Kalakaaris magazine Volume 9
Needs to be a lott Instalicious.
INSTABOOK
Pearl by methodicalmadman
FEATURING x methodicalmadman | mariam.faruqui_ | shivaani_v | | mc_vers | mahadevkrshna | irani_diaries | taz600d_ | | aneestasneem | vijaysunder_shiva |
THE PAST IS OVER . FUTURE IS HERE
Kalakaaris magazine
Editor in Cheif Shreyak Singh Creative Editor T Sree Vallabh Web- Developer Shreyak Singh Contributors Deepesh Betala in association with ASSCHU COLLABORATION CO. published by Valriyak Media
Editor’s Letter Hey there, Well this is not something I usually do. Everyone these days is so hooked on to Instagram that I actually picked up the idea of publishing an Instabook. The nineth issue/The Instabook is stuffed with loads of images from various photographer’s around Hyderabad. It is filled with art and creativity which was shot by artists such as Anees Tasneem, Mahadev Krishna and also the cover photographer AJ Aaron. It wasn’t easy for the team to complete the issue if it weren’t for Arpita and Mahadev who helped us reach out to many instagrammers. We loved a lot of insta profiles but could not publish them as they were way too many. I have interviewed 9 instagrammers for this magazine and I was willing for more but I didn’t want the magazine to become all messy. I would rather come up with a plan of starting a new Instabook series for this particular cause as the whole new experience was exciting and fun filled. To read the articles/interviews online, Visit our Kalakaaris Website. You can signup for the newsletter to get updates regarding the magazine. To read the previous issues you can visit www.issuu.com/valriyakmedia I Thank You all for the undying support and avid contribution. Wish you all good luck and hope you wish us the same.
ShreyakSingh Shreyak Singh Editor
What holds me back?
methodicalmadman
INTERVIEW with
AJ AARON
Escape from reality
Explore
Rugged
Elegance in the house unwanted
Faded Memories
Lie here with me, my friend
Tell us a little bit about yourself? I’m Ajay Aaron and I’m an 18 year old photographer from Hyderabad. I’m doing my first year in degree. I’m a freelance portrait and event photographer for now. Apart from being a photographer, I’m also a music producer/musician/rapper. What is your current state of mind before we continue with the interview? I feel really obliged to be doing this interview. This is the first time I’m being interviewed and it’s definitely exciting as well. How would you describe your style? My style leans towards fine art photography. I’m not really a fan of candid shots and such, but I always love to create ,express emotions and interpret stories through my pictures, and that’s what I do. I like the dark tones because I think it’s way more expressive, eloquent and effectively conveys a thought or a feeling.
Struck at Steve
How long have you been a photographer/instagrammer?
I started instagramming on a daily basis since the summer of 2015 when I posted pictures from Bangalore which I clicked with my phone. They got a pretty goodresponse from people and also, few pictures got featured on many instagram feature pages, one of which being @streetsofindia, which features amazing shots from photographers all around India. It was like a boost to me and that’s when I thought I should be gramming on a daily basis. Later on, I’ve also been featured in Mélange, a photozine by Meghna Chinaiah of VSCO Hyderabad which featured 20 budding and established photographers from the city. Goingback to when I started photography, I owned a Sony Point
methodicalmadman
INTERVIEW with
AJ AARON and Shoot Camera 2 years ago with which I used to experiment and see what I could do with it. All these trials and experiments gave me an eye to view things from a different perspective and to approach my subject with a different idea and it helped me discover what I wanted to create. What type of cameras do you shoot with?
All my old Instagram feed is filled with photos clicked with a phone. My recent portraits and photo-series’ are all shot with a Sony Alpha58 crop sensor camera. Can you explain us your processing style? My images are usually dark-toned with pulled-down shadows. I like doing this because it generates a mood to my pictures. It’s my signature style of
processing. I play around a lot with RGB curves until I’m happy with my colors. Also I adjust hue/saturation of each color in the Photoshop Camera Raw Filter. Adding to that, shooting in RAW always helps me in my processing stage. It gives me more freedom to play around with colors and tones. What are your favourite editing accessories, other than your computer? On my computer I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. On my phone I use VSCO most of the time. I also use PicsArt for some graphic elements, if needed. I think phone apps like VSCO and Snapseed can definitely compete with Photoshop and Lightroom because of their quick editing essentials. I love processing in VSCO and apart from my computer processing softwares, I’m a huge fan of VSCO Cam.
