Cacoethes Scribendi

संवाद - अतुल कुलकर्णी

2011-08-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

- तेजू खापणे

संवाद - अतुल कुलकर्णी, डॉ. प्रशांत खापणे

’मला हे करायचे नाही आहे. मी हे करणार नाही.’ असं करणारी माणसं मला भावतात. वरवर पाहता ती बऱ्याच जणांना ’येडी’ किंवा मूर्ख वाटू शकतात. पण असेच लोक नवीन वाटा निर्माण करतात. पुण्याच्या कॉलेजात प्रवेश मिळूनसुद्धा मला इंजिनीयरिंग नाही शिकायचे आहे, मला ते नाही आवडत असं म्हणून ते खरोखर सोडून देणारे आणि आपल्याला काय आवडते हे शोधून त्या क्षेत्रात काहीतरी करू म्हणून त्याचे प्रशिक्षण घेऊन, नंतर गांधी विरुद्ध गांधी, ख़राशें, चांदणी बार, दहावी फ, देवराई, सत्ता, रंग दे बसंती, वळू अशा एकापेक्षा एक कलाकृती सादर करणारे ’नटरंग’ अतुल कुलकर्णी यांच्याशी ह्या वर्षी गप्पा मारायला मिळाल्या. पालवी दिवाळी अंकासाठीच्या ’संवादा’साठी दिलेल्या वेळेबद्दल मी त्यांचे आभार मानतो.

नमस्कार. ’नटरंग’ च्या भरघोस यशाबद्दल हार्दिक अभिनंदन. अतुल, तुम्ही बेळगाव - सोलापूर - पुणे - दिल्ली ह्या प्रवासाबद्दल काही सांगू शकाल का?

मी ११-१२ वी बेळगावला केली, नंतर पुण्याला engineering ला admission घेतली. पण लवकरच माझ्या लक्षात आलं की ते नाही जमणार आहे मला, तर मग ते सोडून सोलापूरला गेलो. तिथे B.A. ला ऍडमिशन घेतली. तिथे असताना ’नाट्य आराधना’ नावाच्या ग्रुपमध्ये काम सुरु केले. आणि माझ्या लक्षात आले की मला ह्याचीच आवड आहे आणि हेच करायचे आहे. मग दिल्लीला National School of Drama मध्ये admission घेतली professional actor होण्यासाठी. तिथे ३ वर्षे होतो आणि मग मुंबईत आलो as a professional actor.

मग शाळेत असताना तुम्ही ’फ’ तुकडीचे विद्यार्थी होता की ’अ’? आणि तुम्हाला ’देशमुख’ सरांसारखे कुणी शिक्षक भेटले का?

मी ’अ’, ’ब’ तुकडीतच होतो. आमच्या शाळेमध्ये जे वरचे क्लास होते त्या उतरांडीमध्येच होतो. असे शिक्षक अर्थातच असतात पण मी ’फ’मध्ये नसल्याने मला स्वतःला तसा अनुभव नाही.

आपल्याकडे अशी म्हण आहे की ’यशाचे धनी खूप असतात पण अपयशाचे वाली आपण स्वतःच असतो.’ तुम्ही engineering सोडायचे आहे किंवा नंतर NSD ला admission घ्यायची आहे हे निर्णय घेताना भीती वाटली होती का? घरच्यांची प्रतिक्रिया काय होती?

भीती म्हणण्यापेक्षा insecurity म्हणू, पण ती अर्थातच होती. कारण माहिती नव्हतं काय होणार पुढे. आणि तेव्हा असंही ठोसपणे ठरलं नव्हतं की acting मध्ये जायचे आहे वगैरे. त्यामुळं insecurity नक्कीच होती. घरच्यांना अर्थातच काळजी होती की आता याचे काय होणार. कारण profession वगैरे काहीच दिसत नव्हतं. आणि आपल्याकडे B.A.ला फारशी किंमत नसते दुर्दैवाने.

तुमचं गांधी विरुद्ध गांधी हे पहिलं professional नाटक. त्यानंतर ख़राशें. त्याचा अनुभव कसा होता? त्यातली एखादी आवडती कविता आहे का तुमची?

हो. बरंच नवीन शिकायला मिळालं. ख़राशें हे गुलजार साहेबांच्या कथा आणि कवितांचा एक कोलाज आहे जे आम्ही गेले ६/७ वर्षे करतो आहे. त्यात मी खौफ़ नावाची एक गोष्ट सांगतो आणि काही कविता सादर करतो. ६/७ जण आहोत आणि मिळून त्या चार कथा आणि कविता सादर करतो. गुलजारसाहेबांनी आत्तापर्यंत जे काही communal riots आणि फाळणीच्या वेळी झालेल्या अत्याचाराबद्दल, जाती/धर्मावरुन जे काही दंगे झाले आहेत भारतात त्यावर त्यांचं भाष्य आहे. त्या background वर आधारित आहे ते. दुर्दैव इतकेच आहे की आम्ही ६/७ वर्षे ते सादर करतो आहोत पण परिस्थितीत काही बदल नाही. त्यामुळं तो कार्यक्रम जेव्हा irrelevant होइल तो खरा आनंदाचा क्षण असेल आम्हा सर्वांसाठी.

अनेक कविता आवडतात त्यातल्या. खरंतर सगळ्याच. पण मला वाटतं तो एक त्या कथा आणि कविता असा मिळून पूर्ण अनुभव आहे. तो जास्त आवडतो.

तुम्ही आत्तापर्यंत अगदी वेगवेगळ्या व्यक्तिरेखा सादर केल्या आहेत. शेष (देवराई) किंवा गुणा (नटरंग) सारख्या व्यक्तिरेखा तर प्रेक्षकांनाही हेलावून सोडतात. पण एक कलाकार म्हणून इतके दिवस ती व्यक्तिरेखा जगल्यानंतर emotional attachment होते का आणि ती काही ख़राशें सोडून जाते का?

मी खरंतर त्या पद्धतीचा नट नाही आहे. मला असं नाही वाटत की भूमिका तुमच्यावर परिणाम करतात किंवा त्यांनी करायला हवा. तुमच्यात काही बदल होणं ती व्यक्तिरेखा सतत सादर केल्यामुळं शक्य आहे, स्वाभाविक आहे पण तो वैचारिक मुद्दा आहे, intellectual मुद्दा आहे. तो emotional मुद्दा नाही वाटत मला. उलट मी अशा पद्धतीच्या acting च्या विरोधात आहे. एखाद्या भूमिकेने तुमच्यावर परिणाम केला नाही पाहिजे असं माझं मत आहे कारण शेवटी अभिनय एक तंत्र आहे. त्याच्यात तंत्राचा खूप वापर असतो. अगदी १००% नसला तरी बऱ्याच मोठ्या प्रमाणात असतो. त्यामुळं असं हरवून जाणं मला स्वतःला मान्य नाही किंवा ती माझी अभिनयाची पद्धत नाही असं म्हणू हवं तर. पण अर्थातच तुम्ही एखादी भूमिका सादर करता तेव्हा तिचा अभ्यास करता. उदाहरणार्थ मी गांधींची भूमिका करतो तेव्हा तिचा अभ्यास करतो आणि त्या विचारसरणीचा माझ्यावर, माझ्या विचारप्रणालीवर परिणाम होणं शक्य आहे. पण हे तुम्हाला प्रत्येकवेळी ठोसपणे सांगता येईल असं नाही. पण हे कुणाच्याही बाबतीत होऊ शकतं. त्यासाठी तुम्ही नटच असायला हवं असं नाही. मी एक साधा वाचक म्हणून जरी काही वाचलं तरी त्याचा माझ्यावर परिणाम होतच असतो. त्यामुळं एक general व्यक्ती म्हणून परिणाम होणं सहज शक्य आहे. एक अर्थातच असतं की आमची intensity जास्त असते. मला एक नट म्हणून ती स्वतः सादर करायची असते. त्यामुळं त्या intensity चा तसा जास्त फायदा मला होतो, एक नट म्हणून. मी त्यातून स्वतःच गेल्यामुळं. पण असं होणं शक्य असतं. बऱ्याचदा अनुभवांचा, माहितीचा आपल्यावर परिणाम होत असतो. ते सहज शक्य आहे. ते आमच्याही बाबतीत होतंच.

प्रेक्षकांचं असं असतं की जे काम आम्ही सहा/आठ महिने केलेलं असतं ते २/३ तासात त्यांच्यासमोर सादर होतं. त्या एका capsule मध्ये ते बघितलं जातं. आणि दुसरं म्हणजे तिथंही सूक्ष्मपणे बघितलं तर emotional परिणाम हा थोडावेळच असतो बाकीचा जो असतो तो intellectual पातळीवरचा असतो. पण त्यातून जी माहिती, ज्ञान मिळतं ते दूरगामी असतं. अर्थात तुम्ही जे पाहता ते आमच्या आयुष्यात ६/७ महिन्याच्या period मध्ये spread झालेलं असतं. अर्थातच त्याचा एक strain असतो, नाही असं नाही. पण काही गंभीर परिणाम होतात किंवा व्हावे असं मला नाही वाटत. निदान माझी तरी अभिनयाची तशी पद्धत नाही.

आणि त्या सादर करताना तुम्ही पूर्वतयारी कशी करता?

मला असं नेहमीच वाटत आलंय की जी script असते ती तुम्हाला सांगते की काय पद्धतीची तयारी हवी. सगळ्याच सिनेमांना एकसारखी तयारी लागते असं नाही आहे किंवा एकच पद्धत आहे असेही नाही आहे. मग तुम्ही एकदा script हातात घेतली आणि पुन्हा पुन्हा वाचली की लक्षात येतं की कशी आणि कुठून तयारी करायला हवी. आपोआप कळतं. आणि अर्थातच दिग्दर्शक असतोच तुमच्याबरोबर, तो तुम्हाला guide करतोच.

एखादी व्यक्तिरेखा आहे का ज्याच्याशी तुम्ही स्वतःला relate करु शकलात?

प्रत्येक character तसं असतं. कारण प्रमाण वेगवेगळं असलं तरी काही traces असतात. आपण अनेक स्वभावांचे मिळून एक बनलेलो असतो. त्यामुळं प्रत्येक character मध्ये थोडे फार आपण दिसतोच. त्याचं प्रमाणं अर्थातच वरखाली होतं. मला बघतानाही आणि सादर करतानाही असं नेहमीच वाटतं कारण आपणही माणूस आहोत आणि ते character ही. त्यामुळं ते relation होतच कुठे ना कुठे.

नटरंग साठी घेतलेली बाह्यतयारी तर आता सर्वमुखी आहे. पण इतर तयारी कशी केलीत?

मी मघाशी म्हटल्याप्रमाणे script हे एक मोठं हत्यार असतं. त्याचा वापर, उपयोग अर्थातच झाला. आणि नटरंगच्या बाबतीत आणखी एक होतं ते म्हणजे ही कथा एका कादंबरीवर आधारित आहे तर त्याचं वाचण अर्थातच झालं. समजून घेण्यासाठी. तर मुख्य ह्याच दोन गोष्टी होत्या. आनंद यादवांशी खूप चर्चा झाली ज्यानी ही कादंबरी लिहिली आहे. रवि अर्थातच बरोबर होता. गुरु ठाकूर जो लेखक आहे त्याच्याशीही. काही जुने तमाशाप्रधान सिनेमे पाहिले. हेच तयारीचे मुख्य स्रोत होते. Choreographer फुलवा खामकरची ही खूप मदत झाली. आमच्या बरोबर एक assistant होता जो सतत बरोबर असायचा शूटिंगच्या वेळेला. तो कोल्हापूरचाच होता. त्याला मी dialogues बोलायला लावायचो. ते कानात साठवून मग shot द्यायचो. त्याची खूप मदत झाली.

नटरंग स्विकारताना गुरु ठाकुरांच्या शब्दात सांगायचं झालं तर 'आज दिली बघं नंदकिशोरा हाती लाज तुझ्या रे' असं वाटलं होतं का?

भीती अशी नव्हती वाटली. पण in a sense ते कसं सादर करणार हे माहिती नव्हतं. त्या अर्थाने एक anxiety, भीती होती. मला तेच रोल आवडतात जे मला घाबरवतात त्या अर्थाने. कारण माहिती नसतं हे आपण कसं करणार हे. पण तशी शंका होती असं मला नाही वाटतं. पण प्रचंड मेहनत लागणार आहे हे माहिती होतं. ते challange नक्कीच होतं.

मला अजून आठवतं आहे, college मध्ये असतानाची गोष्ट आहे. माझा मित्र आणि मी पहिल्या दिवशीचा दोघी चित्रपट पाहायला गेलो होतो. आम्हाला पैसे परत देऊन उत्तर मिळाले, परवडत नाही दोघांसाठी कशाला लावू? आणि गेल्या काही वर्षात वेगळं चित्र दिसतं आहे. सैफ़ 'लंगडा त्यागी' करु शकतो, अमिताभ बच्चन 'पा' किंवा 'मनू (अक्स)' सारखे character सादर करु शकतात आणि ते चित्रपट चालतात. तर तुम्हाला वाटतं का की viewer has gotten mature now and these are exciting times for film industry, marathi in particular?

