Photographers who practice street photography are fond of contacting one another, seemingly out of the blue, for the opportunity to break the monotony of going it alone. In my experience, many of these outings are not as productive photo sessions I conduct on my own but they fulfill other purposes, one of which is belonging to a loosely-knit community of global photographers. No matter what you like to call it, street photography is a practice. At its core is the journey. And apart from our everyday senses, a special emphasis is placed on capturing and taming countless rogue photons to produce images.

Hell is quite often, here on earth. If it's not manifesting in our external worlds, then it's a long, cresting wave internally that tends to wash over us on its way to the beyond...only to come back again, like tides caught in an amusement park tank. I often think about how different our internal worlds are from one another. Or at least, I theorize as much.

If you do a lot of portrait editing, there may be times when you want to quickly soften rough skin and wrinkles without using a lot of time-consuming techniques. I’ve got the solution for you. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to soften rough skin and wrinkles in Photoshop and how you can apply the same technique to skies in landscape photos. Let’s get started!

I thought I’d check in and share a few images that I omitted from my Facebook and Twitter feeds. I’m currently sharing individual images on Instagram (because that’s the only way to do it) but I’ve decided that I want to make better use of my own space, here on my website. I’ve preached enough about this but I no longer find it terribly helpful to me to share every single image that I post on all platforms. I’d rather have my audience come here and visit me to see what I’ve been up to. Plus, my growing weariness of social media has had the effect of wanting to reduce my footprints on all platforms.

All of my prints are on archival paper and produced locally by a professional printer who specializes in fine art prints--not from these sketchy, online print-on-demand platforms that churn out poor-quality products. This isn't to be snooty, but when you receive great prints they're works of art unto themselves. I experienced this first hand only this year which is why I'm enthusiastic about overseeing the production side of things while advocating for other photographers out there to try it for themselves.

When I first came to Mumbai and explored some of the suburbs, I thought to myself that it looked like somebody bombed the shit out of the place. Sometimes, I can't tell if buildings are going up or coming down.

I packed my umbrella and had my ziplock bag ready for my camera in case of a monsoon shower. The streets were crowded and it was business as usual on a Saturday afternoon in Mumbai.

Joking aside, this is an ICM image that was originally taken in Mumbai, 2022. I originally didn't want to share this image because the distortions in the light really made this person look like Trump, at least to my eyes. And I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But there are characteristics of this image that I'm quite fond of and I remember the vendor lady sitting at her post waiting for a customer. Her red sari barely comes through in the straight-out-of-camera version, which I'll share here too.

The more accurate title of this blog would have been When Street Photography Meets ICM Meets Taking Shots from a Moving Auto-Rickshaw. That’s exactly the origin of this image although it did require a bit of post-processing to achieve the final look.

By grand proclamation, the government of India declared India open-defecation free in 2019 — because a bunch of toilets were constructed across the country. But what’s the reality on the ground?

To those who believe this fairy tale, I often direct them to this image I took a few years back, one that I could take on any given morning if I wanted to.

Transitioning from street photography to portraiture with a model wasn't as easy as I thought it would be - considering that I'm shooting with ICM. I burned through my SD card in less than 45 minutes and I didn't even think to bring backup. Who takes 1,400+ shots in a portrait session, anyway? Lesson learned.
I've only just begun my new direction in ICM photography since the end of March this year and I only see myself taking this further into unchartered waters.

I’ve heard too few photographers talk about the phenomenon between how we feel when we’re taking pictures and the results. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Germans had a multi-syllable word for it. But we English-speakers certainly do not. So here’s a common scenario to describe what I’m talking about.

Welcome to my series where I tell the story behind some of my fine art photography pieces. I hope to convey to photographers that street photography is a great source for creating art. If you’re like me and love the visual arts but lack any talent to paint or draw, photography has become my artistic surrogate that allows me to create whenever I desire. That’s because my companion passion is street photography and I’ve literally thousands of images to choose from to create fine art photography pieces, and with and with any luck, I’ll be producing works of art for years to come.

I foolishly brought my Rokinon fisheye lens to the beach thinking I would shoot some ICM with it. Unfortunately, I don’t have an ND filter for it and the conditions were much too bright to take slow shutter shots without one. I did happen to bring a backup lens with me, fitted with the appropriate ND8 (neutral density) filter that worked just fine. But another strike against me on this outing as I didn’t get anything good despite shooting over 800 Raw files. So on the way out of the beach, I slapped the fisheye lens back on because I knew there was shade up on the road where I’d catch my cab back home.

If you’ve visited India before, then you know it’s not only about the heat; there’s also some nasty humidity to deal with. During the summer months, that can make a 95F day feel like a 123F day when the humidity is clinging to you at 70 percent. This isn’t an uncommon scenario, by the way.

I’ll be the first to admit that shooting street photography on vacation isn’t always a fruitful endeavor. Whenever I travel to Goa, I have the same conversation with myself. Should I take the camera or leave it at home? If I take it, I’ll likely not use it that much and have to pack onto the flight with me as carry-on. If I don’t take it, there’s always the chance that I’ll miss the shot of a lifetime.

In Chapter 1 of Tales of Mumbai Street Photography, I’ll share a few of my favorite images from the past and recent shots from 2022. The purpose of these posts is to act as supplemental material for my Street Photography projects page.

Mumbai is one of India's most prominent mega cities with a population in excess of 18 million residents. It is also arguably one of the best places in India for street photography. As a resident and avid street photographer myself, I offer a glimpse into many of the best spots in Mumbai for street photography.

I’ve recently rebooted my website and I wanted to offer something special to those interested in my fine art photography prints. I thought there would be no better way than to offer custom prints that are signed, limited, and authenticated by a recognized brand.