#fromwhe
methodicalmadman in coll
Do you remember your life before you lost it? Here’s what you loved.
ereistand
laboration with shivaani_v
Here’s some violet, honey.
From where I stand
From where I stand
From where I stand
From where I stand
shivaani_v
INTERVIEW with
Shivaani vaishnavi
Being all artsy.
Revealing the dark side!
Obsession with shoes.
Tell us a little bit about yourself? I’m Shivaani Vaishnavi. I’m an Architecture student from Hyderabad. I’m also into dance, art and music. How long have you been a photographer/instagrammer? I’ve been an instagrammer since 8 months. My interest in instagramming came from viewing various works of different artists around the world on Instagram. I’ve been motivated by how people come up with interesting ideas. What type of cameras do you shoot with? I usually shoot with a phone and edit my pictures on phone processing apps like VSCO and PicsArt which are great apps for quick processing. Can you give a brief story on how you started the series “From where I stand”? I came across #fromwhereistand posts and I really liked it and wanted to try different ideas with same base. So I started adding other elements like
shivaani_v
INTERVIEW with
Shivaani vaishnavi
flowers, interesting objects.I like keeping my pictures simple and interesting. Do you communicate with other photographers on Instagram? Not a lot. But I check other artist’s work a lot and observe their progress. I appreciate new ideas and get inspired from them. I learn new things by analysing their work.
by shivaani_v
Any Secrets/Advice to aspiring Photographers? Have an observative eye. Keep clicking and experimenting and develop your own style. Try adding more thoughts to basic ideas and get motivated by others artists.
Colourful Evening
mc vers
INTERVIEW
with
VINCENT
#myshoeboxo
ofphotographs
mc vers
INTERVIEW with
VINCENT Could you please introduce yourself? I’m Vincent.I used to work in Kodak as a designer and now I want to make my hobby of my photography as a profession. I have a real desire to show my talent to the world and I want to inspire people with my talent. Ultimately, I want to turn my passion into something where I can earn and be happy at the same time. What is your current state of mind before we continue with the interview? Photography is my passion and I am happy that I got recognized through your esteem magazine. To be frank, I am blank at this moment, but I can assure you that am preparing myself for the task up ahead.
How long have you been a photographer/instagrammer? My hobby of photography dates back to my school days, but doing photography since one year and joined Instagram six months back. What type of cameras do you shoot with? I don’t own any camera, but I am planning to get one. All my photographs so far are from my mobile. Where do you get your photographic inspiration from? My inspiration comes from people and places around me. I believe photography is a way of feeling, of touching, and of loving. Basically, my inspiration
comes from what I see around myself. Do you communicate with other photographers on Instagram? I believe photography is a constant learning, and to know what is happening I have to be in touch with other photographers, and yes I do communicate with my fellow Instagrammers. Any Secrets/Advice to aspiring Photographers? I don’t think I am an expert in photography, all I can see is I do it because I love doing it and my advice is the same. Practice, practice, practice. Take lots and lots and lots of pics, and do it in trial and error basis. Eventually, you will get what you’ve desired.
#foodgramers
mahadevkrsna
INTERVIEW with
MAHADEV KRISHNA
Cherry on Top
The Strawberry Pastry at But..er
Spicy Roasted Chicken with Truffles
Arrabiata
Cassata
murgh angaar
Baked Cherry Chocolate Tart
Pizza by the Pool
mahadevkrsna
INTERVIEW
with
MAHADEV KRISHNA Tell us a little bit about yourself? There are just two things in my life which keep me alive. Food and Camera. Talking about food, my mother would always tell me that the tastiest food made is the food made out of love. I told her, that if you eat what you want with all the love, then that is the tastiest food. Now talking about my camera, I was inspired to click photographs from my uncle, he just told me one thing, that clicking a photograph can never be taught to someone. There is no rule, no guideline and no teacher greater than your mind and eye. I am no professional, I just click pictures which fill my frame and my desire to show the world what I see.
What’s your top food photography tip? The only tip for food photography, click food in such a way that when a person looks at it, he/she has to drool over it. How long have you been a photographer/instagrammer? I have been a photographer for about 5 years now, but Instagram started just an year and a half ago. What type of cameras do you shoot with? I mostly shoot with DSLRs, they give me so much freedom to experiment!
Do you have a secret kitchen tip/hack? Always have Maggi around. Is there a dish that you felt was very photogenic? Yes, I think any Italian dish is very photogenic, there is something very fancy about them. Do you communicate with other photographers on Instagram? Yes, I do communicate with photographers on Instagram, it is one of the best platforms for sharing knowledge on photography.
