A Mechanical engineer by profession but destined to be an even better photographer. Meet Dinesh Maneer from the state of Karnataka, India. Dinesh had always been an ardent traveller and his love to get exposed to various cultures and interesting traditions, people their lifestyles are getting reflected onto his photographs. Accepting to the tag of travel photographer, Dinesh speaks and reveals many interesting facts about being a travel photographer, the facets he developed over the years, his journey and much more.
Speaking about his photographs, there is every bit of India in them, vibrant colors and culture rich compositions enacting the flavor of Incredible India. Let us listen to Dinesh Maneer, as he starts to answer some of the interesting questions and treats us with his fabulous photographs.
Few words about Dinesh?
I am a mechanical engineer born and finished school at Kumta a small town of Karnataka state. Now residing in Bangalore with my family, working in a Private Ltd company. Now photography and blogging is a serious hobby.
How did Photography happen to you?
I think it was a long process before I found my grip after 2010. I used to paint till my college days. I used to borrow film cameras, digital point and shoots from friends to take some pictures that I wanted after I focused more on “build-your-career” phase. I got a Olympus digital point and shoot as my wedding gift in 2007 which triggered my passion for photography. In end of 2009 I bought my first DSLR camera which explored a new world and new possibilities to revoke my artistic instinct through photography.
What do you strive to shoot and how do you keep yourself motivated all the time?
This is a tough question to me as I just started the journey and still a long way to go. But at this point my main interestsare nature and culture. In my photographs I attempt to capture the relationships between human culture and nature, changes , fights, love-hate bonds, drama and fun but sometime I endup in capturing in just pure nature or just pure culture or just pure change. In any situation for me the visual pleasure is more of an importance than just the impact or just the story in the picture. I would love to have all these three elements strong in my picture but as I said still a long way to go.
Then I love to capture wonderful people around me. I love to meet them, chat with them and get lost in their stories before making some portraits. I am write now doing series of portrait projects which might need another two years to complete. I am also documenting the cultural happenings, changes, dying traditions especially in Karnataka.
Looking at your portfolio, instantly pulls up your grand desire for travel photography. Few words on it?
I really do not want to call myself as travel photographer but I cant think off any other tag in mind so I will accept. I became a traveler when I left my home at the age of 16 for higher studies. I stayed in many places, different situations which taught me enjoy traveling a lot. Now I have a weapon to record my experiences, that is my camera. Sometime I travel to make photos and sometimes I capture photos while traveling. I think I will be a traveler until I return to my village in Kumta ! But seriously I want to travel to every corner in my country and capture everything the way I see and enjoy. But again there are these factors time, work, family, money whichalways come in way.
According to Dinesh, what would you call as the essentials of being a travel photographer?
First you have to enjoy traveling. Then you should have curiosity for everything in the new place. There are other things but the last thing I want to discuss is being respectful by heart for the people, culture and nature. Also travel photographer should develop the ability to adapt and appreciate any hostile situation. A true traveler should be ready to sleep on roadside , walk for miles and eat anything that is available. But being respectful will not put you in such situations which is out of my personal experience. With these abilities one can observe amazing things and will be able to capture in different way.
Your Inspiration?
Many. The biggest inspiration are nature and culture as I said earlier. But when expressing them through the photography I am inspired and influenced by the works of painting greats, photography greats, current generation photographers whom I admire, fellow photographers, artists list goes on. Not to forget the internet which made this possible otherwise it would have been hard to see their works.
Your gear and processing techniques if you wish to share with our readers?
I started with Canon 1000d and 18-55 kit lens for the first two years but now I own Canon 6d very recently with one standard zoom 17-40mm L lens and a 50mm prime lens. I keep my photos very simple in nature and do only basic curves, colors improvement , exposurebalancing etc only.
Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity with 121clicks.com. Any final words of advice or thought about photography to our readers and your fans?
Thank you for asking wonderful questions which helped me to express myself. Assuming this answer is read by beginners I would like say “Be patient, keep practicing and keep learning”. Thank you.
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You can find Dinesh Maneer on the Web :
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted Dinesh Maneer. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