Definitely. These are exciting times. आणि मराठी किंवा इतर भाषेतल्या चित्रपटांसाठी तर विशेष करुन. कारण कसं असतं की audience also goes through social, economical, political and education changes. त्यावर सांस्कृतिक समज किंवा बदल अवलंबून असतो. अलिकडे जे काही भारतात बदल झाले आहेत त्यामुळे आणि exposure मुळे म्हणा, त्यांना वेगवेगळे सिनेमे पाहायला मिळतात. त्यामुळं बदल नक्कीच झालेले आहेत. ज्या पद्धतीचा सिनेमा पूर्वी होता तसा आता बनत नाही. अर्थात ती सगळ्यात उत्तम phase होती का हे भूतकाळात बघावं लागतं. चालू असताना आपल्याला कळत नाही की हे कसं पुढे जाणार आहे वगैरे वगैरे. इथून जिथेही जाऊ ते एका चांगल्या पातळीवर जाऊ याची खात्री मला नक्कीच वाटते.

अतुल, तुमच्या चित्रपटांचं एक वैशिष्ठ्य असं असतं की strong storyline, character. पण एखादा असा कलाकार आहे की ज्याला तुम्ही irrespective of the story, character पाहू शकता?

कितीतरी लोक, कलाकार आहेत. अमिताभ बच्चन उदाहरणार्थ. त्यांनी कितीतरी वाईट roles अगदी convincingly केल्या आहेत. त्याला एक वेगळं skill लागतं. I have always respected him for that. त्यांनी अत्यंत stupid गोष्टी अगदी convincingly लोकांसमोर मांडल्या आहेत. आणि हे फार मोठं skill आहे.

तुमची पहिली एकांकिका ही विनोदी एकांकिका होती, त्यानंतर अलीकडे वळूमध्ये तुम्ही एक हलका/फुलका role केलात. तर तुमचे आवडते विनोदी चित्रपट कुठले आहेत आणि पुन्हा एखादा विनोदी role करायला आवडेल का?

खूप आवडतात. गोलमाल खूप आवडतो. हृषिकेश मुखर्जी/गुलजार साहेबांचा. खूप वेळा पाहिला आहे आणि पाहू शकतो परत परत. अंगूर आहे गुलजार साहेबांचा. तो ही आवडतो. नक्की आवडेल अशा एखाद्या हलक्या/फुलक्या पिक्चरमध्ये काम करायला.

आणि कुठले दिग्दर्शक ज्यांच्याबरोबर काम करायला आवडेल?

बरेच आहेत. सगळेच नवीन लोक खूप छान काम करत आहेत. जर एखादी कथा चांगली असेल तर नक्की.

तुम्ही मराठी/हिन्दी सोडून इतर भाषेमध्ये काम करताना ते express करणं कसं साधता?

सिनेमाच्या बाबतीत मी dialogues देवनागरीमध्ये लिहून पाठ करतो. नाटकाच्या बाबतीतही तसंच झालं होत. गांधी विरुद्ध गांधी गुजरातीमध्ये करताना. पण त्यासाठी काही महिने अगोदर मेहनत सुरु केली होती. आणि फेक आणि pauses ची तयारी खूप केली होती.

तुम्हाला वाचनाची आवड आहे. तुमची आवडती पुस्तकं कोणती आहेत?

ते बदलत राहिलं आहे. वयाप्रमाणे, येणाऱ्या अनुभवांमुळे ते बदलत गेलं आहे. असं constant काही नाही आहे. जे पूर्वी आवडलं ते आता आवडतं असं नाही. भविष्यातही असंच असेल.

Quest बद्दल काही सांगाल का?

मला नेहमीच असं वाटत आलं आहे की आपल्या ज्या काही सामाजिक समस्या आहेत त्याच मूळ हे शिक्षणाच्या अभावात आहे. आणि फक्त माझंच नव्हे तर अनेक researchers नी हे अभ्यासावरुन मांडलेलं आहे. शिक्षण, especially प्राथमिक आणि पूर्वप्राथमिक त्यावर तुमची जडणघडण अवलंबून असते. बऱ्याच problems चा तो root असतो. इथे ह्याचा marks हा अर्थ अभिप्रेत नाहीये. आपल्याला इतिहास, भूगोल आणि गणित हे विषय का शिकवले जातात, आपली स्वतंत्र विचारांची प्रक्रिया तयार व्हावी आणि rational thinking करायला शिकावं यासाठी हा या शिक्षणामागचा हेतू असतो. फक्त गणित, भाषा येणं हा त्यामागचा हेतू नसतो. त्यामुळं मला असं वाटलं की ह्या क्षेत्रात आपल्याकडे भरपूर सुधारणांची गरज आहे. कारण दुर्दैवाने आपल्याकडे ज्या profession ला सर्वात जास्त महत्त्व हवं त्याला आणि त्या professionals ना काहीच किंमत नाही आहे. काहीच नाही ना जमत तर मास्तर हो. त्यामुळं आपल्याकडे फार वाईट अवस्था आहे. केवळ परिक्षार्थी शिक्षणपद्धती झाली आहे, केवळ marks डोळ्यापुढे ठेवून शिकलं जातं किंवा तो शिक्षणाचा हेतू मानला जातो. त्यासाठी आम्ही काही समविचारी मंडळींनी ही संस्था स्थापन केली आहे. Quality Education Support Trust नावाची. सोनाळे नावाचा जो आदिवासी भाग आहे ठाण्याजवळ वाडा तालुक्यात, तिथे आम्ही दहा/बारा गावांमध्ये आम्ही कार्यरत आहोत. तिथे आमचा base आहे. आधुनिक शिक्षण पद्धती आम्ही वापरतो, traditional पेक्षा. निलेश निंबकर म्हणून आमचे director आहेत त्यांच्या मार्गदर्शनाखाली आम्ही हे सगळं राबवतो. एक प्रकारचा बदल आम्ही करू शकतो का as far as quality of education is concerned असा आमचा प्रयत्न आहे.

आणि तुमच्या ह्या उपक्रमाला बाहेरुन मदत शक्य आहे का, आणि ती कशी करता येइल?

अर्थात अंतर खूप असेल तर donations हा एकच मार्ग राहतो. तो एक सोपा मार्ग आहे. मदत तर हवी असतेच. आत्ता आमची अडचण अशी आहे की परदेशी असलेल्या लोकांना जर मदत करायची असेल तर परदेशातून direct मदत नाही स्विकारता येत त्या currency मध्ये. कारण आमचा अजून FCRA, Home ministry ची एक permission लागते जी काही वर्षांनंतरच मिळते. ती एक मोठी process आहे पण indian currency मध्ये जर काही मिळाले तर जरूर स्विकारू शकतो.

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संवाद - डॉ. आगाशे

2011-08-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

संवाद - डॉ. आगाशे

- डॉ. प्रशांत खापणे

आपण बर्‍याचदा एक तक्रार ऐकतो. मला आहे तेच खूप झाले आहे, मला हल्ली वेळच मिळत नाही. त्यामुळं डॉ.आगाशेंसारखे लोक दोन-दोन क्षेत्रात तितकीच उल्लेखनीय कामगिरी कसे करू शकतात याचं आश्चर्य होतचं. ते बराच काळ FTII सारख्या मान्यवर संस्थेचे मुख्याधिकारी होते त्याचबरोबर MIMH (Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health) चे सुद्धा संस्थापक आणि डिरेक्टर होते. निळू फुले, डॉ. लागू , विजय तेंडुलकर, डॉ. जब्बार पटेल, स्मिता पाटील ह्यांसारख्या मराठी नाट्य-आणि चित्रपटस्रुष्टीतील मात्तब्बर कलाकारांबरोबर केलेलं काम अतिशय गाजलेलं आहे.

फ्रॉइडचं 'Analysis of Dreams' माझ्या आवडत्या पुस्तकांपैकी एक. ते वाचलं होतं मी खूप पुर्वी. तेंव्हा उमगलं कमी आणि अजुनपर्यंत काही शंका तश्याच राहून गेल्या होत्या. मला नाटक बघण्याची आणि जवळच्या काही मित्रांना नाटक सादर करणं ह्याची आवड असल्याने काही जुणी नाटकं बघणं, त्यांच्याबद्दल जमेल तितकी माहिती मिळवणं ह्याची आवड आहे. तेंडुलकरांच्या 'सखाराम' बद्दल गिरीश कर्नाडनी असं म्हंटल आहे की असं नाटक गेल्या हजार वर्षात भारतीय रंगभूमीवर झाले नाही. त्यांची 'घाशीराम-सखाराम' जोडी म्हणजे भारतीय रंगभूमीचे जगाच्या रंगमंचावरचे प्रतिनीधी मानले जातात. ज्या काळात ही दोन नाटकं मराठी रंगभूमीवर आली त्याचे सक्रिय साक्षिदार मोहन आगाशें. त्यामुळं त्यांच्याशी बोलताना कलाकार-मानसशास्त्रज्ञ मोहन आगाशें हा द्वंद्व समास चालवता येणार याचा आनंद तर होताच होता. पण त्याचबरोबर ज्याला मराठी रंगभूमी आणि चित्रपटसृष्टीचा सुवर्णकाळ म्हणता येईल अश्या काळातल्या काही कलाकारांबददल त्यांच्याशी बोलता येणं हा खरंच दुग्ध-शर्करा योग. दिवाळी अंकाची कल्पना त्यांच्या कानावर घातली आणि मुलाखातीबद्दल विचारले. त्यानी लगेच अमेरिकेतला आणि भारतातला फोन नंबर दिला आणि वेळही.

नमस्कार डॉ.आगाशे. आपण दिलेल्या वेळेबद्दल आणि 'पालवी' च्या पहिल्या मुलाखतीबद्दल मी आपला खुप आभारी आहे. यातले काही प्रश्न आहेत डॉ.मोहन आगाशेंना आणि काही आहेत कलाकार मोहन आगाशेंना.

नमस्कार. अंकाबद्दल शुभेच्छा...विचार प्रश्न.

डॉ.मोहन आगाशें आणि कलाकार मोहन आगाशें यांच्यातली सांगड तुम्ही कशी घालता? म्हणजे डॉ.मोहन आगाशेंना कधी आपण "गुरुदेव रविंद्रनाथ टागोरांच्या A Wrong Man in Workers Paradise" सारखे वाटले का?

आपण जेव्हा शिकत असतो तेव्हा आपल्याला कमी कळत असतं, म्हणजे अनुभव कमी असतो. आई-वडिलांना पण ठराविक channels माहिती असतात. मार्क्स पडले तर engineer किंवा doctor होणे हा एकच मार्ग. म्हणजे घोड्यासारखं- झापडं लावली आहेत जा पुढे. आजकाल मात्र internet मुळे महिती खूप असते, पण त्यामुळे गोंधळ देखिल तितकाच. त्यापेक्षा चुकीच्या पण एकाच मार्गाने जाणे बरे असे मला वाटते.

सुदैवाने हे लवकर लक्षात आलं, त्यामुळं psychiatry करण्याचा निर्णय घेतला. एक प्रकारची stability आली.

देवाने बघं आपल्याला दोन डोळे, हात, आणि पाय कशासाठी दिलेत. मेंदुचे देखिल identical दोन भाग आहेत. प्रत्येकाचे काम ठरलेले आहे. त्यांमुळं balance येतो. एक पाऊल मागे, तर एक पुढे. त्यामुळं जीवनाचा प्रवास दोन चाकांवर झाला तर बरं असं नेहमीच वाटलं. पण हे दोन पाय एकाच माणसाचे असलेले बरे, नाहीतर तर तीन तंगड्यांचा तमाशा... लग्नानंतर होतो तसा. काय?

त्यामुळं असं conflicting नव्हतं कधी वाटलं. जेव्हा junior होतो, संध्याकाळी वेळ असायचा तेव्हा theater खूप केलं. नंतर senior झाल्यावर department devolpment च्या वेळी चित्रपट केले. नंतर ह्या सगळ्याचा balance करण्याचा प्रयत्न केला.

तुम्हाला रंगमंचाची आवड केव्हा पासून आहे? म्हणजे पहिले नाटक केव्हा केलेत?

लहानपणापासुन. मला वाटते सगळ्यांनाच असते लहानपणी. आई-वडील पहिले प्रेक्षक. त्यांनी प्रोत्साहन दिले तर मग पुढं चालू. त्यामुळं बलोद्यान, गणपतीचे मंडळ असो, पुढे शाळा, कॉलेज असं ते चालू राहीलं. प्रत्येकजण ते कुठल्या ना कुठल्या stage ला सोडून देतात. पण ही मैत्री सुटली नाही. किंवा सोडली नाही असं म्हण.

मला घाशीराम कोतवाल बद्दल प्रचंड आकर्षण होते आणि आहे. अगदी अलीकडे अलीकडे पर्यंत त्याची VCD मिळणे दुरापास्त होते. त्या पूर्वी तर पुण्यात सुद्धा त्याचे प्रयोग लपून छपून झाल्याचे मी ऐकले आहे. घाशीरामला झालेला ब्राम्हण समाजाचा विरोध, मध्यंतरी 'फायर' ला झालेला विरोध असो अथवा अगदी परवा परवा 'मी शिवाजीराजे भोसले बोलतोय' च्या show नंतर लोकांनी दिलेल्या घोषणा हे सगळे काय दर्शवते असे तुम्हाला वाटते?

अरे तू काल इथे असायला हवा होतास. ह्या विषयावरच बोलणं झालं काल. clips दाखवल्या. घाशीराम वर बोलायचं तर मुलाखातीचा वेळ पुरणार नाही.

विरोध म्हणण्यापेक्षा controversy म्हणू. प्रयोग मात्र लपून-छ्पून कधीच नाही झाले. ३५ एक लोकांचा संच, कसा करणार लपून-छ्पून?

