-A Tribute to the Legend- Rakesh Syal

-A Tribute to the Legend-

Rakesh Syal

Legendary photographer Rakesh Syal ji is no more. He left to the heavenly abode on 30 November, 2021. His demise is a great loss to the world of photography. He will always be remembered due to his mastery over Portrait/Still Life photography and due to his decent nature.

Here is a small feature about him : -

"Rakesh Syal, an ace lensman had inner instinct for dimensions, textures, light and expressions. Born and brought up in Ludhiana, he was among the most talented photographers of his country. An artist by instinct he picked up his camera in 1975. Deeply fascinated by the world of photography he never looked back and made a mark in the field of portraiture, still life, product, industrial, fashion, food, interiors and wedding photography. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away …that’s what Rakesh Syal ji thought. His works are remarkable for their technical and formal mastery. Still life by Rakesh Syal is class apart. His compositions carry a signature style of his own and are from the genesis of an idea. A challenge to creativity and technical skills, Rakesh Syal’s portraits are magical. With enigmatic backdrops he created the best of formal and informal portraits inside and outside his studio. Nothing succeeds like success and for this artist success is a journey, not a destination. With over 35 years of experience to combine with his exceptional skills Rakesh ji was very passionate about his work. His immense talent made whatever he did highly recognizable and his charismatic power to turn the ordinary into extraordinary!

He had to his credit some 3500 acceptances & more than 900 prestigious awards in National & International photographic competitions. FELLOWSHIP honour by India International Photographic Council (2007), AIFACS award by All India Fine Art & Craft Society, New Delhi (1994) and the ARTIST of Federation Internationale del Art Photographique (AFIAP) Honour, Barcelona, SPAIN (1994) are some of the prestigious laurels that Mr. Syal possessed. From year 1991 to 1998, Federation of Indian Photography & India International Photographic Council, placed him at Number One Position in top ten Exhibitors. He had achieved the “Platinum Exhibitor Award” by IIPC (1998). He was a Faculty in reputed photography workshops and conferences conducted by IIPC & FIP. He had been jury member in many National & International Competitions of art photography."

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

-On Project- Capturing Architectural Marvels of His City: Dr. Kamran Khan, AIIPC

-On Project-
 Capturing Architectural Marvels of His City
Dr. Kamran Khan, AIIPC

Dr. Kamran Khans is a passionate lensman with extraordinary vision. His photographs have been center of attraction among the photography lovers due to their unique presentation. He often aims at capturing the unexplored beauty of the surroundings around him.    

He was seven only years old when he shifted to Bareilly with his parents. Around 40 years of his stay at Bareilly have passed. He has been doing photography for more than 20 years. He enjoys photographing the historical places of his region and he has done a lot of work in this field. The ancient buildings of his city have attracted him since his student life. Few old buildings located in the city are very important in terms of their beautiful architecture. This time he is with us with a few beautiful pictures of ancient churches of Bareilly. He admits, “the Churches located in my city always fascinated me. I could not photograph them in my student life as I did not possess a camera. But later the things changed. I, after completing my studies and then after making my career in medical line wished to spend some of my time for photography. I started clicking the beauty of my city. My childhood fascination for churches inspired me to photograph them thoroughly.” He further adds, “not only the churches but religious places of every religion attract me deeply. Visiting these places always gives a feeling of being close to the positivity and to a divine power as well.”

        

According to Dr. Kamran the light of early morning and late evening is always ideal for photographing churches, since during these hours the divinity at its peak can be felt and the same can be experienced in our pictures. Secondly, our presentation should be purely unbiased and original.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

-Profile- Passionate for Wildlife Photography : Ashok Sikri

-Profile-

Passionate for Wildlife Photography
Ashok Sikri

Born (February, 1977) and brought up in a small town of Punjab, Ashok Sikri shifted to Rishikesh later and did his higher studies in commerce from a college there. He is a businessman by profession. In 2018 he decided to buy a DSLR camera just to click quality family pictures and capture precious moments of life. He had no clue about any technical aspects of photography as they seemed very heavy for him. Gradually he got inclined towards photography seriously and decided to join a local photography club to get a knack for photography.

He started going on weekly photo walks with his club members. One of his photo walks was at Raja Ji Tiger Reserve with his fellow photographers. It was an amazing experience and after the walk he realised how vivid the wildlife is and It's just not visually epic but also teaches a lot of lessons to nature lovers. Since then, he started his journey of capturing the wildlife. Ashok Sikri is a nature lover and is on a path to capture it. His works have been published in multiple reputed magazines like Chillz and have also been featured by Nat Geo, BBC and Nikon.

Ashok is a hard working photographer who believes in perfection. His pictures are perfect examples of wildlife photography due to their subject material, composition and dramatic effect of light.

 --Dr. Pankaj Sharma

-Profile- A Progressive Photographer : Kaushal Kumar

-Profile-

A Progressive Photographer 

Kaushal Kumar

Kaushal Kumar Arya is an enthusiastic lensman from Haldwani Uttarakhand, India. He is a self-taught photographer and has been doing photography since 2014. To pursue his passion, he left his job from HDFC Home Loans in 2015 and finally adopted photography as profession. 

