Portrait: The Designer and Craftsman

Yuvaraj Shahane, the owner of the RAW leather brand from Mahabaleshwar.

Portrait: Poonam

She loves fish. Drives fast and furious. She is a softhearted person with the soul of a fighter.

I try to look for that fighter, hidden behind the usual light banter and laughter...

Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50/1.4
Light: Portable square softbox with strobe

Portrait: Percy

Portrait: Mitra Rima

Rima is a photographer and traveller. Even when she is working on her day job as a software artisan, you can see the distant landscapes in her eyes.

The photo tries to take peek at the inner struggle between the dream and the reality...

Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Voigtländer 35mm F1.2 Nokton SE
Light: Ambient led cealing lights

Portrait of The Jo

The Jo. Just awakened.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Voigtländer 65mm F2 Apo-Lanthar
Light: Window

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.

Aba

Aba likes to play with his granddaughter and take walks. He loves to travel and eat different things. A regular quiet person who spent his entire life in the usual quiet struggles of the common man. He who has seen the ups and downs of life and is neither too happy nor too sad.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Used a softbox up close and front for this one.

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.

Minchin

I made Minchin sit for this shot as I was experimenting with mood lighting. She usually is not so intense but the shot demanded it.

The left eye looks brighter than the right one because of the surrounding tone even though they are lit similarly. Local contrast plays a very important role in the composition. The justaposition of the various forms and their tones create their own reality.

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
A softbox with strobe from the right.

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.

Dinu

A calm and happy person, is our Dinu. Always dependable. He rarely gets roused, but when that happens - everyone beware!

The photo
Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50 F 1.4
Most of the light comes from a tube light on top. Some natural light from a window fills in from the left.

Me

“This above all; to thine own self be true.”
— William Shakespeare

Searching

As darkness falls
the colourful fairy calls
the irresistable pull of expected places
fancy dresses and strange faces

the company of a chosen few, the search for a new new
there is passing fun to be had
high in the swirling drifting clouds of angst,
and the myrid empty bottles of whiskey mad

dancing wild to the inner beat
the warriors of the night fight on
unbroken dreams from the sleepless street
scattered on the shores of a new dawn

— q
Serious Observations of a Funny World

Play

The multitudes of my playthings lay behind me - for I was most interested in what was in my hand.