पण आपल्याकडे कुठ्ल्याही गोष्टीचा issue करणे, उगाचाच जाळपोळ, पोस्टर फ़ाडाफ़ाडी ही प्रवृत्ती जास्त. नाटक हे काही इतिहासाची बखरं नाही. पण ही प्रगल्भता नाही. कुणीही पेटवलं की पेटतात.

त्यामागे फार मोठी history आहे. खरा राग होता तेंडुलकरांवर. त्यानी सखाराम बायंडर आणि घाशीराम एकाच वेळी लिहिलं. त्यामुळं सखाराम बंद पाडलं गेलं, प्रकरण कोर्टात गेलेलं. केस जिंकली, ठाकरेंसाठी प्रायोग ही झाला. ते पहिल्यावर खूष झाले आणि मग ते पुन्हा सुरु झालं. पण घाशीरामचे प्रयोग कधी नाही बंद पाडले गेले.

आम्हाला ते कोर्ट वगैरे जमलंही नसतं. घरचेच प्रश्न आम्हाला खूप होते, नाटक देखिल हौशी लोकांच त्यामुळं थोडा काळ बाहेर पडलो. नंतर केकटनी नावाची संस्था काढली, खिशातलेच पैसे टाकून नाटक revive केलं. पुढं बर्लीनच्या प्रयोगाला अशीच controversy झाली. आम्हाला वाटलं नाना फ़डणीस फ़क्त नानावडीच्या लोकांना माहीती.

नाना फडणवीस ऐवजी आणखी कुठली भूमिका तुम्ही केलीत काय? किंवा करावी अशी वाटली का आणि का?

घाशीरामची. खरंतर तेंडुलकरांना माझा घाशीराम फ़ार आवडला नव्हता. त्यांना तो फ़ार powerful नाना वाटत होता. त्यांची इच्छा होती की मी घाशीराम करावा. पण ते कसं आहे माहीती आहे काय तुला, आपला मुलगा engineer व्हावा असं बापाला वाटतं आणि तो भलतच काहीतरी करतो तसं. मग बापाला वाईट वाटतं. त्यामुळं मी त्यांचा नावडता नाना. त्यांना आवडता नाना भेटला अमेरीकेत. तिथे पण production झालं होतं घाशीरामचं. तो एक मोरोक्कन कलाकार होता. त्यांनी ते लिहीले सुद्धा नंतर की मला अपेक्षीत नाना मला अमेरिकेत मिळाला.

आपण जर्मनीत ह्या पूर्वी अनेकदा येउन गेला आहात. ऐंशीच्या दशकात तुम्ही जर्मनी (ग्योटिंगन) मध्येही घाशीरामचे प्रयोग केले. तो अनुभव कसा होता? आणि भाषेची अड़चण तुम्ही तेंव्हा कशी सोडवलीत?

अरे, ग्योटिंगन !!! म्हणून तर तुला विचारले परवा कुणी आहे का मराठी तिथे म्हणून. अरे, किती आठवणी. ३० वर्षांपूर्वी जिथे नाचलो होतो त्या stage वर मी seminar conduct करत होतो. मी फ़ार nostalgic झालो होतो.

अरे सगळ्या newspapers मध्ये reviews दुसर्‍या दिवशी. लोकांनी अगदी उचलून धरलं नाटक.

भाषेचं म्हंटलस तर तू तो प्रयोग पाहिला नाहीस म्हणून असं म्हणतो आहेस. एक तर अतिशय सुंदर synopsis केला होता जर्मन मध्ये. choreography आणि music इतकं छान आहे घाशीरामचं त्यामुळं फ़ारशी अडचण नाही आली. लिहलं होतं "Schiller from far east" - will be performed precisely at six. नविन ग्रुप ने केले नाटक पण आई भाजी करते आणि काकू पण करते.

अर्थात विजय तेंडुलकर, डॉ.जब्बार पटेल, आणि भास्कर चंदावरकरांच्याबद्दल बोलल्या शिवाय घाशीरामचा विषय संपवता येणारच नाही. ह्यांच्या बद्दल काही सांगू शकाल का?

तेंडुलकर सर्वस्पर्शी माणूस. त्यांच्याबद्दल मी काय बोलणार! त्यांचा spectrum बघं. गिधाडे, घाशीराम, अशी पाखरं येती, सखाराम, बेबी, कमला, शांतता कोर्ट चालू आहे, सामना, सिंहासन. किती व्यक्तिरेखा. कुठंही व्यावसायिक द्रुष्टीकोन, पैशाचा लोभ धरुन काम नाही. स्वतःशी प्रामाणिक असलेला नाटककार. राज कपूर पासुन सगळ्यांनी त्यांना approach केल. आमच्यासाठी script लिहा म्हणून. त्यांना ते जमलंच नाही, त्यांचा तो स्वभावच नव्हता. त्यांनी जेव्हा जेव्हा पटकथा लिहील्या तेव्हा चित्रपट गाजले. त्यांनी दिग्दर्शक बनवले. शाम बेनेगल - निशांत, मंथन. गोविंद निहलानी - आक्रोश, अर्धसत्य. पटकथेवर हुकुमत. human psychology ची इतकी जाण न तेही psychology न शिकता. आपल्याकडं लोक बोलतात नुसतं. पण त्यांच्याकडून listening skills शिकलो. त्यांना फ़क्त listening skills म्हणतात हे माहीती नव्हतं इतकच. संवेदनशील किती असलं पाहीजे माणसानं ह्याच सुंदर उदाहरण.

चंदावरकर - कितीतरी नाटकांना संगीत दिलं. पण घाशीरामच काम आठवतं लोकांना. कित्येकांना माहिती नाही FTII ला असताना दिलं त्यानं ते. He was gifted. A good teacher and a theoritician. सितार खूप छान वाजवायचे. 70ies मध्ये he was at his peak. पण अनेक गोष्टी येत असल्यामुळे इतर बाबींकडे लक्ष नाही दिले. तू बघ सामना, आक्रित, तीन पैशाचा तमाशा. अप्रतिम संगीत. नंतर त्यांनी खानोलकरांना श्रद्धांजली साठी नक्षत्रांचे देणे कार्यक्रम जो झाला त्याला त्यांचच संगीत होतं. अमोलने (पालेकर) कविता वाचन केलं. छान कार्यक्रम झाला तो. नुसतं मराठीच नाही इतर भाषातही काम केलयं.

जब्बार बद्दल म्हंटलास तर पहिली कारकिर्द फ़ार सुरेख. घाशीराम, अशी पाखरं येती, तीन पैशाचा तमाशा, पडघम, खेळिया...milestone नाटकं. सामना, सिंहासन, उंबरठा, जैत रे जैत, अगदी अलिकडं आंबेडकर. अरे peak असतो. आपलेपणा तर आहेच पण खूप जवळचे असल्याने राग पण. इतका उत्कृष्ठ दिग्दर्शक पण पडघम नंतर काही नाही केलं. उत्कृष्ठ पण पडद्याआड गेलेला दिग्दर्शक म्हणुन राग येतो.

जर माझ्याकड़े पिस्तूल असती तर मी मोदिंवर गोळ्या झाडल्या असत्या ह्या तेंडूलकरांच्या विधानावर डॉ. आगाशेंची प्रतिक्रिया काय होती?

काय देणार प्रतिक्रिया!. ते तसे राजकारणी नसल्याने मनात आलेले बोलले. पण मगाशी तुला म्हंट्ल्याप्रमाणे आपल्याकडे जी प्रभावी शक्ती आहे तिचा वापर कशासाठी करायचा...भावना भडकवण्यासाठी कि आणि कशासाठी हे ठरवणं महत्वाचं. इतरांचा द्वेष करुन तुम्ही हिंदुत्ववादी होऊ नाही शकत. युद्धानं आणि जाळपोळीनं काही सिद्ध होत नाही हे इतिहासानं दाखवून दिले आहे.

तेंडूलकरांचे 'शांतता कोर्ट चालू आहे' (Die Panne) किंवा 'अशी पाखरे येती' (The rainmaker), पुलंचे 'एका कोळीयाने' (The Old Man and the Sea) अथवा 'ती फुलराणी' (Pygmalion) , तीन पैशाचा तमाशा (The three penny Opera) अगदी अलीकडचे 'कथा दोन गणपतरावांची' किंवा 'अग्गबाई अरेच्चा' सुद्धा प्रेरीत आहेत. त्या तितक्याच ताकतीच्या कलाकृती आहेत किंबहुना थोड्या सरसच. पण आजकाल प्रेरणा आणि चौर्य ह्यातील सीमा खूप धूसर झाली आहे. ह्याबद्दल तुमचे काय मत आहे?

बाजारीकरण वाढलेलं आहे असं तुझ्या म्हणण्याचा अर्थ होतो, आणि खरं ही आहे. american attitude मुळे शिक्षणाचं, इतकंच काय वैदिक शास्त्राचंसुद्धा बाजारीकरण झालेलं आहे. पुर्वी असं होतं की पैशाचं स्थान कुठल्याही profession मध्ये ठरलं होतं. पण आता पैसा वर जाऊन बसला आहे. त्यामुळं professional identity चा mask फाडला की तर आत पैशाचा चेहरा दिसतो. पुर्वी उलट होतं. आज जाहीरात attractive केली की झालं. पूर्वी जाहीरातचा उद्देश्य लोकांपर्यंत पोहचणे हा होता. आता फ़सवणूकीकडे प्रवृत्ती वाढली आहे. जसं आजकाल ६०० प्रिंट काढून चित्रपट हजार ठिकाणी बाजारात आला की झालं. पैसा वसुल. बुद्धिचा गैरवापर करायला शिकला आहे माणुस.

आणि उप-प्रश्न असा की 'अशी पाखरे येती' आणि 'थोडासा रूमानी हो जाए' मधे तुम्ही कशाला झुकतं माप द्याल आणि का?

मी ह्यात नक्कीच अशी पाखरे येती ला झुकतं माप देइन. कारण मला वाटते ते आपल्या मातीला फार जवळ आहे. तेंडुलकरांनी लिहलं पण आहे ते छान. rainmaker ही फ़क्त तू म्हंट्ल्याप्रमाणं प्रेरणा होती. पटकथा, पात्रं अगदी आपली वाटावी अशी होती. आपण म्हणतो ना belivable तसं. पालेकर साहेब हे बुद्धीजीवी खरे पण इथे मी अशी पाखरे ला झुकतं माप देइन. आणि दुसरं म्हणजे ती भुमिका करणारा मनुष्य charming हवा. आता नाना हा काही charming असू शकतो असं मला वाटत नाही. music छान होतं. चंदावरकरच होतं.

"कला ही एखाद्या स्वप्ना सारखी असते. ती स्वतःला कधीच विषद करत नाही आणि ती नि:संदिग्ध नसते" असं कार्ल गुस्ताव युंग ने म्हंटले आहे. ह्यावर तुम्ही थोडा प्रकाश टाकू शकाल काय?

सहमत आहे मी. आपण जे reading between the lines म्हणतो ते great work of art चं लक्षण आहे. कुठलंही एक माध्यम काहीही express करायला अपुरं पडतं. प्रत्येक text ला subtext असतं. what you say and what you communicate might be different. आणि ते आपली बलस्थानं काय आहेत त्यावर ठरतं. म्हणुन तर कुणी चित्रकार होतात, कुणी गायक, कुणी actor. कुणी शब्दच्छल करतात. परत घाशीरामचच उदाहरण घे. तसं संदिग्धच आहे ते, नाही का?

अगदी अलीकडे दिल्ली हायकोर्टाने घेतलेल्या निर्णयाच्या पार्श्वभूमीवर हा प्रश्न विचारावासा वाटतो: एडिपिस मनोगंडाचे जर निराकरण नाही झाले तर त्याचे रूपांतर समलिंगी आकर्षणामधे सुद्धा होऊ शकते असे फ़्रोइडने Die Traumdeutung मध्ये लिहिले आहे. ह्या बद्दल काही सांगाल का आणि समलिंगी आकर्षण अनैसर्गिकच मानले पाहिजे का? नसेल तर मग मानसशास्त्रामध्ये त्याला मनोगंड का मानले जाते?

expression differs from culture to culture. युरोपमध्येसुद्धा पूर्वी त्याला sexual disorder च म्हणायचे. तू 'एका छोट्याश्या सुट्टीत' हे नाटक पाहिलं असशीलच किंवा तेंडुलकरांचे 'मित्राची गोष्ट'.

इथं दोन गोष्टी आहेत, नैसर्गिक काय आणि कायद्याने कशाला मानत्या दिली आहे. समलिंगी काय किंवा विरूद्धलिंगी आकर्षण असण्याबद्दल काही नाही पण त्याची परिणिती रस्त्यावर कशात होते हयाचे थोडे भान ठेवले पाहीजे. मी परवा इथे न्यु-जर्सी मध्ये cultural confusion of Asians वर बोललो तिथेही अश्याच धर्तीवर बोलणे झाले. मजेची गोष्ट म्हणजे इथे verbally express करण्यावर जोर, आपल्याकडे नवरयाने बायकोला 'I love you' किंवा असं काही म्हंटल तर तिला वाटतं काय लफ़डबिफ़ड तर नसेल ना? so when we talk of law - we talk of group of people. And what is acceptable at that particular time and place.

