 2026
Photographer
Self-employed
- Delivered high-quality images for events, portraits, and creative projects.
- Developed shoot concepts based on client needs and creative direction.
- Managed client communication to ensure precise creative alignment.
- Conducted on-site shoots in diverse locations and conditions.
- Edited photos in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom for optimal presentation.
Nov 2024 to Dec 2025
Marketer, then UI/UX Designer, then Associate Founder
Indrav Pvt. Ltd.
- Created wireframes, prototypes, and visual designs using industry-standard tools.
- Designed intuitive user interfaces for web and mobile applications.
- Built interactive prototypes for apps and websites.
- Collaborated with developers to implement consistent, usable design solutions.
- Developed user personas and journey maps to guide design decisions.
- Researched current UI/UX trends, tools, and techniques.
Oct 2025 to Mar 2026
Assistant Cinematographer / Video Editor
SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
- Worked with the band HooliGaanism.
- Assisted the DOP on set and prepped the camera builds.
- Lit and framed performance sequences across studio and location shoots.
- Pulled focus and handled camera support and rigging through long shooting days.
- Cut the performance footage and the behind-the-scenes.
- Finished the sequences.
Apr 2026 to Aug 2026
Video Editor / Visual Content Creator
Meerabella, Fizzy Clothing LLP
- Joined as a video editor and visual content creator.
- Shot stills and video for the brand.
- Cut the footage into the finished videos.
- Appeared on camera as a creator for the brand.
Toolkit
Bodies
- Canon EOS R50
- iPhone XS
Lenses
- 24mm
- 50mm
- 17-50mm
Light
- LC500
- Digitek 250W bi-colour
Post
- Photoshop
- Lightroom
- Street
- Portrait
- Documentary
- Long form walks
- Colour grading
- Studio work
- Editorial
In numbers
counted, not estimated- 32Photographsframes published on this page, not a portfolio total
- 8Streetstreet frames published on this page
- 4Portraitportrait frames published on this page
- 4Landscapelandscape frames published on this page
- 16Infographicinfographic frames published on this page
- 7Disciplineslisted on this track
- 9Kitbodies, lenses, lights and software named in the toolkit
What this covers
- Street
- Portrait
- Documentary
- Long form walks
- Colour grading
- Studio work
- Editorial
Questions
8 answeredWhat is delivered after a photography shoot?
Edited stills, processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. The work is made in the light that is already there rather than lit to a formula, so the edit protects what the frame actually held instead of rebuilding it afterwards.
What kind of photography does Arkadeep Chakraborty do?
Street, portrait and documentary stills. Six years of them, freelance throughout, for people, organisations and studios. Mostly Kolkata: the corners nobody stops at, shot in whatever light is already there.
What does he shoot stills on?
A Canon EOS R50 with 24mm, 50mm and 17-50mm lenses, lit with an LC500 and a Digitek 250W bi-colour when a shot needs it, plus an iPhone XS. Post is Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
Does he shoot on location or in a studio?
Mostly location. A studio only when the shot needs light, which is what the LC500 and the Digitek 250W bi-colour in the kit are there for.
Where is Arkadeep Chakraborty based?
Kolkata, West Bengal, in India. Most of the photography is made within walking distance of home, and the film and design work runs from the same city. Enquiries arrive by email at hello@arkadeepchakraborty.com or through the forms on this site.
How much does a project cost?
There is no rate card. Pricing is quoted per project against the scope, because a one-day product shoot and a three-day wedding are not the same job. The freelance form asks for the scope, the dates and an estimated budget, and a quote comes back against those.
How long does a project take?
It is quoted with the price rather than fixed in advance. Send the scope and the dates you need through the freelance form and the reply covers availability, an estimated timeline and pricing together, so you are not agreeing to one before knowing the others.
How do you hire Arkadeep Chakraborty?
Two ways, both on every page. Quick hire opens a message already addressed to hello@arkadeepchakraborty.com, for anyone who has the brief in a document already. Open for work opens a longer form, one for a job offer and one for a freelance gig.
Answers
28 on photography- Common struggles with hard light and camera lightingPhotographers and videographers share their biggest challenges with hard light, including ND filter usage, metering choices, and subject placement.
