Interview with Amazing Photographer

Hello All ,

I would like to continue our journey of an interview with various personalities from different domains. And here it goes with Dr. Adwait Aphale the amazing wildlife photographer. I am sharing the interview excerpt. Kindly visit the www.wildlifestorties.in and www.adwaitaaphale.com.

Can you brief about the journey towards Photography domain from student to this stage?

My affair with the camera started at a very young age when I read a book in our library named "Camera “. Looking at my interest level in reading a pretty technical book on the camera my father must have sensed something and gifted me a Film SLR camera Vivitar3000S in 1994. With this "the affair" turned into serious love making me work on complete manual mode and understand the fundamentals of photography thoroughly.
I started experimenting with landscapes , protraits in natural light trying to catch candid moments. Looking at the images made by me during this journey my father took me to meet a great photographer of kolhapur Mr Chandrkant Patil sir who just looked at the images and advised my father "Either to upgrade my camera body with prime lens or to take out the camera from my hand “ Your child is spoilt Mr Aphale he needs better lenses , he has that EYE to narrate a story out of an image “. I was happy with this remark but destiny had some other plans . Later I went to pursue my degree course in dental surgery but the love for my camera kept on growing.
The love converted into a complete relationship when I bought an Olympus E 410 and started doing serious photography work with portraits , landscapes , & macro. Some of my work was published in Daily Sakal , Dental practise magazine during that time. My work is also published in a caleder form since 2013 featuring different themes like cityscapes , macro, nature , birds , Greater Flamingos and Mammals. I have also contributed articles on Intraoral photography in journals like Aesthetic Expression. Conducted courses and workshops on dental photography at various conferences.
Won awards at national level photography competitions Of dental practise magazine , FONA, Better photography . Selective work was exhibited in prestigious exibitions of KVIFF, FONA, Srushti exhibition Nagpur , TGIS Bangalore. Recently i have won the prestigious award of Nature best asia  in wild life category . The winning image has been displayed at the  tokyo and natural history museum exhibition .
Currenly my focus is completely on wildlife photography and Bird photography and also digital painting. Studying the behaviour patterns of these animals and spreading the educative information is the motto of my New venture called Wildlifestories.
Currently working with Nikon Gears , photography has now become an integral part of my life and gives me peace of mind and acts as a perfect stress buster , and a way of Meditation.






Do you believe in spirituality? If yes then how does it help in real day to day life? Do you any plans to reflect this in your hobby?


Yes i do believe in spirituality , according to me our meaning of existence lies in spiritually . Directing your spirits in right way to  achieve maximum stability in body and mind . It helps me to keep myself focused on my work , my passion , and helps to understand “ MYSELF “ in better way everyday . Spirituality is not necessarily means doing yoga or certain kinds of Kriyas to keep your mind fit . It means making  each molecule of your body and mind charged with positive energy making it absolute productive and refreshing . Its a state of wellbeing ness one can experience when you are completely merged with whatever you do and still mentally don’t feel tiresome . and thats what i experience when i go on photoshoots in wildlife . Wildlife photography needs a specific level of concentration and focussed attitude which can enable you to capture the subject with “its mind in it “ .. When you feel the attitude of a tiger or an eagle or any wild animal by looking at its image then thats the success of the image .. You get connected with it .. for that connection to happen you first needs to get connected with yourself and then to the animal / subject being photographed . So for me i thing i practice spiritually through my passion which has gone beyond the levels of hobbyist photographer .

How do you find this domain as different than others, which things keep you inspiring?

Wildlife photography is different than any other jonner of photography as it lacks the predictability and that what excites me and keeps inspiring . We the human being consider ourselves as the most developed organisms on the earth and still we lack the power to predictably predict the nature and its behaviour . This feeling gives feeling of humble ness . Although the behaviour aspects of the animals are predictable in certain way many times but not all the time . When i go on wildlife tours i have certain sets of images in my mind which i had pre visualised in definite set up ..but many times it does not turned out to be fruitful .. all the things has to fall in place in perfect condition to make that image appealing and worth enjoying . This uncertain behaviour keeps me inspiring and motivating so that i can perform better and better each time .


What are the current assignments you are dealing with?

I am planning for my solo exhibition on wildlife where in i would be able showcase the emotional bonds of wild animals .. and people can connect with them and would cherish them . i hope to complete the assignment very soon .

Which one is your most favorite and challenging assignment till date?

As mentioned earlier i ma working on the solo  exhibition … for which i am trying capture the images in wild which people can feel happy to put them on wall and enjoy … Its very time consuming thing as you need to revisit the nature every now and then to get the right kind of frame and that it self is the biggest challenge . Getting the wild animals or birds in perfect set up of light , at right moment , with all technical parameters to their best … it takes time .. and thats everyday challenge .

How do you find the time for yourself from the busy schedule? Do you meet your old friends?

When i am with my camera gears shooting in wild , travelling thats the time when i meet “myself”…  so keep on meeting with myself …
Yes i do meet my old friends quite frequently.. we have a good group and we come together once in year spend time together .. cherishing the old memories of schools .. every two months we meet at  our hometown and keep sharing the bonds of friendship .


Which type of challenges did you face while on this journey so far?

Time , Money is the biggest challenge .. Taking time out at a particular time is very challenging. Nature continue its activity 24x7 and you cannot be there all the time .. Managing time is a task and i have leaned it over the period of time . Deciding the priorities helps a lot . Another challenge is the money .. wildlife photography in particular needs lot of money  .. provided you want to do a classy work which can be showcased . The camera gears , accessories , their maintenance , planning of tours , travel expense everything  takes out big chunk of your pocket .


Can you give a small idea for ideasforideas.org readers about opportunities in this domain?

Although the wildlife tourism is quite saturated as of now , the camera gear rental is still practiced by very few . Also Frame library concept can be run where in one can take the frame  on rental and keep on changing monthly or every 15 days at a certain cost .. I am trying to find out way of doing it .. lets hope to find a  concrete solution to this soon ..

If you can guide the newcomers in this field, what would be your suggestions?

Practice , practice practice… keep on exploring .. don’t fall in love of your image .. tis helps to grow faster and better . Invest in good gears only when you are sure that you will be able to pursue this hobby for life time .. other wise it will be a waster of money.

If you can provide the set of the photographs and links and newspapers cutting etc. which we can publish.

I have my own website you may please visit ..
You will find my portfolio and if you want you can contact me for any purchases of the frames you love to have to decor your home/ office etc ..

www.wildlifestorties.in
www.adwaitaaphale.com.

Image Courtesy : www.pexels.com