Tarun Khiwal is a famous fashion photographer and is also a winner of the prestigious Hasselblad award. In his first critique on Fotoflock he has selected an image which for him captures a slice of life.

---

I have gone through the images at the Fotoflock gallery and since I predominantly shoot people I have narrowed it down to the picture titled “Happiness” by Kanta Leishangthem.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I see this photograph is that I can feel the happiness of the lady being photographed, the photographer has done a great job in capturing a slice of life in the image.

 A strong emotion can overpower technique in photography even if a picture has a shake or the composition is a little off or the image is out of focus, the emotion can simply overpower these flaws.

Ultimately the goal in people photography is to capture the emotions of people as they are and in the most natural way. This photographer has just done that which is refreshing to see in today’s technically perfect and lifeless imagery

Tarun Khiwal dreams of shooting the Dalai Lama, Madonna, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp because he feels that these people have a lot of character on their faces. He believes in learning from the school of life and receives immense inspiration from people and real life.

Tarun Khiwal’s Website | Tarun Khiwal’s Interview | Photo by Kanta Leishanagthem | Fotoflock Gallery

 

To have your photo critiqued, send us a link of the photo in the Fotoflock.com Gallery to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sid Vasandani has carved a niche for himself as a fashion photographer at a very young age. In his first critique on Fotoflock he has selected two images which he feels are good enough to feature in National Geographic.

---

I went through a number of members’ portfolios and I really like Stalin Ramesh’s work. I have selected two of his many good images as these two particularly caught my eye. I like the lighting used in both the images and it looks perfect for wildlife photography.

Looking at these images I can tell that the photos have been taken in natural light. A bit of retouching is seen in the images. I cannot be too sure if the photographer has made use of Photoshop or not but if at all he has, I would say it is a very good use of Photoshop and even Photoshop is very much a part of photography now. I would call it a good use of Photoshop because the images don’t look fake and I like that. The final product looks good.

Both the images have a feel of a painting and are very well composed. It looks as if all the things have fallen in place for these images and this shows that the photographer has a good sense of timing.

Since I have seen most of the images in the members’ gallery I must say there are quite a few impressive portfolios to look at. Out of all the images in Stalin’s portfolio the wildlife photography is brilliant which proves that these two images are not chance shots or a lucky click. There remains room for Stalin to improve in portraits, although there are only two in his portfolio. I got to see a number of other interesting portraits than his.

I feel his wildlife photography is good enough for National Geographic.

Sid Vasandani is a famous fashion photographer. He has earned a degree in photography from the Rajasthan School of Arts’ and took up photography as a profession in 2004. He enjoys playing his guitar and games on the PC

Sid Vasandani’s Website | Sid Vasandani’s Interview | Photo by Stalin Ramesh | Fotoflock Gallery

 

To have your photo critiqued, send us a link of the photo in the Fotoflock.com Gallery to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

 

 

Ian Pereira, a noted and celebrated industrial photographer, in his first critique on Fotoflock selects an image that he finds is complete in more ways than one.

---

And sees it as a well timed shot!

I very much like the feel of this image and which is why I choose to comment on it. I like the way the silhouette of the cross, the bird perched on it and that of the coconut tree has been captured here. One can read many things into this image. It is a powerful picture and the clouds cutting the sun in to two halves gives the image a certain symbolic touch. One can easily weave a story into this image.

As I keep looking at the image I realize it grows on you.

To me it looks like an image of a church on the beach. The silhouette of the bird on the cross has also been captured well and is a sign that it is also a very well-timed shot, although, I don’t know, if the photographer managed to capture this at once or not. But the timing of this picture is excellent! As I keep looking at the image I realize it grows on you. Any form of technical enhancement or any change is technique of shooting this image can not be suggested. It is a complete image.   

Ian Pereira has been awarded the A&M magazine’s ‘Best Photographer of the Year’ award in the year 1993. He still continues to use his old Sinar and Hasselblad cameras with a Leaf digital back. The cameras are a good 24 years old.


Ian Pereira’s Website | Ian Pereira’s Interview | Photo by Arghya Mitra | Fotoflock Gallery

 

To have your photo critiqued, send us a link of the photo in the Fotoflock.com Gallery to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

 

David Desouza a Bombay based photographer who calls himself an anti-fashion, fashion photographer in his first critique on Fotoflock not only comments on the selected photo but extends a few suggestions to the other members of the flock as well.

---

I did browse through the members section and must tell you that the observation I have is that most members choose really banal photos as their profile representative images. This in many ways does not entice you to take the next step to want to see their work. It’s the judging a book-by-its-cover syndrome, and being vitally interested in books myself, I have to admit that that cover decision is critical. Most are not going to browse through your book or lift it off the shelf if you don’t have an arresting image there to begin with. I don’t know who selects the profile (cover) shot, but in most cases it is just plain boring. I think you guys are doing a superb job but how to take it to the next level is what I am suggesting.

I waded though 3 or 4 screens till I came upon this image which is the only one that I saw that grabbed my attention. I did not go further than this.

The photo, apropos of my comments on profile/cover shots, grabbed me instantly,

It is a simple shot and yet its geometry is complex, the first thing you notice about the photo is the cube and square and the shadows that seem to work surrealistically in an ominous, extra terrestrial sort of way. The uncanny aspect is that it seems to hang like the sword of Damocles over the children who are oblivious of its impending weight, the children are 'escaping' a peril Once that cube comes down to lock in the facade like a tombstone. Their shadow side and the cube are merging pall mall into each other. The draw-bridge seems the only skywalk to safety.

That the photo is called clone factory adds to the portentousness. The factory is made more ominous by being almost gulag monochromatic, the wall with boring square facade tiles and the children in uniform most daunting. The clones are escaping hastily. It’s the kind of photograph to which you can ascribe so many motives and layers of meanings, in other words it is a great photograph.

David Desouza was a bio-chemist before he turned photographer. He has also compiled a book called the “Itinerants: the Nomads of Bombay”. He enjoys photography and believes that he was destined to be a photographer and the first camera he bought acted like a magic talisman for him deciding his fate as a professionalr. He enjoys trying to redefine all forms of art and not just the art of photography.

David Desouza’s Website | David Desouza’s Interview | Photo by Emile Zwaltek | Fotoflock Gallery

To have your photo critiqued, send us a link of the photo in the Fotoflock.com Gallery to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it