Professional work experience at Apex
As one of the leading photography academy of India, Apex offers a unique opportunity for its diploma students to work as interns and assistants with eminent National and International professional photographers, so they can imbibe and experience practical situations. In this episode we introduce you to Mr. Shobhit Pillai, a Diploma student of Photography, at Apex, who accompanied, Mr. Justin Hession, a Swiss photographer to the Kumbh Mela, in Allahabad, to assist him in his personal creative project.
Justin Hession sitting outside the Studio
Apex Coordinator: How was the experience of staying in the tents for 9 days?
Shobhit Pillai: It was a refreshing change, a much-welcomed break from Delhi’s proper, well-organized life…for me it was a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to know what living in a tent is like!…I felt as if I’m living in a military regime, where one had to wake up at 7 in the morning and get straight to work…and on my last day, my heart felt heavy at the very thought of going back to the city concrete jungle.. But again, I was going back with a bundle of new takings and happy memories to share. And I must mention that the food there was good, if only that they had used onion and garlic to spice it up!
Apex Coordinator: What was it like assisting Justin Hession, the photographer from Switzerland?
Shobhit Pillai: Assisting Justin was simply an experience that’ll stay with me for years to come! I never expected that I would ever get such an opportunity, to assist a Swiss photographer. In the beginning, I thought that the interaction might be a wee bit uncomfortable, but all those his humble persona made me throw all those distractions to the wind!…he was so Indian in his ways; that I think really broke the ice between us. His way of thing, taking, eating Indian food and even happily living in a tent rather than in a 5 star hotel; everything about him made him easily approachable! And needless to say, I learned much from him, both professionally and personally.
Studio
Apex Coordinator: Was it really hard to convince people for the shoot?
Shobhit Pillai: It was not too hard to convince them for a quick photograph but it was very hard to convince them to come inside the tent because they were understandably suspicious of why we couldn’t click photographs outside the tent…so yes, convincing them and assuring me that all will be good was a formidable challenge. I tried to assuage their concerns by telling them that it’s a project for a book on Kumbh or a book on different people coming to Kumbh. And in the end, it all went smoothly so, no complaints!
Apex Coordinator: What challenges did you face while shooting the portraits in a tent?
Shobhit Pillai: The challenges we faced while shooting inside the tents were lighting problems; we didn’t have proper studio equipment at our disposal, so it was difficult to capture technically sound frames. But we innovated well and devised alternatives to ensure our stint was worthwhile.
Inside the Studio
Apex Coordinator: How many faces did you find in 9 days and how many good face portraits were you able to find in 9 days?
Shobhit Pillai: We got some what around 72 faces in nine days, out of which 50-55 were good enough to be considered for the project…
Apex Coordinator: What kind of lighting did you use? Was it natural lighting, artificial lighting or both?
Shobhit Pillai: Essentially we wanted to play around with artificial lighting as we were looking at churning out something different. While most photographers were out on field, our focus was on shooting portraits of different and interesting people at the Kumbh with proper studio lighting.
Apex Coordinator: What was the average number of people you found in a day for the shoot? Did you shoot day and night as well?
Shobhit Pillai: On an average, we had about 12 subjects. We primarily shot between 8 a.m till 6 p.m, hence it was only a day time shoot throughout.
Justin Hession shooting inside the Studio
Apex Coordinator: Usually a photographer choices his own faces from the crowd for the shoot and there is a certain taste that he appreciates or is looking for. So did your choice get well along with the photographer’s choice?
Shobhit Pillai: From the word go, Justin had told me about his preferences about the kind of subjects he was looking at exploiting. Most often than not, he was happy with my sense of picking the subjects, so yes, I’d like to believe we achieved common ground and that is sure to reflect in our photographs as well.
Apex Coordinator: What kind of faces or face structure or expressions, were you looking for in the crowd. Any particular example.
Shobhit Pillai: It was not just about a particular face or face structure for us; it was more about capturing striking, interesting people at the Kumbh…in addition to that, we paid much attention to the props that they were carrying with them, like most sadhus we photographed were adorned with rudraksh beads. In short, it was not just about the subject’s face but also his/her over-all persona.
Apex Coordinator: What was the most fascinating face that you found in the crowd, that you are most proud of?