Any Secrets/Advice to aspiring Photographers? Like I have quoted in my introduction, “There is no rule, no guideline and no teacher greater than your mind and eye.� So just keep clicking that trigger!!
�When you have lived as long as I have, you will find that cruelty and benevolence are shades of the same colour�
#streetsofindia
HITTING THE STREETS with
MARIAM FARUQUI
They say things get better when we grow older, the truth is, it is our thoughts that get wiser and hearts a little softer. For we know death is inevitable, so let us die peacefully.
This is how winter looks in Rajasthan
Retinning, traditionally known as kalai.
HITTING THE STREETS with
MARIAM FARUQUI
Tell us a bit about yourself? I’m Mariam faruqui, 18. I live in India, in the magical city, Hyderabad. I as an introvert, would know the difficulty we face to communicate with people around. For me, photography is a way I try to express myself visually.It basically helped me divert my mind from anxiety. I am willing to pursue in the stream of law, with photography simultaneously. It has always been self taught, so I want to develop it in the same way.
there’s so much beauty in everything. But, to be precise, street photography, architectural and landscape tend to be the styles I gravitate towards.
What is your current state of mind before we continue with the interview? Well, not used to talking about myself but I feel great as well as hysterical and anxious for my exams.
What type of camera do you shoot with? My primary camera is Nikon d3100. The smaller it is, the closer you are. As far as lenses, I have a Nikon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 and tamron 70-300 f/ 4-5.6
How would you describe your style? I enjoy taking pictures in all genres of photography, yet I tried to hone in one, but then, I wondered why should I when
Can you explain us your processing style? I start by using picasa to organize my folders, than import the shots into Lightroom. From there I export them
How long have you been a photographer/Instagrammer? Photography made me take my camera to every place since i was 14 so it’s been 4 years. Besides, Instagram has allowed me to develop relationships with individuals from across the world since 2013.
into ipiccy (for faster results). From there it is back into Lightroom stacking it with the originals. Then into Photoshop cs6 for basic edits. What are your favourite computer/editing accessories, other than your computer? Lightroom, coffee, music and my mind.
They say things get better when we grow older, the truth is, it is our thoughts that get wiser and hearts a little softer. For we know death is inevitable, so let us die peacefully.
IRANI DIARIES
a collaboration of deep_3368 and shreyaksingh to cover hyderabad.
Our Story I
rani Diaries, the name itself describes you of what it’s all about. But still let me tell you what is it all about. So, Irani Diaries is a photo blog of two amateur photographers Shreyak Singh & Deepesh Betala. We, childhood friends travelled one day early in the morning just to grab some light. On our photography travel and conquest of dispatching few beautiful clicks through our camera. So, we choose “Mr.Charminar” the well-known phenomenal architecture of Hyderabad which is well known for it’s elegant charm. So, we finally reached our destination after a long drive and we could feel the cold breeze through our hair all around. As we reached, we saw the phenomenal human effort that took in the construction of this monument and while figuring a way to describe this architecture we fell short of vocabulary. It was so beautiful that when the early morning rays touched the tip of the Charminar every piece of the pulverised marble shone with elegance. Truly, Charminar never looked so beautiful (it was Sun kissed). We later walked around the Charminar clicking pictures to capture this beast in our camera. We got some eyes gazing at our work.
We met people who praised our work too. We found people posing for us and some of them were even co-operating with us and helping us in clicking the glories moment. After a long 3 hour shoot, we took some rest in order to refresh ourselves from the straining walking session. We both shared our clicks with each other praised the good ones and even gave a few improvements for the bad ones in order to have a better picture next time. We both, from a long time have been thinking of starting a collaboration that not only does serve photography but also helps in improvising. So, we started to think of a name that defined the collaboration but couldn’t stay for long and had to hurry. It was that morning suddenly, we started talking about the Hyderabad’s famous Irani chai from which emerged “Irani Diaries” we both loved the name, it perfectly matched our thoughts. This was not just a name, it displayed our passion, our love and our vision towards the collaboration. So, it all started with that one shoot and the name was not only for us but for that place from where we belonged, for that one thing which we always loved, for that one thing we always wanted. Irani diaries is our way of showing people what we see.... -Deepesh & Shreyak
taz600d_
INTERVIEW WITH SALIH ABDULLAH
Hospital Scene
Mini Market Filled with Energy
Democracy
taz600d_
INTERVIEW WITH SALIH ABDULLAH Tell us a bit about yourself... Who are you and where are you from? My name is Salih Abdullah and i’m a photographer. I’m 22 yrs old and I’m from Sudan.
photograph is the interesting part, because each day is an experience it’s self.
Finally, Do you have any advice for photographers? How would you describe your work to Follow your heart and photograph your someone? feelings , always keep your goals big and I really like capturing candid photos, your dreams bigger because there’s no but i love doing portraits and capturing success without a dream and there’s no what i feel. hard work without goals . What is the post processing technique for your images? I don’t do a lot of post processing , I only use basics techniques. What has been one of the most interesting experiences for you whilst out photographing? There’s no one specific thing that happened to me, but waking up every morning taking my gears and go out to
vijaysunder shiva
INTERVIEW WITH Vijay Sunder
From where I Travel
Coconut Trees : Lookiing at them reminding me of my
family,and how happy we were and will always be
The path less troden
vijaysunder shiva
INTERVIEW WITH Vijay Sunder Could you please introduce yourself? Hello, my name is Vijay Sunder Shiva. I am from Hyderabad, I study Bsc. Animation Design in Loyola Academy , Alwal. I am Nineteen years old, I like to capture moments, emotions and the feel of whatever I find interesting around myself. Apart from being a passion photographer I also hold interests in dancing , graphic design , music production and VFX. What is your current state of mind before we continue with the interview? At the moment I am actually worried about the exam that I have tomorrow , and the projects that I am supposed to complete.
I click most of my pictures with my phone camera , but i shoot with a DSLR or a Mirror-less camera whenever I find the opportunity. Where do you get your photographic inspiration from? As a beginner I try to get my inspiration from everywhere , majorly by looking at the works of the best and creative photographers. I do like creativity and creating things , so the bigger half of my inspiration comes from creative photographers.
Any Secrets/Advice to aspiring Photographers? How long have you been a I am not yet in the stage of giving photographer/instagrammer? advices to the people as a photographer , I am no photographer to be honest , I always the since you asked I would suggest them found photography to be interesting and the same thing that i always tell myself cool.I have been an instagrammer for almost , “keep experimenting , try new things , two years now. never stop the learning process and always know what you are doing.� What type of cameras do you shoot with? Thank You .
aneestasneem
INTERVIEW with
Aneestasneem
It always looks better in black
She has fire in her soul and grace in her heart
Smile which closely reached the eyes and then the lips, has become of a rare situation now. But she was rare anyway
Retrospect of a Rainbow
aneestasneem
INTERVIEW with
Anees tasneem Shaik
Tell us a little bit about yourself? about three years now. And Instagram, I was always someone to learn everything in the beginning was all for fun edits of by trial and error, which eventually made mobile phone images. But to utilise it to me realise that zeal is all that’s necessary showcase my work was exactly since two to learn anything that interests you. And years. the only way to succeed is when we stop comparing and work to excel and evolve ourselves everyday. I started using a camera What type of cameras do you shoot with? when I was very young, would always be the I do all my work with my DSLR – Canon one to handle it when on a family holiday, 5D Mark III. When I’m not using that, my or a school/college event. And eventually iPhone comes in handy. I’d like to invest in discovered this love and passion for phothe super compact Sony RX series camera tography. Thanks to my feet that can’t stick some day. to a place and my mind that always dreams to explore, I love to travel. Besides What genre of photos are you generally making photographs, I like to indulge in good at? music, sports, styling and/or learning I shoot everything that pleases my eye and something new always. have been able to take up every kind of project that came my way as a challenge to How long have you been a photographer/ myself and give great results. I personally instagrammer? like to shoot fashion, travel and fine art. I had been taking pictures for many years, but have been shooting professionally for Do you communicate with other
photographers on Instagram? Yes I definitely do! Instagram is so easy to use that when you come across great photographers across the world – a simple Direct Message is enough to get in touch with them. Besides that, thanks to our regular Instameets in the city, helps me keep in touch with fellow photographers/ Instagrammers Any Secrets/Advice to aspiring Photographers? No secrets as such. But advice for everyone is to keep learning. Its your brilliant work that should be what you’re recognised with, the passion you have for it and that’s all. Your number of Instagram followers do not determine how good/bad of a photographer you are. Keep creating beautiful photographs which really stand by the quote “A picture is worth a thousand words” (or probably more), because it’s all that should matter to a photographer.
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