Sanjeev Dwivedi: Pic by unknown photographer

Sanjeev Dwivedi, the Photographer

Since pictures tell better about a photographer than words, I will let these pictures tell the quality of my photography. Some of the pictures in the following sections are using my SLR kit while others are using the Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera. Since I bought the Nikon Digital-SLR D70, I have been shooting exclusively using it. Well, almost exclusively. Following are some of the representative pictures that I have taken. Most of the pictures that I take go on my weblog (or at least have a link pointing to it), but some that I like make it here.

Where do I stand in photography? Well that is a bit of a touchy question. I did not possess any camera till 2000, when I got screwed by buying a duplicate/imitation counterfiet Yashica camera while thinking it was an original authentic piece. All my family laughed at me. You could say it was almost a Holga camera.

Sanjeev Dwivedi: Florida
Sanjeev Dwivedi (Picture by Jitesh Panchal)
My first (serious) camera was a Nikon N65 bought somewhere in mid 2001 after reading recommendations from Philip Greepspun's photographic site, photo.net . Since I am no dickless yuppie, I bought a nikon 50/1.8 lens with it and went ahead shooting. For a long time (till Mid-Spring-2003) I shot exclusively in the pre-programmed modes. But deciding I was not getting good shots all the time (and also because I wanted to learn photography better), I decided to operate the camera almost completely in the manual mode. Since I had no idea whatsoever how to go along shooting in the manual mode, I read articles/news posts etc. as well as a few books. Then I bought a Nikon 20/2.8D Wide angle lens; again following Phil's guidelines. What I learned somewhat painfully (even though it seems obvious now) is that a 20mm lens is not exactly suitable for taking pictures of human subjects (especially portraits).

Nikon was offering some cool rebates on Coolpix 4500 so I bought one. Even though it is not the same as my SLR, I did learn operating the camera in manual mode pretty well I would say. Sometime between the 20mm lens and the Coolpix, I bought a tripod (Bogen 3021BN) and ballhead (484RC2) as well and learned the joy of a tripod. Yeah, believe it or not, after you start using a tripod, you seem so very limited when you do not have one handy.

Since I mostly like taking pictures of people interacting (and also individually), I decided to get a Nikon 105/2.8D Micro lens. In one sentence, this is an awesome lens. Extremely sharp pictures and nice control on depth-of-field for portraits. With this lens, my SLR kit is complete and the next purchase has been postponed indefinitely (i.e. until I learn very well the situations where I need to use each particular focal length). Most probably it will be a zoom lens. I am expecting at least one year delay for this one.


Sanjeev Dwivedi (Picture by Jitesh Panchal)

Lot of water has flowed below the bridge and since that purchase, I bought a Nikon D70 + 18-70mm ED DX AFS (27-105mm 35mm equivalent) and a 80-200mm f/2.8ED. I had a reservations against the 18-70 because it is a digital only lens and also because it is available only as part of a kit. Since buying it however, all my doubts have been put to rest. It is a beautiful lens, much unlike the cheap-ass lenses that come with kits. It is very light, virtually silent, extremely fast in focussing and covers pretty much all the focal lengths that I would need on a general hike/excursion. The 80-200mm is a beast. It is 3lbs in weight (approx 1.5kgs) and is quite difficult to handle on a hike. Maybe I need a monopod.

Overall, I consider myself to be a novice advanced amateur in photography. I wish I could learn along with a more seasoned photographer. If any seasoned photographer would like to have my company (on weekends and holidays), I would be happy to provide it. Photo.net says that "Photography is the recording of light rays", I have been recording the light for a long time now. I have seen work by some other good photographers and many of them manipulate light very well. I wish I could work with someone with some in depth knowledge of light manipulation. Then I could probably paint with light. I fear it involves flash photography and studios.

My photography spree goes on and off; whenever I have photography news, I post it here Pretty much all news now go on the weblog.

There are a few good sites on photography that I have benefitted from:

sanjeev@pratapgarh.com