Shobhit Pillai: The most fascinating faces I stumbled upon at the Kumbh Mela were those of two kids, who were rag-pickers at the gathering. I convinced them to come to our makeshift studio (tent) and I’m so glad I did! The subtle drama and innocent romanticism their faces had will be any photographer’s delight to capture! In fact, we developed a friendship during our brief encounter; they even took my phone number and told me that they keep in touch with me! And of course, their portrait shot is a personal favorite and a sight that overwhelms me with great memories each time I look at them.
Justin Hession and Shobhit Pillai with the other subjects
Apex Coordinator: Share an interesting experience or incident from this trip (while convincing the people for the shoot or while shooting).
Shobhit Pillai: One particular experience that stands out for me is when I picked a Naga Sadhu as my subject and after much persuasion, convinced him to accompany me to our tent. The problem began when he took the drugs inside our studio (tent) and after taking a quick dose was unable to even stand upright! Things only went from worse to worst when in a fit of anger, he grabbed my neck and began manhandling me. To placate him, we handed him Rs. 500 and asked him to leave (phew!). So yes, this was one crazy encounter I’m unlikely to ever forget!
Apex Coordinator: What did you learn from this experience?
Shobhit Pillai: Quite a bit to last me a lifetime! Earlier, I was hesitant in approaching and communicating with people but now, I feel much more at ease in doing so. Secondly, I was always unsure about playing around with the different lighting techniques, but now I feel I’ve loosened up and am no more reluctant to experiment and explore. Most importantly, I’ve realized that a photographer must never be content with his shots; the possibilities are always endless and there is much to explore under the top layer of everything in my line of vision.
Apex Food Photography Workshop, January 2013
Recently, a Food Photography Workshop was organised by the Apex – Academy for Photographic Excellence, Which was attended by a dozen of photo enthusiasts and the Diploma batch students.
The dishes were styled beautifully by, Ms. Sujata Sadr, a well established Food Stylist. She explained, in detail, the Art of Food Styling, the choice of dishes and the proper usage of Props in each set-up. According to a participant, Mr. Sameeir Jaadhav, “it was quiet informative and interactive and the faculty and the food stylish were just perfect.”
Mr. Bhaskar Dutta, a participant, who had attended the workshop, so that he could be able to capture the recipes, prepared by his wife, found that the knowledge shared by the mentors was immense.
“The Art of Styling, taught me how styling and placing the props at the right place and creativity, can make everything normal, stand out”, said Mr. Abhishek Vohra, a participant.
The Dishes were brilliantly photographed by, Mr. Aditya Arya and Mr. Dinesh Khanna, who, in detail, explained the lighting, camera exposure settings and the right way of photographing of each dish, to all the fellow participants. According to a Diploma student, Ms. Kriti Bagga, “The workshop was the first time any of us were photographing food. Learning about creating a natural light effect with the studio lights and food styling were the highlights of the workshop for me.”
As for a Diploma student, Ms. Lozima Subba, “the Workshop helped me to create an aesthetic way of looking at food and as being a Photography student, it was a pure joy for me to experience this genre of Photography”.
Some of the final food shots, taken by Mr. Aditya Arya, from the workshop.
Some of the final food shots, taken by Mr. Dinesh Khanna, from the workshop.
Photography Workshop: Working with Studio Lights by Dhruv Malhar
Limited Seats! Register now!
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website www.apexindia.net
You can also join our event page. But don’t forget to register with us first!
Seeing Light- A Photography Workshop by Photographer, Mahesh Bhat
Limited Seats! Register now!
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website www.apexindia.net
You can also join our event page. But don’t forget to register with us first!
Photo-Walk : Corporate Photography Education Program partnered with Aircel
The walk was led by senior faculty member, Amitabha Bhattacharya.
All photographs by Amitabha Bhattacharya.
The new batch of 2012 begins with some history
Diploma Batch 2012-13
Congratulations! To the new “Diploma Batch 2012-13″ who shall be welcomed to the Academy with an induction program tomorrow. Formal Classes will begin on 3rd Sep 12.
APEX – Academy for Photographic Excellence announces New Batch Admissions 2012
New Batch admissions are open.
