My photography

Photography is creating art with lights. It's about how light enhances the beauty of a person's face, of a mountain cliff, a flowing river, a butterfly, a bird, a still life. Manipulation of light in a creative way is the mastery of a photographer. It is a never ending journey of learning since there is no limit. No one can master all techniques of photography as there is no fixed methodology or technique. Photography is very easy to learn, but it takes a life time to master (like golf!). Cameras don't take good pictures, people do. As a photographer, I have never been satisfied with my work. I am the worst critique of my work and I constantly challenge my own creation. That is why I accept and process only a small portion of photograph I take. Photography is my outlet to express my feelings. It is my easel to paint my thoughts. It is my inner world of freedom. There are no governing laws ruling that world. I can create anything I want in any ways I want. I thoroughly enjoy the creative process of capturing a moment in time and enhancing its beauty. I have started photography when I was 17 years old using a completely manual Russian SLR camera. My eldest sister found it in my brother-in-laws closet when she got married. They didn't have much use for it so she gave that to me. As a student with no income, I could not afford retail packaged films, so I used to buy cut piece black and white motion picture 35mm films from the film industry. I would walk home from school to save the fare and it used to take three days of walk to buy one roll of film. I found a lab technician who used to sell unused portion of the motion picture films to me and armatures like us. He would cut them in small pieces and put them in used canisters for us (we used to get no less than 40 exposures in each!) Those rolls used to cost us a fraction of the cost compared to the Kodak or Fuji retail films. I have never tried a color version of them. Later in my life when I started to work in a restaurant in Chicago, the first thing I did is to buy a Canon A-1 SLR with a normal 50mm lens and a 80-200 telephoto lens. I also bought a Vivitar flash which I could use as a off camera flash. Then in 2004 I entered in the digital photography and boughta Nikon D70 Digital SLR with a 18-70mm lens that becomes 27-105mm after the 1.5 crop factor. I also use a two Nikon SB800 flash which I use almost always during my outdoor shoot as a fill flash. Now I have a Nikon D300, 28-55mm f2.8, 70-200mm, f2.8 telephoto, 60mm, f2.8 Macro. I prefer using as less prop materials and equipments as I can. I put more emphasis on creativity and the sense of using what I have (available light and equipment) efficiently rather than buying expensive gadgets and equipments. I like to purchase and use only what is absolutely necessary. I know a lot of professional photographers who follow the same principles and I know a whole lot more who do not. It is a personal choice in my opinion. I respect both methods, but I prefer the former. I had learned how to develop black and white photography while I was at the University of Houston. It was not a formal training, but from a weekend school. Black and white photography had always fascinated me from the beginning. Even though I shoot digitally now, I still convert some of my photographs in black and white. If one wants to label "profession" as the sole source of earning money and making a living, then I am not a "professional" photographer. Following that definition I am an engineer by profession. I am a photographer by passion. However, that doesn't not mean I don't charge any money for my service! My time costs money and so does the production of a good quality photograph. But I limit my charges to bare minimum to cover my expenses only. I do not have any fixed charge as my services can vary widely. I am avid fan of new technology and I constantly force myself to learn and change. I know enough not to say that I know much. Already there is a vast world of unknown information and it is constantly changing. So it is impossible to catch up! Experiment is one of my key inspirations. I experiment all the time. In almost all shots I would do some kind of experiment. This "let's see what else can I do" keeps me going and fulfills my creative thirst. My personal favorite is low key (as little light as possible) portraits because I think it enhances the features of the face very nicely, specially the eyes. The white portion of the eye can be highlighted to draw attention to the viewer while the rest of the face can be less prominent. I prefer to light up the short side and love the hair light. I think it adds a lot of dimension to the photo.