आणि freud चं म्हंट्लास तर त्याने ही एक system शोधुन काढली which was hypothetical. तू वाचलं असशीलच पुस्तकात त्यानं ego-superego अश्या structure बद्दल लिहीलं आहे. कुठलंतरी hypothesis मान्य केल्याखेरीज पुढचं logic चालवू शकत नाही आपण. जसं अंकगणितात १ ते ० मान्य केल्याखेरीज पुढे उपयोग होत नाही. but he was also a biologist. त्याचं मत होतं की biology मध्ये याचं उत्तर सापडू शकेल. तर ह्या complex मुळे मेंदुच्या एका भागाची वाढ नाही होत. म्हणुन समलिंगी आकर्षण वाटू शकतं असं biological explanation देता येइल.

तुम्ही कुंडली वर विश्वास ठेवता का? म्हणजे नक्षत्रं आणि तारे आपल्या स्वभावावर परिणाम करतात ह्या वर विश्वास ठेवता का?

ज्याबद्दल मला माहीती नाही त्यावर कसं बोलणार? विश्वासाचा मुद्दा आला की sustention of intelligence आलं!

मानसशास्त्रामध्ये स्वभावाला औषध आहे का? आणि तसे असते तर दोन्ही गणपतरावांना त्याचा फायदा झाला असता का?

हा..हा..हा !! दोघांच logic आठवतंय का तुला?

एक म्हणतो - मैत्री राहुदे, सौदा करू. भाताची पोती देतो. मग दुसरा म्हणतो नाशवंत पोती, त्याचा काय उपयोग? त्यावर पहिला म्हणतो - बहिर्‍या माणसाला कानाचा उपयोग नाही म्हणून काय तो कान कापून घेतो का?

वनारसेबाईंनी एक पुस्तक लिहीलं आहे - स्वभावाला औषध आहे! मानसशास्त्रही सांगते तसं. म्हणजे स्वतःला बदलण्याची ईच्छा असेल तर शक्यही आहे. पण एक लक्षात ठेवावं - आंब्याची कोय लावून काही द्राक्ष येत नाहीत. तशी अपेक्षाही ठेवण चुकीचं.

तुम्ही स्वतः सुन्दर कथाकथन करता...अगदी साभिनय सादर करता. तुमची आवडीची पुस्तके कोणती? अणि आवडते लेखक कोण?

वाचन कमीच तसं माझं. फ़ारच कमी. ते वेड कमीच. आणि आयुष्यात वेगवेगळ्या stages मध्ये वेगवेगळी पुस्तके भावतात. किंवा एकच पुस्तक वेगवेगळ वाटतं. पु.शि.रेग्यांच एक पुस्तक आहे 'सावित्री' नावाचं. छोटं पुस्तक आहे. एका बाईनं पुरुषाला लिहिलेली ३९ पत्रं आहेत त्यात. सुंदर. पु.लं., तेंडुलकर आवडतात...पण आपली मर्यादा पण असते एक. जग सगळं बघून नाही होत एका आयुष्यात.

तुम्ही वेगवेगळ्या दिग्दर्शकांबरोबर काम केलेत तर त्यांच्या बरोबर काम करतानाच्या काही आठवणी आहेत का? आणि तुम्ही स्वतः दिग्दर्शनाचा प्रयत्न केलात का?

तसं फोनवर सांगण अवघड आहे. पुन्हा भेटुच आपण तेव्हा प्रत्यक्षच बोलू.

दिग्दर्शनाचा प्रयत्न केला. पण फ़ारसा काही यशस्वी नाही झाला. प्रार्थना नावाची एकांकिका होती. पण फ़ार नाही जमून आलं सगळं. त्यापेक्षा आपली acting बरी.

आणि शेवटचा प्रश्न - मारुती कांबळेचं काय झालं हा प्रश्न तुम्हाला कधी विचारला गेला का? आणि त्याचे तुम्ही आज काय उत्तर दयाल?

विचारतात अजुनही गमतीने. उत्तर - मारुती कांबळे न्यु-जर्सी मध्ये दिसले होते...किंवा अलिकडे मारुती कांबळेंना काही लोकांनी मुनिक मध्ये पाहिलं. काय?

Game of thrones

2011-05-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

There are few books I always wanted to see adapted for big screen. Lord of the Rings was one such. However I always felt that such an adaptation would be a failure. All the previous attempts at the fantasy of such a scale had been mediocre. Tacky effects, low budgets, poorly made up characters. And the man at the helm (Peter Jackson) was previously known for all that combined together. Fortunately I was proven wrong. Credit also due to Fran Walsh for a fantastic screenplay and to some extent the success of Harry Potter books for it rekindled the interest of many in the trilogy written in the 1930ies (and number of other fantasy books). Rest is as they say is history.

A Song of Ice and Fire is a series fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. It was very clear that it would be very difficult to see this on big screen. The story consists of lot of subplots and any 3+ hour version would have done no justice to the written work. At the same time a TV-serial of such a scale was difficult to imagine (but not impossible). It would have called for a much higher production value.
All I can say is - I'm impressed. What a fantastic way to see the story unfolding on a TV-screen. This is one TV-serial which makes me 'want' a huge TV at home.

Highly recommended!!
My ranking - 10/10.
and that of imdb

02.04.2011, rendezvous with the destiny

2011-04-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
DARING GREATLY
so that his place shall never be
with those timid souls
who know neither victory or defeat.

---Theodore Roosevelt

It is this being in the arena quality that separates you from everybody else. To me an honest trier who unfortunately was always surrounded by lesser talent or those lacking the iron will needed to succeed at the highest level. Yet, you being there coincided with the 'New India' gaining confidence as a country and the youth of the 90ies. And you are still there inspiring the kids of those younglings of the 90ies.

I still remember that dreadful semi final against the same opponents where when you went so did the will to get into the finals of the most important event in the cricketing world. The trend continued for another 5-6 years.
Things did start changing at the turn of the century when that very very special innings and 'more than a bridesmaid' effort changed the face of the team. It was the beginning of the rise to the numero uno.

You still kept inspiring the new generation of cricketers and virtually carried the team to finals of the south african bonanza. Unfortunately the first over of both the innings sealed the fate of the match. Was it the pressure of performing batting second, chasing the 359 against the best team, or you wanting to finish the game in the first over itself? We will never know. Given your tacit approach we may have to wait till you hang the boots. Will that be the day today? Who knows. However nobody wants the dream to end. Not the greedy viewer like me. However I'm sure it will be you who will call it right. And will prefer to end it like one.

Will that be a 100 of a 100?
I hope.

Will that be the 'cup that counts', the only missing feather in your cap, the one cup which inspired you to play for the country!
Oh, how I wish. For finally you have the team that has the iron will to fight it out, that thinks and believes it is a team sport.

In any case a simple thank you is in order irrespective of the outcome of today's rendezvous. Thank you for inspiring a generation wishing for a son like you, inspiring generations to have the self belief to succeed at the highest level.

And a big thank you for being SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR for I believe what Prem Panikar has written once -
If a Tendulkar didn't exist, we might have had to invent him.

Dr. Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

A decade that was....

2011-02-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Best movies

Best books

Best sport moments

more to follow

Shahu Smarak Bhawan Art Gallery Exhibition 2011

2011-02-18T14:50:00.001-08:00

I remember going to Shahu Smarak Bhawan in Kolhapur to see various exhibitions, plays, lectures with my best friend Santosh. I never thought I will be holding an exhibition there one day. It was a very rich experience. More on that later.

My first reaction to see the all these fine art prints hanging was, 'oh, where and how am I going to store them after four days'. I'm very glad to say it was not the case. Not only these I also sold many more large size prints. More details to follow. I was able to donate 10000INR to Baal Kalyaan Sankool in Kolhapur from the profits generated.

Photography Workshop and FOTOREISE

2010-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

A free photography workshop is offered at Kalaniketan and Dalavi's school of art on 27th December and 4th January respectively.

I'm also planning a Fotoreise: Maharashtra in December 2011. There will be place three people only and two have already been taken.

More details will be posted soon.

Redundant backups and its advantages

2010-04-27T12:36:00.001-07:00

PrK_Herzogstand_081010_110, originally uploaded by Prashant Khapane.

There is a reason I have made it a habit to backup all my raw files to two external hard drives. Once I delete the obvious 'throw outs' from my PC hard disk I back it up again to DVDs and another hard disk. This is kind of a master backup. After 18 month cycle I check the first two set of RAW and if totally happy with the selection I swap the data from the master backup. And boy how many times have I found good ones, and few gems I missed. There are also few files which come to life with better converters and my improved knowledge of digital darkroom. Hope you like it as well.

I had a chance to trek the area around Kochel Lake one afternoon after the meeting was over. I have been to Herzogstand peak many times which is known as 'training ground' for the treks in the Alpine region. It was a sunny day; however I knew the weather forecast and twin lakes around the peak may provide some interesting light as I go up. After about 2 hours of walk I was treated to one of the most beautiful weather changes I have witnessed, and that when the whole village at the foot was enjoying the sunny fall afternoon. It also was my last trip with D80 and the Nikkor kit lens 18-70. I have been very happy with the camera but have decided to upgrade and parted with it.
Equipment: Nikon D80, 18-70mm AFS Nikkor lens.

Better version - here

© Prashant Khapane
UPDATED: www.prashanteju.de

Well, make it four in a row and a double

2010-02-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

Sachin...Sachin !!

500D and ZE 50mm - part II

2010-02-02T14:35:00.001-08:00

PrK_IndiaTrip2009_100103_407, originally uploaded by Prashant Khapane.

I met this man in a temple and found his philosophy very interesting. He belongs to the generation which relied on telegram for instant message, in most cases somebody death. He found it amusing that I got one such instant message which read - having fun, drinking cola on my phone. I think this is the best portrait I made during the trip.

I highly recommend this lens.

PS: Many people have emailed me about the impressions of this lens. I paid little more than the camera body (500D) for it and it is every cent worth it. More to follow in a detailed review.

Better version - here

Finally got time to work on this image. I had accidently turned the mask off on one of the layers and it added to the red/magenta cast to the face/facial features. It should now be ok at this link -

Improved and color cast removed - here

500D and ZE 50mm

2010-02-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

PrK_IndiaTrip2009_100103_380_BW, originally uploaded by Prashant Khapane.

500D, 50mm Carl Zeiss ZE T*, iso400.

I have never been comfortable photographing people. Especially people back home. All the street/people photographers I appreciate and have the fortunate of knowing some of them are very comfortable with it. They are also talented individuals who bring out the character and a story behind.

I finally made up my mind after all these years and started interacting with people, getting to know them.

The old woman here is homeless and outcast from her family. She sweeps the floor of a temple and sleeps in the varanda. While making this image I knew it is meant to BW and little colder. Hope you like it.

PS: Many people have emailed me about the impressions of this lens. I paid little more than the camera body (500D) for it and it is every cent worth it. More to follow in a detailed review.

Better version - here

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Canon rebel 500D - impressions

2010-01-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

My first reaction when I used 500D was - finally they have got a better viewfinder. It is still not as good as D80/D90 but far better than 350D which I owned for quite a sometime. The interface is also better, and live view works quit well. Full HD movies are nice-to-have feature but for moving things it is far from ideal. Image quality is also good enough for largish prints however all the 'high-iso-magic' is anything but that. Anything above iso400 is unacceptable to me from this camera. I still strongly believe Canon has cramped too many pixels on this tiny sensor.

I replaced my 5D which is a full format camera and of course you can not compare the output of this 4 year old great-camera with the latest-APS wonder. iso200 and 400 files from 5D were the cleanest outputs I have even seen. Unless I'm convinced that the 18mp files from 5Dii are as good and clean I will not buy it.

I also bought the new Carl Zeiss ZE 50mm/1.4 Planar. In a sentence - this combo took me back to the days of 500CM with 80mm fun or 139Q Contax+50mm Planar days. It was fun. I will post more impressions and images as and when time permits.

What I learnt in 2009

2010-01-13T02:30:00.000-08:00

That you need more talented and motivated team members than you are to make any project you undertake a success. Paalavee Diwali Ank was a fantastic experience and I thank all the people who helped it make a success.

That social networking is wasting productive time and I should spend minimum time to post useless blog-posts or images on flickr. As is often a case Guy has a very very nice pot on this topic.

That 3D and modern graphics can make a mediocre script into a blockbuster movie - go watch AVATAR. That imdb ranking do always reflect a true rank.

That digital rebel has come a long way. My new 500D + 50mm Carl Zeiss lens rocked. I made very few images in India but it was a nice experience to use the lens. The combi is made in heaven.

That sometimes it takes more than a year to get your article published.

Goodbye Old Friend

2009-12-07T05:35:00.001-08:00

Goodbye Old Friend, originally uploaded by Prashant Khapane.

5D, 35mm Olympus SHIFT lens.
Probably my last post for the year 2009.

I sold my 5D last week and this was the last shot I made with it few days back. What a wonderful camera. I have been thinking of getting a 5Dii, I like everything except the number of megapixels. I may prefer D700 with low mp count. Lets see. Or perhaps the new Pentax 645D.

Better version - http://www.prashanteju.de/PrK_Fall2009_091107_054.html

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Favorite Images and their makers: Bruce Percy

2009-10-14T02:49:00.000-07:00

9. Bruce Percy - The Landscape and the Land

All the images are copyrighted work of Bruce Percy.

Dear friends,
I'm pleased to announce the first installment of an informal chat or interview of sorts with my favorite artists. I know Bruce for past 6-7 years through chat, emails, forums, and his publications. He is one of the few who excels at landscape and people photography. He is also a fine teacher and has golden nuggets hidden in his articles and podcasts. If you have not done it yet, Rush!! Visit his blog, website and podcasts: The Light & the Land

Hi Bruce,
Thanks a lot for your time. Shall we start?