- Should you convert RAW stills to S-Log and S-Gamut?An explanation of why photographers and colourists map RAW still images to S-Log3 and S-Gamut in DaVinci Resolve for video grading workflows.
- How darktable workflow guides simplify raw processingDarktable users report that structured 10-step guides and custom module lists make editing high-volume shoots clear, fast, and accessible.
- How to approach strangers in street photographyThe top answer says do not approach at all. Others describe the opposite, and the disagreement is really about which kind of picture you want.
- How to stop flash reflecting off your subjectA photographer fighting flash glare got two incompatible answers from two commercial photographers, and both are worth knowing.
- Can the sun damage your camera sensor?Yes, and the risk depends almost entirely on focal length. What is actually at risk, when it matters, and when the answers said it does not.
- Do lenses matter more than camera bodies?The usual advice is to spend on glass. The thread mostly agrees, then complicates it in a way worth reading before buying either.
- How to stop the fake smile in portraitsPeople perform the moment a camera appears. The thread agrees on the cause and offers several ways round it, from distance to a remote release.
- Why macro shots miss focus, and what to doFine-tuning focus by the ring at macro distances mostly fails. The thread was unanimous about the fix, and it is not a better technique with the ring.
- How to actually use a histogramWhy photographers trust a graph over the picture on the screen, what the two ends tell you, and the one thing no amount of editing recovers.
- How do you expose for the moon?The moon is a daylight subject that happens to be surrounded by night, which is why cameras get it so wrong and why one exposure cannot hold both.
- How to focus when it is too dark to seeAutofocus fails and the viewfinder shows nothing. Practical answers, including one that involves marking your lens in daylight.
- How to organise a photo libraryThe advice that matters is not about folders. It is about doing the tagging at import, because nobody ever goes back and does it later.
- How do you photograph rain?Rain is small and fast and usually invisible in pictures. Every answer came back to the same requirement, and it is not the shutter speed.
- Is photography still a profitable business?Photographers with fifteen and thirty years in the trade disagreed in one thread. What they agreed on is that the niche decides it, not the craft.
- Is there any reason to use P mode?Nobody in the thread uses program mode themselves, but it produced two decent arguments for why it exists and one for what has replaced it.
- Raising ISO versus brightening underexposed photos in postA look at when to raise camera ISO versus brightening underexposed photos in post, considering noise levels and sensor ISO invariance.
- Is it rude to offer product instead of paying?A spirits brand asked photographers whether trading bottles for a shoot is insulting. The thread's answer turns on one distinction it kept returning to.
- What actually causes chromatic aberration?Not the sensor, and not your processing. The thread traced it to the economics of lens design, and to which kind can be fixed afterwards.
- What is Rembrandt lighting?One of the standard portrait setups, identified by a triangle of light on the shadowed cheek. What defines it, and what it is for.
- When does full frame actually matter?The honest answer is narrower than the marketing. Depth of field and low light, and a reminder that the body around the sensor decides as much as the sensor.
- When does manual mode beat aperture priority?Not for control, since exposure compensation gives you that. The answer everyone converged on was consistency between frames.
- When should you turn image stabilisation off?The question assumed the answer depends on how far away the subject is. The thread corrected the premise before answering it.
- Where do common aspect ratios come from?Frame shapes were not designed. They are inherited from plate sizes, film numbering schemes and the space a soundtrack needed on 35mm.
- Why are camera lenses round?Sensors are rectangular, so why is the glass in front of them circular? Manufacturing, optics, and one consequence you see in every photo.
- Why fluorescent light ruins fast shutter speedsFrames shot under fluorescent tubes come back with different brightness and colour. The cause is flicker, and there are two ways round it.
- Why great views make boring photographsThe scene was extraordinary and the picture is flat. The thread found two causes, and the first one is where the sun was standing.
- Why do I keep taking photos I know are bad?Being able to recognise a weak photograph does not stop you making one. The thread explains why those are different skills, and what closes the gap.
Education and off-duty
BSc. Cyber Security
The Heritage Academy
2nd year, 3rd semester, in progressHigh School Diploma
Nava Nalanda Group Of Schools
Completed July 2024, complete- GuitarAcoustic and electric
- SingingAnd the occasional audition
- MarketsEquity funds, SIPs, compounding
- DogsNon-negotiable