Photography Course designed and guided by well established and known professional Photographers – Dinesh Khanna & Aditya Arya
- 1 year Diploma Batch begins September 1, 2012.
- 3 Months Foundation Batch begins Mid-August, 2012
To know more, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Academy Address :
Academy for Photographic Excellence
60, Basant Lok Community Centre, Vasant Vihar,
(Near Priya-PVR Cinema), New Delhi – 110 057
How to build a Portfolio Website Workshop. August 11, 2012
Limited Seats! Register now!
Learn about all aspects and factors that a photographer should consider while building their online presence. The workshop will focus on:
- The Online medium and how to leverage it.
- Sharing work with peers and friends Vs. Clients.
- The power and relevance of Social media- Building your brand online through your own portfolio website
- Search engine optimisation – Tips and Best Practices
- Measuring Traffic
- Gaining exposure – Keeping your site alive.
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website www.apexindia.net
You can also join our Facebook page. But don’t forget to register for the workshop with us first!
Large Format Photography Workshop, JULY 14-15, 2012, New Delhi
JULY 14- 15, 2012, New Delhi
APEX ACADEMY
10 AM to 4PM
COURSE FEE : General Rs. 1500/-, Students (with valid ID cards)- Rs. 1000/-
Many successful photographers including Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon Edward Weston, Irving Penn, Cole Weston, and others have used a large format camera to create a large body of incredible photographs. We at APEX ACDEMY bring to you the same unique opportunity to understand the nuances and discipline of LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHY.
NO PREVIOUS LARGE FORMAT EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED! This course is designed for beginner or experienced photographers who seek a slower and more contemplative form of photography. At the completion of this intensive two-day workshop, you will be able to efficiently and confidently compose, focus, meter, and expose your own large format photographs.
THE MODULE
1. Understanding the Large Format Camera - Brief idea of the camera formats will be discussed, i.e. 35mm Format, medium Format. Large image size,Flexible bellows connecting the front and back,Ground glass viewing,Interchangeable lenses.
2. Benefits of Large Format - Larger image size, Camera movements Individual sheets of film. Contemplative approach.
3. Basics of LF camera operations i.e. tilt, shift and swing and its effects on the picture.
4. Perspective correction.
5. Understanding Plane of Focus.
6. Practical approach to Scheimpflug Principal.
Here is what we study and practice during the workshop:
- Essential gear
- Lens selection
- Camera movements and terminologies
- Setup and focusing
- the Scheimpflug principle
- When to use which movements
- Using compound movements
- Close-up photography
- Bellows compensation
- Everything you need to know about film
- Metering and Exposure
- Basic principles of Zone System
- Working with filters
- Workflow
Instructor – Malhar Dhruv
Limited Seats! Register now!
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website www.apexindia.net
You can also join our Facebook page. But don’t forget to register for the workshop with us first!
Announcing Fresh Batch Admissions!
Fresh Diploma Batch admissions are open.
- Classes will start from August 2012.
- Fresh Intensive Foundation Batch (11:00 – 1:00) will start from July 1, 2012
- New Batch of Fast Track Foundation Course will start from : July 16, 2012
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
One Week Workshop: Photography in the Himalayas
MERCURY HIMALAYAN EXPLORATION ,
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP at CHAMBA ,GARHWAL HIMALAYAS
June 16 -22, 2012
Limited Seats! Register now!
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website www.apexindia.net
You can also join our event page. But don’t forget to register for the workshop with us first!
The Food Photography Workshop : A Review
The Food Photography Workshop was conducted by Aditya Arya and Dinesh Khanna on May 19, 2012 in the Apex Academy studio. Apart from being the Directors of APEX, both Dinesh and Aditya are well known Professional Photographers with years of photographic experience with food for editorial, advertising, books and prestigious hotels. They were assisted by Food Stylist, Anjali Ramaswamy during the workshop.
The workshop was divided in two parts. The first part was a slide presentation detailing the various kinds of Food photography. Aditya and Dinesh displayed examples of their work and explained in detail how the photographs were made. In this section we also discussed what makes a good food photograph and how light quality, composition and styling play an important part in the process.