Please tell us about the Artists (not necessarily photographers) who have influenced you? and why?

The biggest influence was music originally. I'm a failed musician so this is really where my 'creative' side originated. I still find that music plays a big part in influencing me and I tend to like listening to people like Joni Mitchel, Lambchop, Classical, Electronic music. Anything that has a twist to it. I often find that music puts me in a place similar to the place that I go to in my head when I'm working on my photography.

For direct influences, Michael Kenna, although a black and white photographer only, has been very influential in how I go about image making. He has an almost religious way of working and it's all about what is within, and not about what is in front of the camera.

Galen Rowell first spurred me on to take pictures of the natural world, but Kenna has allowed me to be brave and depart from reality as and when I choose to do so in my photography.

Any upcoming talent you have become fond of?

I do keep up to date with photographers but there tends to be so many that it's hard to keep track. But I think when you're committed to your own work, you tend to find yourself thinking and working on your own work rather than thinking about someone elses work. I think that's what creates individuality..... I don't feel I do things because I've seen or admired someone elses work. I do what I do because I'm driven to do it.

When I found your website about 5-6 years ago I instantly became a fan of your work and the philosophy behind the work. It was you who convinced me, in a way, that it's not the camera that makes the image but the photographer. Ironically it was also partly your work (there were few others like Guy Tal, Darwin Wiggett etc.) which influenced my decision to purchase medium format equipment and eventually large format. Your thoughts?

It always surprises me how much of an effect or influence I've had on others. I think it's great if someone can inspire you and I've certainly felt at times that I've done that for visitors to my web site. I'm glad you went Medium Format as you were clearly looking to improve your work. But I try to convince people that the gear isn't important, and as much as they all tell me they understand that, they quickly follow it up with asking me what lenses and cameras I use as if it's going to make their images the same as mine !

But I'm pleased I've given you some inspiration.

I know that you used to own 5D and were quite happy for some time at least. However you recently sold most of the EOS lenses and I think also the camera. Would you like to tell us about this decision?

I don't think I was ever really happy with digital. I felt I had to keep giving it a go and thinking that a few months would not be enough time to give it justice. It's rather complex my decisions to get rid of it, but I think the main point was that I felt I'd lost something that was present in my earlier images and I wanted to regain it. I also find it hard to work with too many cameras. Cutting the systems down so you don't have an overlap and know what each are for, is a good thing. I found I was shooting film all the time and knew the digital wouldn't be used. I'm particularly unhappy about the colours and plastic look of digital imagery.

I have always thought of cameras as 'necessary evil - the cables' in a good sound system. Have you ever thought this way?

Yes, a camera is an interface between what you saw and the final image. It should be as transparent and easy to use as possible. Anything that hinders, stops you or takes you out of the creative 'zone' that you might be in is a bad camera. That's why getting to know your gear and working with it for a long time is beneficial. You get so used to it, it becomes second nature. People who buy new lenses and new systems all the time are always going to be impacting their photography and losing creativity because they're unfamiliar with the gear.

Tell us more about your workshops you offer, is it more of 1 to 1 or are there many participants involved? What do you do after a typical photo shoot?

The workshops to date have been in South America. They're really photo safaris where I take people to some special locations for the best times of the day. On a trip like that its hard to give any real solid tuition but everyone goes away happy because they've had an entire week of being immersed in making images. Lots of chatting and sharing thoughts and if we have time, some critiques. I do spend some time with everyone in the field and show them what I do. It's up to you to decide if you like my way of working but I think people find they are more aware of composition, light, etc when they leave.

I know your passion for the light and from what I have gathered via your podcasts that you go beyond the obvious. Any interesting experiences to share about the adventures?

I've fallen into a crevasse in Patagonia once. That was a bit scarey and I knew this all happened because I was determined to get photos in a remote part of the world. There have been a few silly incident for me - often involving cliffs or places I shouldn't have got myself into. I think sometimes it's easy to go too far with photography to the point that you overstep safety at times.

You rarely see photographers doing 'people/portrait' and 'landscape' at the same time. In that sense you are one of the few who manages to come up with fantastic images of people and the land itself. How do you manage this?

I think it's devlopment. I love landscapes and I feel I want to convey a sense of atmosphere in my images of them. But I'm quite a people person too. I love communicating and love different cultures. I think when you become comfortable with photographing landscapes, it's natural to want to graph that know-how onto other areas that you are interested in. I feel if I were just doing landscapes, that it would all be a bit one dimentional for me.

It is difficult, I know, to choose few favorites from a wonderful portfolio of yours. However if you decide to which ones will they be, and why?

When I used to write music, I tended to be very precious of my efforts. It's strange, because my photography has had an impact on a lot of people and as much as I'm passionate about what I do, I find it very easy to distance myself from my work quickly and move on to the next thing.

So I tend to think that the images I like the best are often my most recent images, simply because they're fresh for me.

I had a look at the new portfolio and must congratulate you. I'm looking forward like a kid in the candy store to the images from India.

Thanks!

PS: This entry was published in May 2009, however I managed to delete it from my blog. I have now recreated it. Hope you enjoy it.

100 % ALT

2009-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

on the lines of '100 % Pestenkaka' by PL...am now 100% ALT gear holder.

I now have my old and beaten 5D.
24mm, 28mm, 35mm SHIFT Olympus
35-70/4 T* Carl Zeiss

more later

Master does it again

2009-09-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

life-as-software-engineer

2009-08-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

Funny, sarcastic post by my younger brother -

vishal and his thoughts

One of the finest actor is not with us anymore : Nilu Fule

2009-07-14T04:34:00.001-07:00

Favorite Images and their makers: Guy Tal Part II

2009-07-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

This is the second part of the interview with Guy Tal. First installment can be found here.

Almost every other person has got access to a decent camera and digital darkroom tools. Technology (tools like google map, internet sources) has turned many spots which were relatively unknown until few years back into semi-icon status. You see tons of similar images posted on websites such as flickr. Where do you think this is taking us to? What will happen to the professional photographers who earned their bread and butter via stock images?

Another excellent question and one I can only partially answer. I'm
not a stock photographer myself so will concede there are many others
who can offer a more educated view. My personal sense, seeing the
explosion of Royalty Free imagery and the astounding quality of work
posted on various sites every day, is that stock will never again be
as lucrative as it used to. On the other hand - being financially
successful with photography is only partly attributed to the quality
of the work. Being a good business person is paramount and those who
know how to market and sell will probably continue to thrive but may
need to adapt their business model or add new revenue streams to
remain viable (e.g. workshops, etc.)

As far as unknown locations - that's a double-edged sword. In many
cases sensitive places simply can't sustain high traffic. On the other
hand, if they are unknown they are in danger of being sacrificed for
various extractive interests with no one to protest. I'll avoid the
politics though and say that from an artistic, creative, and spiritual
standpoints I strongly discourage copying other artists' personal
compositions and ideas. I consider it unethical to pass someone else's
image as your own, and by image I mean the concept and visual
arrangement rather than the physical file or film. Just because it's
captured on your memory card doesn't make it your image. The vision
belongs to the artist who conceived it.

I wrote about this quite extensively in the past. Here are a few
relevant articles:

Thoughts on Original Work
Originality and Soul
The First Step Towards Personal Style

In my favorite (and I know it is your favorite too) book 'Mountain Light', Galen Rowell mentions a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Wind, Sand and Stars

Nobody grasped you by the shoulder while there was still time. Now the clay of which you were shaped has dried and hardened, and naught in you will ever awaken the sleeping musician, the poet, the astronomer that possibly inhabited you in the beginning.

. When I read it my friend he responded in German which can be roughly translated as - He was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and interpreted as 'You are either born or not as an artist'. Your take?

I disagree with the interpretation. My view is more in line with the
Confucian principles of Great Leaning -- that every person has the
inherent ability to become great. I have no doubt that much of a
person's future success and potential to realize their talent is
dictated by their upbringing and socioeconomic background but great
art can be found everywhere and cuts across all cultures and tiers of
society. In fact I think at the core of producing great art is the
belief in one's self. I wrote about it in the Third Bullet of my
article Six Silver Bullets.

What I believe Antoine de Saint-Exupéry meant was that people become
set in their ways after the formative childhood period and it becomes
harder and harder to adopt new perspectives and ideas as you get
older. I think one of the most important exercises a person can go
through at any point in their adult life is to take some time to tear
down everything they believe in and that shapes their world views and
question and re-examine it as objectively as they can. It takes a lot
of courage to realize and admit it when your core beliefs (politics,
religion, etc.) no longer align with your perception of reality and to
be willing to rethink your life and be honest with yourself. I had to
do it, and it was a painful experience but looking back I have no
doubt I'm a better person for it.

Who is your hero when it comes to photography and why? Any upcoming talent that you are really become fond of?

There really are too many heroes to list. To me a hero is not just
someone that makes great images but also a great role model in
general. In that sense people like Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Eliot
Porter and others transcend the simple distinction of "great
photographers". They were also great thinkers and activists.

Same for upcoming talents. If you spend any amount of time on
photography forums you will quickly recognize some incredible
photographers, some of whom I'm also proud to have as personal
friends. The ones I consider great are those that not only create
beautiful work but are also passionate about their subject matter and
work to promote their beliefs. I'll stop short of naming individuals
because I'm sure to miss someone.

You recently published two books. How was the experience of working with fellow photographers?
and tell us more about your new book 'Exposures'.

Working with the Mountain Trail team was a wonderful experience.
Everyone brings to the table incredible talent and skill and we were
able to put together a book with a richness and diversity of content
that a single author simply couldn't have. I hope we have more such
projects in the future.

"Exposures" was more of an experiment. I used a print-on-demand
service for it because honestly I didn't know what kind of interest it
would generate. To my surprise I sold quite a few copies, despite the
high cost of print-on-demand publishing, and responses have been very
favorable. It falls into the category I call "vanity books". It's
really about what I'd like to say and hope people will care enough to
be interested. I was very encouraged by the experience and plan to
publish a few more similar titles.

Guy, I would like to thank you very much for your time and wish you all the best.

It is my pleasure. I appreciate the opportunity to share my view and my images!

Best regards,
Prashant

All the images are copyrighted work of Guy Tal.

Favorite images and their makers: Guy Tal

2009-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

All the images are copyrighted work of Guy Tal.

Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to present second installment of the interview with my favorite artists. Today's guest artist is Guy Tal who is my favorite writer+photographer after the late Galen Rowell. Ever since I know him he has been very approachable, always willing to help and inspire. He is one of the most eloquent person I know when it comes to the artistic discussions (check out his blog) and yet someone whose images need no explanation other than a mere title.

Hello Guy, Thank you for your time. It is my pleasure to have you as a guest on my blog.

I always wanted to know how you spent your childhood/adulthood? Were you also art-lover as a kid? Did anything/anyone in particular inspired you to take photography as profession?

I actually didn't think in terms of "art" until much later in life. As
a kid I spent much of my time out in the fields and orchards around my
house. I remember always being fascinated by natural beauty. I read
every guide book I could find, learned the names of every plant and
critter I came across and could spend hours just examining and
watching little things. As I grew up I started venturing farther and
at some point decided to bring a camera along to share some of my
findings. Those first few years didn't yield much in terms of fine art
but I loved the way the camera helped me explore and isolate become
more aware of visual relationships.

Many photographers I know are also Music lovers, themselves play one or the other instrument. What about you?

I wish I did. I love listening to music but never took the time to
learn to play.

The very first question may people ask is which camera/lens do you use. What do you think is the reason for the assumption of creative responsibility transfer?

I think the answer is more complex than it may appear. Coming from
fellow photographers it might mean they are fascinated by gear, which
is understandable, but any serious photographer should be careful not
to get too carried away to a point where gear becomes more important
than making images. I don't mind answering such questions but
generally try to lead the conversation towards images rather than
equipment.

On a more general level, photography as art -- as opposed to a
documentary medium -- is a relatively new concept. It doesn't yet have
the centuries of established notoriety and understanding behind it
that other fine arts do. There is still a great need to educate the
public about the role of the artist in conceiving and making artful
images and in their value as objects in and of themselves, independent
of the process that created them. It's not the tools that make the art
(see: this journal entry).

And that brings me to the a sub question with a newly coined verb - did you photoshop?

Every time.

I have always loved your intimate landscape photographs. How does one define it? How do you approach when you make them?

Great question! I was always attracted to images that capture details
and patterns but never really thought of them as "intimate" until I
was exposed to the work of Eliot Porter. I wouldn't necessarily define
intimate landscapes in tangible or measurable terms. To me an intimate
landscape is one that expresses the photographer's personal
relationship with the subject, rather than a general representation of
a scene. Intimate landscapes always have an order imposed by the
photographer, frame only those elements that are necessary to draw
attention to the specific characteristics and nuances that fascinated
him/her, and are very often fleeting moments or arrangements that can
never be re-created. These qualities, in my opinion, make intimate
landscapes the most personal and expressive form of nature
photography. Any number of people can make wonderful, identical images
of famous scenes by following simple recipes, but an intimate
landscape can usually be associated with one original artist and their
own creative vision.

Any particular images which have brought extreme emotional response from you?

Quite a few. Those are really the ones that make it all worth doing.
They are images I can look at and be immediately transported to that
exact moment in time and experience it all over again. Here are a few
examples, with the associated stories:

Lost

This Side of Heaven

Late Summer Frost

Unfortunately there are a lot more stories still in my mind that need
to be written one of these days.

You often hear comments these days: Oh, I have seen a similar photograph. Can you give any tips about how to impart your own vision on a scene when there are many photographers around you?

