I have been intending to write this blog for a long time. Like most photographers, I am self-taught. Meaning, I havent attended any formal school or certification degree or diploma program in the art of photography. Self taught means you teach yourself by reading, experimenting, obseving and also by following people on social media (from the content they keep sharing and posting). I divide my “To follow” list in three categories; One, The Legends. Second, the real contemporary experts from whom I learn the deep domian expertise in the art of image making, its mostly the technical stuff that they share and teach. Third, is people I befriend on social medai and they inspire me with their passion for the art of photography. So my three list include the following:

Legends of the past and present, who’s work I worship and learn from. All I need to do is mention their names, and they are:

1. Ansel Adams
2. Henri Cartier-Bresson
3. Dorothea Lange
4. Raghu Rai
5. Kishor Parekh
6. Steve McCurry
7. Nick Brandt
8. Ami Vitale
9. Cory Richards
10. Arthur Morris

Professionals you must follow to learn photography and its technical aspects. This will help you build deep domain expertise.

1. Tony Northrup: Tony and his wife Chelsea have created tons of useful and classic content and they share it openly and most of it for free, via their website and youtube channel. This man is a class act and tops my list. He is on every possible social media channel and if you go to to his website, you can get connected to all of them: Tony Northrup
2. Matt Granger: This Australian has recently moved to New York City and is clearly getting his fingers into many pies. Matt is a fantastic teacher of photography and is one of the most followed people on youtube for his content. His contet is par excellence. Do follow him on youtube and you wont be disappointed. link to his webiste is Matt Granger
3. Gavin Hoey: Brillant teacher of photography, is also the main campaigner for Adorama, the photo store of NYC. Of course Adorama ensure that the content is topclass. Link to his website is Gavin Hoey
4. Jason Lanier: A fantastic potrait and wedding photographer who also teaches photography. His content is good, very professionally developed and has recently moved from Nikon to Sony. He tries to oversell Sony and if you ignore that part then there is lots to learn from him. Link to his website is Jason Lanier
5. Sudhir Shivraman: Sudir is a renowned Indian Wildlife Photographer and a few years ago he started to create, share and sell learning content for photographers. I bought his on-line courses once and found it useful. But for the money he charges the quality of the content isnt worth it. Its more studio based and home made content. He has been improving on it and I hope he can add more on-the-field content as opposed to studio or class room based content. I would definetly reccomend him. In India he has the best contet so far. Link to his website is Sudhir Shivraman

Friends I follow on Facebook, Instagram and who inspire me with their work, are as follows:

Meera Nerurkar: A young IT professional, who is currently based out of Dusseldorf, Germany, is an avid photographer. I love her composition skills and landscape images. She has won several awards for some of her photographs. I have promised Meera that one day we will shoot togther in Europe and soon. Eurpoe is my abs favourite destination for nature and landscapes. In case you want to follow her on facebook the link is  Meera Nerurkar on Facebook

Image: Meera Nerurkar

Alok Mishra: Alumuni of IIM Ahemdabad, was my Boss at Johnson & Johnson, he is Singapore based. Alok is a life long learner, being a MENSA member only helps him learn faster than the most in the world. I am witnessing how he is fast learning photography. He loves birding, landscapes and street. His compositions and images are out of the world. Earlier as Boss in the corporate world and now in the world of photography he continues to inspire me. To follow Alok the links to his Facebook and Instagram are Alok Mishra on Facebook  Alok Mishra Photography on Instagram

Image: Alok Mishra

Rashmi Joshi: A resident of Ahemdabad, proud mother of a budding cinema actress, is a Tiger and Wildlife lover. Her passion for nature and photography is unparalled. She has worked on several Tiger conservation projects in India and Bandhavgarh is her favourite park. Her photos tell a story and its so easy and simple to decode that story. Over the years she has become a very good friend on social media and though I haven’t yet met her in person, I can tell that her positivty and energy is par excellence. We both plan to shoot together in Sasan Gir and Bharatpur sometimes soon. Follow her on Facebook Rashmi on Facebook

Image: Rashmi Joshi

Abhilasha Yadav: Married into the political family of Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother Shri Abhay Ram (father in law) is a busy mother and a dedicated social worker. Her interest in photography comes to her from her elder generations. She has done significant and inspiring work in her native state of  Uttar Pradesh at Dudhwa National Park , Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Katarniya Ghat to promote , preserve and conserve wildlife. I am a big fan of her work and follow her on facebook and Instagram, in case you wish to do the same the Facebook link is Abhilasha Yadav on Facebook 

Image: Abhilasha Yadav

Alok Dubey: Alok is a businessman from Indore, MP. He is a buddy and we often shoot togther. Ardent wildlife photographer, is self taught. We shoot together in Africa and India. I have learnt a lot from this humble and warm person. Our Canon equipment almost mirrors and so does our passion for Big Cats in the wild. Alok is mentoring his son Varchasva in the art of wildlife photography and he often jons us in wildlife safaris in Africa and India. Its heart warming to see this father-son-duo bond over photography. His lo-key images are to die for and in case you wish to follw him on facebook the link is Alok Dubey on Facebook

Image: Alok Dubey

I am indeed previliged to have the above people in my network and community as friends and fellow photographers. I learn a lot from them and very much appreciate their work and passion in the genre of nature and wildlife photogrphy, which is my favourite genere. My list doesnt end here, but this part-1 of the bog has to. I will share some more interesting facts and tips on how to learn effectively when you are a self-taught photographers and some of the people that I am going to mention and present to you in my next part of the blog, include; Usha Harish, Aparna Jain, Nirmalya Banerjee, Rohit Bansal, Harshwardhan and Poonam Dhanwatey, Nagaraj Taware, