Meet the Photographer
I was a full time surgeon with specialty interest in surgical oncology and laparoscopic surgery for 30+ years. I am presently semi-retired and living with my wife, Suzanne, in beautiful Napa, California. I have had the ability and desire to capture the beauty around me through drawing and painting all my life. It seemed only natural that I would stumble on to photography. But in the days of film photography, that was not very easy or cheap. My hidden talent for taking photos would have to wait until the advent of digital photography. Although I have a minor in art and a background in medical illustrations and digital graphics, my hobby and passion in digital photography has come about in the past 20 years. I bought my first digital camera, the Sony DSC- F505V, 24 yrs. ago and quickly moved on to the Sony DSC-F707 and then progressed to the DSLR arena with the Canon D60 and 10D. With the advantage of plentiful internet and digital learning and the improvement of digital technology, I progressed finally to the Canon 5D and RAW format digital photography which allowed so much control over the photo processing workflow. Currently, I own and shoot with the 5D Mark III. I have learned so much from so many of you digital and photographic wizards out there, that I have come to appreciate the beauty around me and find art in the most unusual as well as the most common places. To be able to capture just a small part of this is a bonus and to be able to share some of this beauty with all of you has been rewarding.
Although I would like to become an accomplished photographer in many facets of photography such as portrait, landscape, still life, action, abstract and macro photography, I think my concentration and enjoyment is greatest with macro and abstract images. I have become confident enough with my efforts to enter and win many of the online photos contests. Whether it was the multiple Photos of the Day (POTD) wins, or the best in category wins or the selection of one of my photos for the cover of a magazine, none of these successes begins to compare to the thrill I get every time one of my friends, patients, or customers tells me how much my photography means to them. I feel that digital photography has matured and has technologically advanced to the point that it has become mainstream and can finallyhas surpassed the era of film media.
Meet the Painter
I first started really drawing at about age 9 or 10. The drawings were mostly in pencil and the subject matter was usually fast cars, famous people and celebreties. When I had saved up enough money from birthdays and allowances, I moved up to colored pencils and pastels. I gave away a lot of my good sketches and unfortunately for me, of the ones I kept, I lost nearly all of them in a flood at age 14 during Hurricane Carmen's rage over Jamaica, W.I. When I had recovered from the loss and began drawing again, I tried my hand at painting. I really sucked at watercolors but from the first time I tried acrylics, I was hooked. The vibrant colors, the ease of cleaning, the lack of toxic smell of oils, and mostly my ability to easily mix and apply the paint made acrylics my favorite media. Unfortunately, most of my paintings that I painted in my late teens, I left in Jamaica (where I grew up) and moved to Chicago. Then college, medical school and residency got in the way and I had about a 15 year hiatus from the arts. At just about that time, I bought my first of many Apple computers, the Mac LC and I was again hooked. I soon got obsessed with Photoshop and Corel Painter (starting both at 1.0). I was fascinated with what I could do digitally. But over time something seemed to be missing and the urge to hold a brush, smell the paint again and stroke a canvas or wall became overwhelming so I started painting again. I painted murals for my kids and my friends, I painted archway decorations at home and in offices and I painted on canvas again. By this time my photography "hobby" was becoming a small side business and I was making enough "side income" to support all three of my passions: Photography, Traditional Painting and Digital Art. For the past 10 years, I have been able to use many of my own photographs for ideas for my traditional painting as well as my digital art projects. I feel that each media has its uniqueness and strengths and luckily, I am able to enjoy best of all the worlds. I hope that after you have had a chance to see a broad sampling of all types of my artwork, you will come to appreciate the unique character of each media that I use to capture and express the beauty around me.
On a personal note, I am married to an incredible woman and have four adult children. That plus my part-time work, my wine making projects, my photography and my painting, all keep me quite busy.
Thank you...for taking the time...and hope you enjoy the artwork...
Ninad
...always charged and ready...resistance is futile.