You can almost apply the rules of meditation here - start by clearing
your mind of distractions. These may include preconceptions about
subject matter, standard compositions, "best" light etc. If you leave
your home with the mindset of "I'm going to Yosemite to get a shot of
Gates of The Valley at Sunset," you're pretty much guaranteed to miss
everything along the way until you get that one shot. You're also
guaranteed to be deeply disappointed if that one shot doesn't
materialize as you expected. If you leave the preconceptions behind
your mind will be free to see an infinite array of possibilities in
every tree, every flower, every creek and lake, patterns in rocks and
hillsides... you may find so much you may to keep you occupied you may
never even get to your original destination, but more importantly -
you'll be happy and creative and those images will be *yours*. You can
always go back to the well-known spots another day. Don't lock your
mind into what you plan to come back with. Just be in the moment every
moment and keep watching and you'll never be disappointed, even if you
come home with no images at all.

PART II will be published soon...

Making of an image - Walgau Barns!

2009-06-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Making of an image - Walgau Barns!

This was a day trek in the Alps region near Munich. I had not planned to make any images really and during the drive back Teju asked me to have a look at these Barns. After 10-15 minutes of wandering around and using compass I realized that there is no chance of Alpen-glow here. I decided to wait till the last minute for magic light. As it was raining that day once in a while, fog started building up at the higher mountain range. It was just a matter exposing correctly and scanning later. I used 90mm Grandagon lens, at f22 with a slight tilt. I exposed for the brightest portion of the sky and opened up; also used 3 stop GND filer to retain foreground highlights. I was at all not happy with the scan made with epson 4800; it was difficult to get rid of the cyan/blue color cast.

I sent it for drum scanning and the result was stunning. I then cropped 9x12cm slide scanned to 6x12 ratio for printing panorama. It shows why it is important to get professional scan of your best work. YGWYPF applies.

PS: This is part of my earlier newsletter.

Favorite Images and their makers: Mitchell Kanashkevich

2009-06-15T02:27:00.000-07:00

All Images Copyrighted: Mitchell Kanashkevich

I have a soft-corner for the image and the related portfolio (Kusti). After all it showcases, Kolhapur, my home town. This definitely is one of the best 'kusti' image I have ever seen. Well done Mitch !!

I got to know Mitch via Travel Photographers Network few years back. He has a wonderful portfolio of some of the best travel photos made in India and few other asian countries. He has published a very concise how to book to get the best out of your raw files. The methods can also be used when you are using any other raw converter than lightroom.
I highly recommend this book. You can also download a preview of the book at the link below.

http://www.mitchellkphotos.com/ebook.html

माय मराठी

2009-06-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

काही आवडीचे मराठी ब्लॉग !

http://मराथिसहित्य.blogspot.com/
http://अभिजित्बठे.blogspot.com /
http://अटकमटक.blogspot.com/
http://कथापौर्णिमा.blogspot.com/
http://आताल्यासहित्मानूस।blogspot.com/
http://jaswandi.blogspot.com/

Shooting Waterfall/Streams/Rivers

2009-06-04T06:33:00.001-07:00

PrK_BayerischerWald_090501_386, originally uploaded by Prashant Khapane (Updated www.prashanteju.de).

I have mentioned time and again, a good image is made in the field. My comment on the website 'make an image' is often misinterpreted by people as 'making it by sitting in front of the computer'. This image needed all but two minutes and a layer to get the tonality correct. I guess it proves the point. Any image I keep on 'getting right' in photoshop goes to round file eventually. I will stick to 'getting it right in the field'. Thank you.

Many of you have also asked for a tutorial on how to shoot rivers/streams. It will be published soon in a magazine that is why I was holding on it. However, I have decided to make a rough-cut pdf available to those interested and it can be found here.

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Favorite images and their makers: Paul Marcellini

2009-06-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

Image copyright - Paul Marcellini. Added with permission.

Paul writes - Just an elephantscape that happens to be in front of Kilimanjaro. On the first morning, we left the lodge in Amboseli, turned the corner and bam, the scene you see. I couldn't change to a wide angle fast enough. =) Unfortunately, we couldn't stop for long due to traffic of all the guides leaving. I dunno how they also didn't think this was the most amazing thing, but anyways, due to a running diesel a lot weren't sharp but I was blessed with this and another that are.

Well, what an image. And to call it just an elephantscane is unfair.

Webpage update

2009-06-04T01:09:00.001-07:00

I have updated the web page with some new images and rearranged the 'Gallery' section. On the first gallery page is a new work tile which is wrongly titled as Monochrome. I will correct it sometime soon.
I'm also uploading the couple of articles missing soon. This will probably be my last update this year due to many reasons. You can always contact me at the blog or per email for any questions. Your honest critique and suggestions are always welcome.
I'll upload few interviews with friends/artists across the globe as and when possible. I may also add some of the images from 'New Work' to Portfolio section.

May the light be with you.

Prashant.

Junk in Junk out

2009-06-02T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Prashant,

First, you have made nice images/photographs :-) I would like to use the term "make" instead of "take" since your images are mostly processed. I agree, photography is manipulation in that sense.

I have a great interest in photography, but lack the technical aspects (serious about making professional photographs) and I guess the FAQ section on your homepage shows probably how many times you would have faced this question about Camera/Systems from "wanne be" photographers rt?

Well, my intention on writing this mail is my keen interest in knowing the resources, books or any other form of material you might have used to learn about the technical as well as the design aspects of photography.

Hope I have not taken much of your time and would appreaciate if you could give some advice on the learning material part :)

Thanks and Regards,

IMHO, when you are seeking help from somebody you do not show disregard/disrespect for what the person is doing. And that too in the first line of your email; Albeit unintentional. This is clearly an issue of English not being the first language of the writer.. Unfortunately too many people think 'Photoshop will do it'. It appears many people misunderstood my comment on the website about 'making an image'. By that I meant: making it in the field and not by sitting in front of a computer screen. Our lives are getting too virtual already, don't waste it any further.

Yes, photography is manipulation. However it does not mean will fix it later approach works. It is important to understand that the adage 'junk in junk out' holds true. I always recommend people to spend time outdoor. Get up early. Go out when it is raining, when it is cloudy, after the sunset, during the night, and do it for all the four seasons of a year. Watch and learn how mother nature changes it clothes every season. And Please do this without a camera in hand. This will force you to see and understand the subtle differences between the quality of light and how it affects the scene. I have done it for at least 10 years when I was not able to afford a camera and it did not matter to me at that time. I never traveled to exotic locations during the period but was blessed to live an area surrounded by hills with thousands of trees. I loved to watch the sunset and sunrise from the highest place and made sure I was there at least once a week. Heck, to watch the moon rise I also climbed onto a water reservoir which was risky to put it mildly.

Many people ask me - I never see this kind of green or red. The problem is they never tried to notice how mother nature gets rid of the winter-coat and puts on a neon-green spring clothing...gradually changing it to the green that is green to the most folks. And this 'gradual change' is actually so fast that you can miss it easily if you do not know the difference between seeing and watching.

Coming back to the generic answer to such an email - Pick up any digital camera and you are done today. If you want to learn photoshop google is your best friend. This is the easiest part though. You can also purchase books by John Shaw or Scott Kelby and the usual suspects.

Bottomline - The real challenge is to come up with an inspiring composition and an image that resonates.

May the vision be with you.

Soul of a Tree

2009-05-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

Soul of a Tree, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

There is a specific reason for the title. For first two days I thought I was seeing things. How can a tree have a soul.

On day three when conditions were right I made this image. And indeed they have a soul.

I have mentioned time and again, a good image is made in the field. My comment on the website 'make an image' is often misinterpreted by people as 'making it by sitting in front of the computer'. This image needed all but two minutes and a layer to get the tonality correct. I guess it proves the point. Any image I keep on 'getting right' in photoshop goes to round file eventually. I will stick to 'getting it right in the field'. Thank you.

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Darth Vader in Bavarina NP

2009-05-09T06:52:00.001-07:00

HDR_1 (16), originally uploaded by antmachinator.

This image is made by my friend Andrey Tuganov during our trek in the Bayerischerwald. We had plenty of time to kill till the the sunset so I decided to take a nap.

D80,HDR of three exposures I think.

Bayerischer Wald Sunset #1

2009-05-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

This is from our day hike in Bavarian National Park. Mount Lusen is about 1300m high, but one can start at 800-900m and scale the peak easily. I suggested my trekking partner to stay longer (despite heavy wind and colder conditions) as I saw some nice development in this direction. We were the only ones who stayed there till late evening and were treated to a wonderful sunset.

I'm also happy to have looked towards east. Got some nice images as well, will upload sometime soon.

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Bayerischer Wald Panorama

2009-05-08T11:33:00.001-07:00

Bayerischer_Wald_090501_022-027_Pano, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

This image is not for any critique up really. I just wanted to write about Tamron 28-75/2.8 lens and distillation of chaos into an 'ok' composition. We played a 'game' to come up with a decent composition in a place which is as chaotic as it gets. This is a 7 frame stitch, and in a way I cheated as I made a panorama out of it. On its own all the frames are very poor images themselves.

And this also shows how good a 'cheaper' lens can be. I have attached three more 100% crops from center-bottom, right corner and the left top corner.

PS: And yes, I have finally scanned my 617 slides and some stitch-panoramas are also ready. So will be creating new gallery on the website soon.

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Frankenjura - Climbers Paradise

2009-05-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Frankejura

and the man who made it the first time.

Does it matter?

2009-05-05T14:52:00.001-07:00

PrK_BayerischerWald_090501_322, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

My trekking partner asked me, second day in a row, so did you get any good images? -> My answer was nope. I did not even bother to take out the camera. I was getting up at 5:30ish and just roam around the hut we were staying in. For him to get up so early and not making any images was a waste of time.

On the last day the magic happened and I got to see one of the most memorable light shows mother nature can offer. This is by far not the best image and does not represent what I had in my mind. It was technically challenging and also otherwise. I knew this spot from the earlier 'early morning walks along the bank', however it needed me to actually stand in the river for few minutes to get this. Try that in the European national parks.
In the hindsight, would it have mattered had I not got this image? Nope. For me it is not the destination but the journey. Making photographs is merely an excuse to be out there.

Adios,

© Prashant Khapane
www.prashanteju.de

Panasonic Lumix G1...the right choice?

2009-05-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Can you tell me which of the following is made with G1 and 5D+ 28-75mm/2.8 Tamron?

more about this cute little camera coming soon...

The First Step Towards Personal Style

2009-05-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to Guy Tal (albeit virtually) by means of a nature photographers community website back in 2001 or 2002. I always liked his images, however it was his lucid style of writing that attracts me more. I wish I could write so eloquently.
This is his recent post which talks about personal style. Nice read.
The First Step Towards Personal Style

Bayerischer Wald Panorama

2009-05-03T12:09:00.001-07:00

Bayerischer_Wald_090501_278-279_Pano, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

From a 3 day trip to Bavarian National Park. It was an interesting trip with more of a touristy weather. I'm an absolute fan of adventure-fantasy genre (LOTR, Harry Potter), obviously the scene worked as a magnet for me.
5D, 35mm Shift, 2 frames stitch. Strangely, am liking 6x12 format more now as opposed to the 6x17 I was doing earlier. It has more to do with the film back (6x17)which I had for my Shen-Hao, I think.

LOST - The saga ends

2009-04-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

Copyright: ABC

It has been long time I watched any TV series at length. In fact, it is more than 15 years I think. After 'Mahabharat' I never followed any TV series with enthusiasm.

Lost changed that. At first the idea of 'lost on an island' made me to see it. This was at the time when season 4 was already being aired on SKY Network. Later on it was the detailing of the character, the surprise at guessing wrong about how they behave made me follow it. I've just started with the third season and it such great fun.

Highly recommended,

Spring Panorama #1

2009-04-27T13:34:00.001-07:00

Spring Panorama#1, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

After a long while I made an image which I may add to the portfolio. I have test printed it and 10x30 print looks stunning full of details. Will print larger soon.
5D, 35mm Shift, 3-4 frame stitch.

Workflow, PS verus LR

2009-04-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

I'm still refining my sharpening work flow in Lightroom 2.0. I was always quite happy with sharpening in PS CS 2.0 and have not been able to replicate it using LR. Lets see, I may end up using PS as of now for web preparation.

Roll over for the same image prepared in PS CS2.0

Blowup (1966) and Jaane bhi do Yaaro

2009-04-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

I was always intrigued by this 1966 film which am sure is part of the syllabus at FTII. For some reason I never borrowed it from the local library. I finally did and know the reason behind the delay. Somewhere inside I have had an inkling that Jaane bhi do Yaaro was based on it. However am happy to write that the two films are superb on their own and as different as they can be. The only common thread is 'a murder photographed by a photographer'. And JBDY was never known as murder mystery nor is blowup and still both the films are very different and a treat to watch.
JBDY remains one of the best efforts from an inspired Kunden Shah who never managed to reach the heights again. And I will rate it a bit higher than Blowup.

People I appreciate a lot: 2. Narayana Murthy

2009-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

'In India, articulation is mistaken for accomplishment'

The Indian society is a society of ideas. It is a society that has revered talk. In this society, articulation is mistaken for accomplishment. We are quite satisfied with our voice, with our writings. This is not a society that is focussed on execution.

Frankly, the problem is due to our caste system and the dominance of Brahmins in our society for long period. The Brahminical system said my job is to think of the higher worlds. My job is to think of connecting you people with God. I don't want to do anything that has a relationship with the real world.

Now that is a problem that has played havoc with the Indian culture. So, here in this culture, if you do anything with your hands, it is considered less honourable that anything to do with your brain.

Here everybody wants to be an engineer, nobody wants to be a technician. So when a society does not value implementation, execution, what happens is you create more and more reports and nothing gets done.

For example, (Reliance Industries Chairman) Mr Mukesh Ambani and I gave two reports on how to improve the higher education system: one to (then prime minister) Mr Vajpayee and one to Dr Manmohan Singh.

Second, there has been the Knowledge Commission. Nothing has happened. Third, in 1998 I was a member of the IT Task Force -- which was headed by Mr Jaswant Singh -- and that task force submitted its report somewhere in 1999 0r 2000.

Nine years and I don't think even one suggestion has been implemented. And we made 108 suggestions! So that is why I am not a big fan of ideas in India.

My brother-in-law is a famous professor of physics at Caltech and he tells me it is very easy to come out with an idea. But to validate that idea he and his doctoral students will have to work hard for six months, one year... sometimes two years. That takes 20 hours of work each day for two years. So it is important to come out with new ideas, but it is even more important to execute them.

We are not a nation of doers; we are a nation which believes that our articulation is our accomplishment.

Narayana Murthy speaking to Shishir Bhate.

Importance of color profiles

2009-04-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned it before and now writing this small article to explain it. Actually, am just planning to put up some images to prove the point. As the proverb goes - proof is in the pudding after all. For detailed technical explanation (instead of repeating it here, an whats the point Eric is the right person for this job) check out Eric Chans website, a computer scientist at Adobe.

Fast forward to 2008/9, Adobe now has the so called DNG profile editor which is much efficient at generating the profiles. The earlier photoshop scripts were good but not so easy to understand or follow.

If you are interested in profiles for Nikon D40, D80, D90, EOS 350D, 400D, 450D, 5D, Powershot G9 and G10 just drop me an email. I request a donation of any size to my paypal account in exchange.

Color Profiles for Your Camera

Favorite images and their makers: Joseph Holmes

2009-04-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

4. Joseph Holmes - The man who understands color

Copyright: Joseph Holmes

It is very difficult to choose one image from his fantabulous portfolio. However this remains my absolute favorite. Go visit his website and make sure you read and grasp all the information about color theory and chroma variant sets.

Ever since I switched from Captture 1 to to Lightroom as my favored raw processor I was not able to use his color spaces for my digital darkroom work. Mr. Holmes was kind enough to write back and also allow me to publish his email here. Hope it helps many others who are using his color spaces and variant sets.

Dear Prashant,

Thank you for writing. After reading your letter, I decided to investigate what Lightroom 2 could do with imported TIFF or PSD files (as opposed to RAW files), and I was very pleased to discover that now one can easily "export" files from Lightroom to any profile of your choosing! And that this is true whether the original file was a RAW file or a PSD or a TIFF.

In the Export dialog, there is a Color Space pop-up menu. In this menu you can choose the usual Adobe RGB working space AND you can choose "Other".

When you select Other, Adobe first then gathers all the profiles on your system together so they can draw a list of the non-display profiles (e.g. printer profiles), but then they show that list AND a checkbox to "include display profiles" (in the list). Check that checkbox, because RGB working spaces are fundamentally display profiles.

Once you do that, then ALL of the profiles on your system will show. Then go down the list (mine is very long, many hundreds of profiles, yours will be much shorter no doubt), and check the ones that you would like to have ready access to. Then close the dialog and now those checked ones (e.g. Chrome Space 100, DCam 3, etc.) will appear in the short list for your easy use.

Then go ahead with the Export process.

I still do not know whether Lightroom always uses (I think it does) an internal RGB working space for its calculations which is a gamma 1.0 form of ProPhoto RGB. As long as the data are in 16-bit per channel form, that will work out just fine for any file that's in any of my spaces, with the exception of files in DCam 5, which could clip, but that's an unlikely scenario.

If Adobe does use ProPhoto RGB in Gamma 1.0 form for all of its internal calculations, instead of allowing the file to remain in the space it was in when imported, and if the file is 8-bits per channel, that could result in noticeable degradation from quantization error, but they could also be converting the file up to 16-bits per channel prior to beginning processing, and that could prevent much of the damage perhaps. In some instances this maneuver does protect against harm and off the top of my head I suspect that the conversion into ProPhoto G1.0 and back would be such a case. But I am only guessing this morning about that!

I see that the only related Lightroom Preference settings pertain to what they call "External Editing" settings. And that they basically only allow you to select ProPhoto RGB and 16-bits per channel (if you want good results with a universal setting, that is, as opposed to 16-bits and DCam 3, etc.). I must assume by the presence of this dialog that they have a special linked arrangement with Photoshop, beyond what "Exporting" does. I don't know how this is implemented, however. As you can tell, I have not yet had the time to explore Lightroom and figure out its secrets. Nevertheless, the Export options are promising and at the very least make it easy to handle the conversions, so you don't have to do them later, by hand in Photoshop, after Exporting from LR, nor do you have to do any conversion to enter Lightroom (though they may do one for you and not tell you).

So I think you're fine, certainly if your files are in 48-bit there is no problem with this workflow. If they are in 24-bit, further experimentation, designed to search for quantization damage, would be required in order to know what Lightroom is doing internally when you open a file (are they converting to an internal RGB working space or not?). If they are not, then they would likewise not need to convert on Export, assuming you choose for export the same space that your file was in.

Which reminds me: I see that the Adobe dialog for "Other" does not cause the chroma variants to be listed. So, if your image in Photoshop is in a Chroma Variant space, you should assign the master space for that variant (such as Chrome Space 100 or DCam 3), then go into Lightroom for editing, then come back out to that same space, then re-assign the same chroma variant (or any other that you may now find optimal, in case you have changed the image's appearance while in Lightroom.

I hope that does the trick for you.

Thanks again,

Joe Holmes

Kensington, California

Using Holmes color spaces in Lightroom,
Using Holmes RGB working spaces in Lightroom,
Using other RGB working spaces with Lightroom

Favorite images and their makers: Chris Rainier

2009-04-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

3. Chris Rainier - Doing the impossible

Nuns Exiting Shrine. Copyright: Chris Rainier

As the title suggest Chris Rainier did the impossible. He was assistant to the master himself, Ansel Adams and still managed to have his own distinct style of work. I first got to know about him in 2001 while reading outdoor photographer issue with the feature 'master photographers of last 100 years'.
more later....

Favorite images and their makers: Dorothea Lange

2009-04-22T04:47:00.001-07:00

2. Dorothea Lange - Photojournalist from depression era

I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it. Dorothea Lange

I think it tells everything about the image.

Hasselblad - From the Moon to surviving Disruptive Innovation

2009-04-21T01:53:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Hasselblad - From the Moon to surviving Disruptive Innovation

View more presentations from Chris Sandström.

Berchetsgaden National Park & Salzburg: Easter 2009

2009-04-20T02:29:00.000-07:00

Photographie Magazine Issue 4/2009

2009-04-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Udo's award winning image of Teju at various competitions is published widely. This is in Photographie magazine, issue 4/2009. All the winning images from past few years at Emscherbruch-Pokal 2007 are published in the issue.

Lumos II

2009-04-06T13:24:00.001-07:00

PrK_TanitaMaster_080519_2, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

This is a better image for the earlier post - Lumos

Weekend Assignment

2009-04-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

PrK_ATS_090404_086, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

This is my good friend and fellow photographer Andrey Tuganov (Small detail: PhD in Mathematics at the age of 22). It was fun trying different experiments. I've developed my Kodak Tmax today and will be scanning soon...This is done with 5D, 85mm USM, And few simple lights, More at Flickr - click on the image.

People I appreciate a lot: 1.The one and only

2009-03-31T00:40:00.001-07:00

Die härteste Prüfung der Welt

2009-03-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

The toughest exam in the world !!

another assignment

2009-03-26T04:43:00.001-07:00

was fun to shoot, could not process as I was not keeping well. This one printed quite well. 10 year old Marion aspires to be a model one day.

Favorite images and their makers

2009-03-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

1. Robert Lebeck - charmanter Dieb des Augenblicks

I just happened to see this program on Lebeck and it was one of the best I have even seen. Never was a photographer and his vision was brought out so well in a documentary. If you get a chance and understand German or French, go ahead and see it. And even if you don't.

As the article says he was a 'photojournalist who could wait'. One of my favorite images by Lebeck is that of Alfred Hitchcock. It shows both the artiste at their very best.

His website is also one of the best made representing the work of master photographers. I wish it was the case with the other masters. Go visit and enjoy his fantastic work.

Robert Lebeck Website

While my guitar gently weeps

2009-03-23T11:15:00.001-07:00

PrK_Studio_090323_045-2, originally uploaded by prashant_khapane.

...and that is because I was playing it.

Ye, that is me. After a gap of about four years I took my guitar out. I was not even able to play a simple chord or read notes. It took some effort to get the light right but this is the version am happy with.

all time favorite movies

2009-03-17T11:36:00.001-07:00

La Vita è Bella(Life is Beautiful) Italian

The movie revolves around one the most important drive/force of life, 'hope'. Roberto Benigni is one of finest actors from Italy. He like few 'chosen' happens to excel in many fields including writing and direction. This story of Guido, Dora (played by his real wife, Nicoletta Braschi) and Giosue makes you believe that Life indeed is beautiful.

• Anand(Happiness) Hindi

This is perhaps the best movie by director Hrishikesh Mukharjee. It is a story of a protagonist who despite knowing that he is going to die soon tries to make everybody else happy.

• Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron! Hindi

The darkest of all movies ever made in India. You just can not fault this movie. And IMO, this could almost work as a silent movie.

• Kleider Machen Leute German

This is one of the best of Heinz Rühmann film. When I saw his first film my German was poor but I still enjoyed it as Die Feuerzangenbowle is seen on special occasions and the atmosphere is great. The movie is about a common man, a tailor who is mistaken as a 'big' shot. What follows is a special Rühmann performance. At times he appears to be influenced by Charlie Chaplin but he has his own charm.

• STAR WARS USA

This simply is one of the best story told. I still remember how I used to get irritated when my friends discussed about these kind of 'Sci-fi's on television. Well, I had not seen the original. The reason I like it so much is the vision the man behind the film had. It could easily have been rejected. But the greatest ability of George Lucas is that he can tell a story well. And what a story it is. I somtimes still do not believe that the action scenes are from a 70/80s films. Thank you Mr. Lucas for telling us this wonderful tale.

• Rear Window USA

This is the best of Hitchcock's all movies IMO. The protagonist is bound to wheelchair due to an accident and the story that unfolds glues you to yours.

• Indiana Jones USA

Talk of entertainment and this should top the list. Adventure, mystery, drama, action - you name it this has it.

More to come soon ...

April...come she will

2009-03-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

The first time I got to know about the American singer-songwriter duo Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, I instantly became their fan and got the cds. I must thank my department head and the best friend at DLR, Dr. Wolf Krüger for that who introduced me to their songs. I also knew about the landmark film The Graduate, however was not ready for the movie. After 10 years of stay in Europe I finally saw the movie and can only recommend it. All the three main characters of the movie, Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson), Dustin Hoffman as Ben and Katharine Ross as, you guessed it Ms.Robinson have done a fantastic job. I absolutely loved the way Katherine Ross looks in the movie, so innocent and that radiant glow on her face made her the perfect teenager as if made for this movie. Only other actress I can think of is Dimple in Bobby who was born to be. The cinematography is excellent, camera work path breaking, it is for not for no reason it is in at the 7th position of AFI list. The real star(s) of the film though are the songs of Simon and Garfunkel.

Fantastic movie.

Recommended only if you ready. It took me more than 15 years to actually watch the movie after getting to know about it, the reason simply being I did not want to ruin the experience by the prejudices.

And here one of my favorite songs, the first two lines I can very much identify with as of now.

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again

June, she´ll change her tune,
In restless walks she´ll prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I´ll remember.
A love once new has now grown old.

The slowed instincts, the fragile body be damned.

2009-03-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Thank you !!

It was worth getting up at 2AM.

What is OTWTW?

2009-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

quite simply an acronym for OnTheWayToWork.

So it is actually a category for images I made on my way to work. Like millions more on this blue planet am a common soul who does a day job to earn his bread and butter. However, like few hundred of them I try to make the best of whatever free time I might get. Of course, each day is not the same and so the additions to this category are not a kind of 'a shot a day' type; rather a shot a week or sometimes month.

Images are -
here

Website update

2009-03-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

and lot of new articles are being written as of now.

http://www.prashanteju.de

cheers,

Ironic or?

2009-03-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

That the personal items of Mahatma Gandhi who did many anti-liquor protests and fought against it have been bought in an auction by a liquor baron.

S P O T

2009-03-04T02:41:00.001-08:00

What a fantastic equipment

http://www.findmespot.com/en/
It should be must for all the adventure sport persons, great when you are in a spot of bother.

Walchensee (Lake Walchen)

2009-03-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

From weekend trip. Last image - thanks to my friend Andrey.

On the way to work : Photographs made while going to work.

2009-02-25T04:24:00.000-08:00

Sampooran Singh Gulzar...for Oscars !!

2009-02-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Nobody seems to notice this but Gulzar is also part of the nominees for this years Oscars. For original song he is nominated along with Rahaman. Speaking of Rahman, what a year this man had. Starting from Jodha-Akabar to the crescendo that will culminate on Sunday night on the podium he is on a roll. And I sincerely hope it does not stop there.

ps: Although I do not think Indian film industry needs an Oscar for recognition, it no doubt is the most awaited award night.