In the second part, we had live demonstrations of how to set up a Food shoot and execute it, keeping the following important points in mind:
- Colour, Texture and Form of the Food.
- Ideal ways of plating and presenting the Food
- Composing the photograph
- Selecting and using props and backgrounds
- Lensing for the photograph
- Camera angles and perspectives to get the best photograph
- How to use, diffuse and modify light.
The Workshop was attended by 21 people from varying backgrounds, ranging from students of Photography to Food Bloggers, Restaurant owners to Chefs from 5-star hotels and this made for very interesting discussions and question/answer sessions through the workshop.
For more images on the workshop please click here
Industrial Photography Project : Faculty – Aditya Arya
Harsh Karunakaran : “To be very honest, when Aditya sir asked all of us for an assistant for an upcoming out of station shoot, everyone in class, including me, never imagined that it would be over 2000 km away from here! Luckily, I was given the opportunity this time around and from the time sir informed me about the details of the shoot untll we touched base back in Delhi on March 17th, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable and learning experience.
I will try and recount as much as I can remember; correctly and in chronological order so that it gives all of you an idea of how an industrial shoot is shot.
The Learning Begins -
Sir and I packed the equipment required for the trip. That’s where the actual learning began. He was ready with a list of things needed for the trip.
The list encompassed everything from tiny wires(for example, one that connects the trigger to the camera) to lenses to light stands and lights. I learnt the process of packing for a shoot and more importantly the discipline required. (For Example, checking the working condition of everything! Be it stands-triggers-tripod-flash-lights(even the intensity button of the flash and bulb within a light).
At that point, I thought that it was a menial job to do and assumed that everything would be in working condition but as we checked we had to replace 3 lights and more than 5 wires, a trigger that wasn’t working (which I had to take to Chandni Chowk the same day to get fixed!!) and so forth.
Finally, we packed everything, locked the suitcases, strapped them for extra protection and were ready for the trip!
To see some of the assignment images as well as more on my learning Click here.
The Food Photography Workshop in association with TIME OUT. May 19, 2012
Limited Seats! Register now!
To register, please email apex@apexindia.net or call +91 11 4166 9520, 4601 9125
Website http://www.apexindia.net
You can also join our event page. But don’t forget to register with us first!
Food Photography Workshop.
The Workshop shall be conducted by Aditya Arya and Dinesh Khanna, photographers who have shot Food images for prestigious hotels and restaurants like the The Oberois, Taj, ITC, Hilton and Radisson groups. And also numerous magazines and recipe books.
They shall be assisted by Food Stylist, Anjali Ramaswamy and a couple of professional Chefs duiring the workshop.
The workshop shall be divided into 2 parts. We shall first take you through a slide presentation detailing the various kinds of Food photography and discuss those in detail and explain how the photographs were made. In this section we shall discuss what makes a good food photograph and how light quality, composition and styling play an important part in the process.
In the second part, we shall do live demonstrations of how to set up a Food shoot and execute it keeping the following important points in mind:
- Colour, Texture and Form of the Food.
- Ideal ways of plating and presenting the Food
- Composing the photograph
- Selecting and using props and backgrounds
- Lensing for the photograph
- Camera angles and perspectives to get the best photograph
- How to use, diffuse and modify light.
The Workshop shall be open to a limited number of participants so that each person can see the demonstrations from up close and ask questions and clear doubts. However, we will not be able to allow each participant to shoot the dishes and the set-ups as this is only a one-day workshop.
You can see the instructors work on their websites:
The Adobe Lightroom Workshop – April 28-29, 2012. New Delhi
Lightroom is a powerful photographic workflow application, which for the Digital Photographer, is as important as his camera to produce exceptional photographs. The Adobe Lightroom Workshop is all about using this revolutionary tool to its full potential. In this Workshop, VJ Sharma, will explain how browsing, organizing, and adjusting images in Lightroom dynamically improves photo management, processing, and presentation. The training empowers photographers to establish a more effective and creative workflow so they can focus on what it’s all about –The Photo.
V. J. Sharma, who will be conducting this Workshop, is a Software Engineer by profession and a photographer by interest. He is an Adobe Certified Expert in Lightroom and has been actively working with different organizations in India to take workshops on Lightroom, HDRs, Color Management and Black & White processing.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom- Start to Finish Workflow for Photographers.