He started his own photography venture, named " Pixel Monks” in 2016 which focuses all commercial photography works like weddings, events, products, ads, films etc.

Apart from commercial work, he personally loves travel and landscape photography. He has travelled the hilly regions of India massively and captured the scenic beauty and life of these areas. 

Some of the accolades in his small photography journey are:

* Winner of top shot in National Geographic Daily Dozen.

* Got featured in National Geographic photo story called " Kumaon in Frame "

* Works published in Smart Photography magazine in "Kaleidoscope" section in September, 2016 edition.

 

* Winner of Uttarkashi Unveil Photography Contest. 

Kaushal is a progressive photographer who believes in the continuity of efforts. For him any sort of break in steadiness is a big hinderance in the way of success.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

"Profile" A Surgeon in Love with Photography: Dr. Kapil Agrawal

 -Profile-
A Surgeon in Love with Photography
Dr. Kapil Agrawal

Dr. Kapil Agrawal is an ophthalmic surgeon by choice and a traveler and photographer by passion. He did his MBBS and MS in ophthalmology from KGMC Lucknow and has been practicing in Bareilly for the last 27 years.

His photography journey is like an adventure. He fell in love with this passion when he was 11 years old. In 1978, his aunt, who lived in the USA, gifted him a Yashica 35 camera along with a few colour rolls. It was a fully manual camera and at that time, he didn’t know the ABCD of photography. He had no idea about the technique, exposures, compositions and ISO. The first book he read on photography was ‘How to Take Good Pictures’ from Kodak. It provided him with the knowledge about the various camera settings, compositions and use of natural light for enhancements. He started to apply that knowledge to his shoots. With his first camera, he could not get very experimental, as processing colour films in those times was very difficult and highly expensive. He used to send his rolls to the USA for processing. He would get to see his photographs only after 3-4 months of clicking them and in the meanwhile, he would lose track of the various camera settings that he used while taking those photographs.

After a few years of using Yashica 35, he moved on to Olympus 50. He bought his first digital Sony camera in 2004 and then bought his Canon DSLR in 2013. His photographs have been recognized at different levels. He was the winner of ‘All India Medical College Photo Competition’ twice and several other of his photos were featured in various travel websites.

Travelling and exploring new places is Dr. Kapil’s other passion and photography complements it perfectly. He loves travel and landscape photography. Himalayas fascinate him to no end and provide him the opportunity to enjoy their serenity and photograph them in a hundred ways. Ladakh is his favorite, because of its extraordinary landscapes. He has travelled to more than 30 countries worldwide and explored their eternal beauty, history and culture. Italy, particularly, charmed him enormously due to its rich heritage buildings. It gave him an immense pleasure to shoot its historic sites.

Dr. Kapil states, “I am an amateur photographer and due to my professional responsibilities, I have never been able to take any class on photography or attend any workshops. I have always tried to document things in my own way and educate myself through books and practical knowledge. In today’s modern times, I try to keep myself updated through internet lectures. Though I’m aware that this is not enough. Nevertheless, I also understand that beautiful pictures turn up from one’s true passion and steadfast commitment to bring something special and unique through a shot.”

(Text Courtesy: Dr. Kapil Agrawal)

 --Dr. Pankaj Sharma

"Profile" Photography is Divine Treat to his Soul : Raj Kumar Jain

   -Profile-
Photography is Divine Treat to his Soul
Raj Kumar Jain

Born in Delhi in 1961, Raj Kumar Jain has academic background in pharmaceuticals with vast experience of civil constructions. He is fortified with passionate persuasion of Astronomy/Astrology and Photography.

He is persuading his childhood passion for photography for a decade with a DSLR camera that was gifted to him on his birthday by his son in 2010. He is a frequent traveler with his camera gears to length and breadth India. He loves to see the life in its true color. He is fond to follow stories and create amazing images of the same.

Raj has clicked thousands of pictures of magical landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes, incredible people, festivals, celebrations, flora and fauna of India. He believes in India’s rich cultural heritage, colorful festivals and soulful living.

He loves to search” Melody” in the silence, colors of dark and meanings of unspoken words through his images. He believes in extracting out few out of thousand words embedded in an image. Photography is divine treat to his soul. Its Medication and Meditation to body and mind.

His works have been exhibited in more than 30 countries.  He has been awarded with more than 150 prestigious awards at National and International levels. He has got recognitions from Federation of Indian Photography (FIP), The International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), Photographic Society of America (PSA), Global Photographic Union (GPU)

 

Words from his soul:

“If journey if so joyful, who cares for the destination ………It’s the BEGINNING, I offer my pictorial tribute to the soil and people of my nation with few selected pictures out of more than thousands photographs I have clicked. I love to be the PHOTO TRAVELER …. call myself ‘MUSAFIR” of unending journey. I am looking forward to see my country arise to supreme glory.”