Directors...and winter

2009-02-19T01:04:00.000-08:00

I have recently started an exercise, I have started watching all (well, that I can get/borrow) the movies of a director.

Earlier I used to watch the series and compare how different directors dealt with the theme and its continuation. The most fascinating was 'Aliens'. In the first installment Ridley Scott, one of the most brilliant directors all time, introduced us to this world. It was difficult to imagine that anybody will better that. However in 1986 James Cameron did just that. I have lost count of how many times I've watched these two on a DVD. When I asked my mother-in-law to watch these, she liked them so much that she got herself a DVD.

Coming back to the original topic. And the fella in line now is Sam Raimi. I got to know this name around 1988 when watching 'Evil Dead II' on a video cassette was a rage. Our gang of friends challenged each other to 'watch it alone'. No doubt the director is still connected to this ultimate gore classic. And once in a while he manages to surprise us all. Spider Man (I and II I mean, Part3 was, umm, well...poor) was such a film, a simple plan was even better.

And now coming to the second part of the title of this post. Winter. It is absolutely fantastic winter this year. There is at least 10inches of snow everywhere in and around Munich. And two movies which I enjoy the most during winter are - A simple Plan, Fargo (which is imo the best movie made by Coen brothers who are my all time favorite writer-directors). and I also enjoy Cliff hange r. The last one is quite a mismatch but for the love of colorado, pikes peak, and climbing in general...and yes the memories of 'Uma Chitramandir - Kolhapur'...I've included it here.

Enjoy,

Quotes from the favorite books -

2009-01-30T00:39:00.000-08:00

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Leo Tolstoy (Анна Каренина)

"Why did you go to the police? Why didn't you come to me first?" - The Godfather (Mario Puzo)

"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. " - The Fellowship of the Ring (JRR Tolkien)

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." ~Steven Kloves (screenplay), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (JKRowling)

Happy New Year !!

2009-01-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year !!

Memento it ain't

2008-12-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

Amir Khan starrer Ghajini that is. While Memento is one of the best by Christopher Nolan (this from a man at the helm of The dark knight, The Prestige, Batman begins, and Insomnia) and one of the all time best thrillers, Ghajini is a 'masala' film which does not pretent to be otherwise. And that is good in a way. And once in a while I love to see such films. Didn't we all love the extremely crappy and jingoistic Independence Day?

Go spend your 100bucks and enjoy this movie !!

When an image is worth thousand words !!

2008-12-17T01:34:00.000-08:00

2008-12-08T12:09:00.000-08:00

new work

2008-11-11T04:10:00.000-08:00

is here

Good Read

2008-11-05T05:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne081108cover_story.asp

Footnote -

2008-10-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

I always think of ARR music as an old wine. It takes time and couple of re-listening to really appreciate it. I'm liking it more and more. Yuvraaj music rocks, though I will still not put it up there with let's say Akabra-Jodha.

Déjà vu

2008-10-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got the audio cd of Yuvraaj. The first song on the cd was 'tu hi to Meri dost hai'...after just reading the text I said to myself - Oh, No. Exact reaction, some 10 years back when I first heard 'Jungle me Koyal Boli'. To me the lyrics are of paramount importance, I can easily trash 'good to listen' song if the lyrics isn't upto the mark. I listened to this one from Yuvraaj and it did not click. However as is often a case, I always try to give a second hearing to ARR's songs. And today morning it sounded completely different. Same as that of 'Jungle me Koyal Boli'.Overall, it is a good album. I would not rank it with the 'Akbar Jodha' or 'Lagaan', or 'Roja' but good enough. Recommended.

12000 and counting

2008-10-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

1200

and

counting

no battery? So what?

2008-10-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

I try to take a morning walk everyday and have my camera with me. Yesterday evening I took out the batteries to recharge and completely forgot about it. September/October is a fantastic time for landscape photography (my favorite season-moody, foggy, different colors) here in germany. Today however, I just roamed around in the forest and pretended my camera is working whenever I felt like making an image. It was really different and liberating. No worries about whether I've nailed it, just plain happiness of making an image.

Let the games begin

2008-10-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/373064.html

One fine read

2008-10-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

If you happen to know cricket that is.http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/372146.html

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2008-07-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

It ain't the Godfather

2008-07-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

as the best film ever (may be for a shorter time). I've seen this happen the first time ever.A big WOW and kudos to Mr.Nolan.http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0468569

Jo jita wohi Superstar?

2008-07-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

That the reality shows are anything but is a given. However I was following this one for one person - Abhijit Sawant. The guy is a superb singer and very humble, down to earth fella. Rahul vaidya is not a bad singer but not this good. I think the third contestant, Harshit, said it well - "I will never take part in the reality shows even if somebody is ready to pay me 50Lakhs".

Jubiläumskonzert - 40 Jahre Musikschule Germering

2008-07-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

It was a nice concert and we had great fun. Highlight of the event was the Schwabenstreiche (Adolf Götz) played by Akkordeonorchester Unterpfaffenhofen. This was the 5th musical experience of the year for us which started with Der Nussknacker and we are eagerly waiting for Christmas to see Schwanensee (Swanlake).

look who is talking

2008-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4286365.ece

Milan : Few images

2008-07-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Color cast while scanning film

2008-07-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

Good friend Anand Desai sent me couple of his images recently. More details here -http://www.prashanteju.de/Color_Cast.html

digital v/s film?

2008-07-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

that digital is as good or better than 35mm is a given now. However medium format and larger film still rocks. It is particularly true of portrait-photography (more so BW). To keep it simple for the same angle of view a classic portrait in MF is 150mm, equivalent 85mm in small format does not have the similar depth of field, then there is also an issue of tonality...and shadow details.

Munich from above

2008-06-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

It is my unfulfilled dream to make a flying license (Flugschein). Chance came upon me twice, however I did not grab it with both hands. These images are from one of the lessons and from test-flights for DLR. These are very old negatives so pardon the scan quality.

Firefox 3.0

2008-06-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

Well, good news for photographers who display their work by means of a website.

Type about:config in Firefox 3's address bar and press Return. The configuration settings will appear.
In the Filter field, type gfx. The list of settings will shorten to show just those related to graphics, ie gfx.
If the Value for gfx.color_management.enabled is False, double-click anywhere on that line to toggle the setting to True.
Quit and relaunch Firefox 3 and you're in business. You can confirm that colour management is working by viewing the photos on this page. If all four quadrants of the first photo are a seamless match, then colour management in your copy of Firefox is up and running.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-rc.html

Backup strategy for the poor/budget photographers

2008-06-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I've lost all my raw files from my Paris trip in 2006. I only (and by chance) have 16bit tiffs of the best rated images and 8bit psds (I only had Photoshop 7 at the time) of about 60% of the tiffs. This was my 4th trip to the city and my most productive in terms of time invested and number of images made.Bottomline - back up !!!

On the road I take many memory cards with me. I plan to purchase 4gb cards so that backing them on a dvd gets easier. But then putting those many eggs (I mean photos) on one card is risky so I stick to 1 or 2gb cards. I safely store these cards. They are virtually indestructible and with Photorescue almost any problem can be solved. You can carry heavy P5000 or something similar but we are talking about people on budget.
At home download all the images to your pc/mac, make a back-up copy on a DVD (make sure it is written correctly, this is how I lost my Paris files). And make a copy on an external hard drive. And then only re-format the card.
If possible add another drive and keep it in your office or somewhere else. You can use sync-toy or something similar to sync the data. Always make sure it is done correctly.
be happy.

Camera Profiles #2

2008-06-13T01:10:00.000-07:00

Here is one example where you can see the effect of correct camera profile.Shot with D80, 18-70/3.5-4.5 at 70mm, iso 100. Both files have got the same raw adjustments except the camera profile.

Camera Profiles

2008-06-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

It is well known that the rendition of warm colors lack certain 'pop' when you use digital camera with default profiles. I have recently created profiles for digital cameras and will be offering them for a donation of 5Euro/camera profiles. Two profiles will be sent to you as a pdf file which you will need to input in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom, one for outdoor use and another for images made with studio strobes.As of now am offering profiles for the following cameras -Nikon D80, Canon Powershot G9 and G7, Canon EOS 350D and 400D.I may add Nikon D300, EOS 5D profiles later. More details soon.

Maestro at his best

2008-05-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is actually a long due post. And we are talking about AR Rahman & Sachin Tendulkar.The former has given one of his best albums this year in Jodha-Akabar. And with that confirmed my belief that he is the best composer Indian film industry ever had. Till now it was impossible to think that anybody else will take RD Burman's place (imo). The fact that ARR has never (except may be just a couple of songs in his early days) copied anybody else's work has given him an edge in my coming to this conclusion.And there was SRT again, on perhaps his last tour down under, producing those two gems in the finals. Thank you for making it worth staying awake till early morning.And then there is Abhijit Sawant who was the most deserving candidate to be the first Indian Idol then, and if he keeps on singing like this perhaps also will be the 'super-star'. I never thought anybody will better Rahman when singing what is arguably his best composition ever and perhaps the composition I ever heard (and yes listening to it does make you feel you are near to the God). He isn't the Maestro yet but not far away.Bravo!!! Keep it up Abhijit.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B9BdjGUrTg&hl=en]

Some fine Nikkor lenses

2008-05-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

When I switched to Nikon in 2006 the first lens I tried was 85mm/1.8D, a classic portrait lens borrowed from Udo. I was in love with the lens and wanted to buy it. And I was using some fine medium format lenses before that (I still do). I recently bought 85mm, and can only recommend it. My current favorite set is 24mm (for street), 50mm+85mm for portrait sessions. Next in the list of 'want to buy' are 35mm/2.0 and 24mm/3.5 PCE (For this one I really have to wait for Santa...may be till 2015).

Lumos

2008-05-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

My first semi-commercial* shoot was a great fun. Tanita is a big fan of Harry potter and Tomb Raider, like me. After some portraits we set on to do some 'fun' images that the 14 year old enjoyed the most. This is the one I liked the most.I mostly used D80, 85mmCZ, and couple of flashes for the shoot. Couple of images were also made using medium format square camera and black and white film.

*Semi - because there was no pressure, dead-lines, or any goal as such. And I know the family for some time now, Commercial - 'coz I earned a penny or two (actually a euro cent or two).

Cycle-rickshaw

2008-05-15T00:26:00.000-07:00

When I went to Kanpur the thing which saddened me the most was to see 'cycle rickshaw' drivers. It is a lot of hard work driving these in a city like Kanpur where temperature reaches 45C in summer (that is 113K) and humidity almost does not exist.I was appalled to see them in Munich too. However I soon learned that many of them do it for different purposes. I asked one young girl, and she replied - I drink too much bier, eat a lot during weekdays and need to get rid of those calories. This is my 'paying-me-gym'. Another fellow told me he does it for fun on the weekends, it is his second job and takes care of his expenses for the weekend. I'm yet to meet somebody who is doing it as his/her day job.These two were actually planning to go for a soccer game the same evening and were happy that they had 'gut-business' day.

Thanks to Udo

2008-05-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

from whom I learnt the nuts-n-bolts of black and white dark-room and also studio photography. His work is oft published in German/international magazines. He also won first place at "Emscherbruch-Pokal-2007" for one of the portrait of Teju.Udo Rzadkowski

Canon powershot G9

2008-05-13T01:24:00.000-07:00

In the last few months some exciting cameras have been announced. Nikon announced D300/D3 which seems to leading the race for DSLRs. They also announced P5100, which is a nice point and shoot. Canon has always been very good with their powershot series. They corrected the mistake of not including raw format in the earlier version, Enter G9 and Viola - we got a nice point and shoot which is a very capable camera.What it is -A wonderful point and shoot which can capture images in raw format. The thumb-dial at the right place is one fine touch. Many people fail to see the point in it. Auto-iso selection is also great when light level is falling. Image stabilization, a nice zoom range makes it a really fine camera to use. If you add accessories from Lensmate, namely grip and the adapter for filter, makes the camera more fun to use and handling improves dramatically. Canon should stop manufacturing those cheap adapters and start working with these fellows. Overall it is a fine travel-photography-camera capable of producing fine images. It is even better for street photography. It brought the enjoyment factor back. I definitely do not want to carry a bigger camera like D80 and zoom lens every time while roaming around in the city.What it is not - Unfortunately the sensor size is very small for these many pixels. I thought and still think my D80 as a noisy camera (above ISO200). And boy G9 is noisier still. Even at ISO80 the noise is there to see. For web-images and prints up to certain sizes (A4) it is ok though. If anybody is trying to tell you that it is difficult to see the difference between the images from G9 and let's say D80 (or 40D etc.) then s/he is on a payroll from Canon or has never really seen files from DSLRs. While it is a fine a camera, a replacement for a DSLR it is not.What it could have been - What I'm really looking forward to is a PS digital camera which is a blend of G9 and another fine camera DP1 from Sigma. I really wish canon takes a cue from Sigma and launches G10 with 4/3rd sensor (at least, or better yet an APS), get rid of all those idiot modes and keep only A,S,M. Or Sigma launches the DP2 or 3 (whatever) with a Tri-Elmar type of lens with manual controls. I don't really care if it costs as much as mid-range DSLRs...but please.****************************************Any other thoughts will be added/updated.

New photographs

2008-05-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

in our online gallery of 'Black and White Photographs of Munich' are now posted. The webpage is being updated and some links may not work as yet.