Portrait: Anuja

This is a single strobe portrait of my beautiful friend Anuja. The softbox is placed on the top left of the frame.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R-MIII
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F1.4
Light: Speedlight in a softbox
Postprocessing in Photoshop.

Portrait: Anuja

The usual fake smiles and soft skin photos do not do justice to the soul of the human. We need to dig deeper. We need to try to surface the deepest emotions we have inside of us. To bring out and wear our true face with its innumerable moods and expressions. There is beauty in that truth.

Anuja, like all ladies, loves a beautiful glamorous photo. But at my behest, she bravely put in serious efforts to bring out a genuine serious emotion. I found this photo to be far more interesting than those other sweet ones. But that is just me. :-)

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Light: Speedlight in a softbox
Postprocessing in Photoshop.

Portrait: Mitr Amey

My friend Amey. A treker. A biker. A traveller.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Light: Speedlight in a softbox

Twinking eyes

My father's eyes twinkle when he smiles. (My Indu Atya, his sister, also has the same smile.) He loves to crack silly jokes - we call them PJ's by VJ.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Natural light from a window.

The Soft Hands

My father has soft hands.

I have rarely, if ever, met someone who has more empathy than my father. He can feel the pain and suffering of others. And when he does, he gets besides himself in trying to ease it.

Growing up, these soft hands have carassed us and given us so much comfort. They have toiled tirelessly so that we could live.

Sony A7R III with Sony Zeiss Plannar 50mm F1.4

The Writer

A published author and a deep thinker. Whenever I try to click him, there is some kind of shyness which comes over him. Like a true blue creative soul, perhaps, he is unsure of what part of his complex self will be visible in the photo. Perhaps.

He has written a full length crime thriller novel published by Hachette. It has been well recieved. You can buy your copy here: Shot, Down.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4

Artificial light coming from a couple of sources. Post processed in Lightroom/Photoshop. I tried to give a softer look in similitude of the softer introspective nature of the artist's soul.

Animal angel

He loves animals more than humans. They love him back.
He sings. He plays the piano.
He cracks silly jokes.

He is a dear friend from our time at the campus.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Other Equipment: A simple reflector

There was soft lighting coming from a window on the left. I used a reflector to fill in the opposite side. The idea of the lights was because I suddenly felt his 'angel' ness when it came to animals. He really can connect to them. My dog also goes crazy when he is around. These are cheap christmas lights which I wrapped around his head. Post processed in Lightroom/Photoshop.

Curious

The wife is not happy when I click her photos. She belives I have no sense and always click when she is not ready. Here is one of the moments when she is curiously looking at my antics.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Natural light from a window on the left.

A serious birder

As evening falls we all check our 100's of bird clicks for ‘keepers’. He gets many of those. But he also enjoyes watching the birds in their environment. I have learned a lot from him about of feathered friends.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50mm F 1.4

It was late and the light source were a few hanging bulbs. I tried to catpture the pensive mood of the evening.
Postprocessed in Lightroom/PS.

Winter Sunset

Oh, the pastel hues...

Moonshine

The return journey was long. The travellers were tired. The baby traveller had braved the hours of drive well but was now nearing the end of her patience.  We stopped at a corner of the winding Pasarni Ghat. The traffic moved along twisting and turning on the side of the bare hills. The moon, shining in its full glory, gave us some food for thought.

Full moon over Wai. 

Hanging box

Got out the Minolta 50/1.4 out after a long while.

The Minolta 50/1.4 has been one of my favourite lenses. It's quite a story how I got hold of it. A couple of years earlier I had purchased the Minolta Dynax 5 for ₹19000/- (all my savings) odd from JJ Mehta & Sons. The 28-80 F3.5/6.3 lens on it was pretty decent but a faster lens with creamy bokeh was the dream. I had started hanging out on the online photography forums. One such was the Minolta forum.

There was a minor panic going on at that time as Minolta would probably shut shot and would never go digital. So a lot of the old photographers were jumping ship to Canon/Nikon. So there was a lot of old equipment for sale for reasonable prices. A photographer from Jackson, Minnesota USA had this 50/1.4 for sale for $100 + $10 US shipping. I did't have a credit card at that time so I think I used Rashmi's card to make the online payment via paypal and then reimbursed her. I had the lens shipped to Anthony in Texas. One of his friends traveled to India after about 6 months and got the lens to me.

But the wait was worth it: I instantly fell in love with this fantastic lens. The Naka photos, the Dombivili Fast photos were all shot with this lens on the film camera.

With the Sony A100 replacing my film camera this full frame lens was a little less used as it was about ~75mm on the corpped sensor, which I did not prefer.

It still sits on my shelf waiting for a full frame sensor...

Update 18-Nov-2020: I finally acquired a FF. A Sony A7R3 in Nov of last year. I also acquired a used LA-EA3 A-mount to EF-mount adapter. The Minolta 50 lives on.

Serious Observations of a Funny World

Hero Log

Hero Log

Old House, Matheran.

My obsession with this place continues. Every time I visit I have to click one photo. This is November 2007.

wait

Dynax 5, 50mm. Matheran, May 2007


the paint withers, the strength wanes, the soul holding on - waiting for someone to open.

kadi

Dynax 5. 50/1.4.

A brass protector. A solid piece of the door. The door is a solid piece of the house. The kadi gives the door the strength. The door gives the house the strength. Interlocking units of life ...

Old House, Matheran.

Old house, Matheran. July 2007. Dynax 5, 24mm, Fuji 400ISO.



Old house, Matheran. May 2006. Dynax 5, 50mm, Fuji 400ISO.


When the stomach growls on a Matheran afternoon, we usually head for Shabbir bhai's biryani. On the way there is this old house with a nice colour...

Chair

Chair, Matheran. May 2006. Dynax 5, Minolta 50mm, Fuji 400ISO.

The Gavankar chair, Matheran

Sam

Matheran ...

Prashant Achrekar

At Matheran, he was happy...