This 2 days weekend workshop is meant for Photographers wanting to learn & refine their skills in handling and enhancing their Photographs. The Workshop schedule is as follows:
Day 1 (28th April ’12):
1. Introduction to Adobe Lightroom Pro.
2. A Digital Dark-Room.
3. Understanding why Lightroom is important Software for a Photographer.
4. How it is different from Adobe Photoshop.
5. Lightroom Workflow for Photographers who go for various Photo-Shoots of different types.
6. Workspace and Setup of Lightroom.
7. Do Quality work by saving time – Better Organize your Photo-Shoots.
8. Cataloging, Backup and Archiving.
9. Basic tools and their use.
10. Demo and Exercises.
11. Questions and Answers.
Day 2 (29th April ’12) :
1. Reading Histogram to decide further processing of Photographs.
2. Understanding ‘Develop Module’ of Adobe Lightroom – Exposure, Contrast, Fill-Light, Recovery, Blacks, Brightness, Clarity, and Saturation etc.
3. Adjusting Image Color and Tone.
4. Working in Grayscale. – HSL Processing
5. Retouching and correcting photographs.
6. Basics of Correcting Lens Distortions and noise.
7. Basics of Export and Watermarking
8. Creating Online Portfolio.
9. Demo and Exercises.
10. Questions and Answers.
Course Fees:
Rs. 3,000 for the 2 days (including tea/coffee and lunch)
Students (with valid ID cards) pay Rs. 2,000 only.
Venue & Time:
11AM to 5 PM
60, Basant Lok Community Center, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi – 110 057
Email or call at:
Phone : (011) 41 66 95 20, 46 01 52 25
Email: apex@apexindia.net
Creative Lighting Workshop by Aditya Arya- A Review
Creative Lighting Workshop by Aditya Arya. Image by Vikesh Raj
“I really enjoyed the module on creative lighting at our APEX basement on April 20, 2012. We were asked to shoot our basement in as creative a way as possible. Me and Vikesh started first. I bought out all the color filters, getting the idea from the Industrial shoot i went with Mr Arya. So i used a blue, green and red filters and lit up the basement. We used some of the available light too, which was peeking through the basement window. It was a great experience. After a lot of hit and trial and tweaking we finally got the shot we wanted. It made us make a conscious effort to think about mixing up the different types of lighting.
We also did a an exercise where Sir fixed the frame and we had to light up the wall as creatively as possible. Sir gave us a few ideas and we used the same and got the desired results. Improved our understanding of light and mixing different types.”
- Harsh Karunakaran, Current Student of Batch 2012, APEX
Portraiture Module with Diploma students : Instructor Dinesh Khanna
Photo Student : Mudit. Model : Raj Thapa . Lighting Brief : Specious, Creepy (Bob in Kahaani)
Click here to see other students’ portraits
Portraiture Module with Diploma students.
This is part of a 5-class workshop I am doing with the Diploma students. The objective is to understand what all goes into creating interesting and impactful portraits.The essential premise being that as a Professional Photographer we will not always be shooting people who are comfortable in front of the camera, look beautiful or handsome in the classical way or know how to pose. Most likely the reverse will be true at most times and we have to ‘make’ the portrait based on our understanding of people and photographic techniques.
The 5 parts of this workshop are as follows:
- Students practice and show their understanding of the classical lighting techniques like butterfly, split, Rembrandt, etc.
- Photograph a model’s face in as many angles as possible, but with flat lighting to understand how different face-types have different favorable angles and looks.
- After selecting the best angle/view of the particular model’s face to use lighting to give a particular mood/look to the person.
- Work with expression and emotions in addition to lighting and particular face angle.
- In addition to the earlier 3 ingredients – face angle, lighting and expression – bring in a 4th dimension, i.e. posing or posture to complete the look of the Portrait.
The photographs accompanying this text are from the 3rd class where the students have selected the most suitable face angle for their model and are supposed to use lighting to create the mood/look as per the brief given to them. The brief is mentioned as a caption under every photograph. The photograph on the left is from the previous class where the best angle for the face was decided. The one on the right is with the lighting brief given in the next class.
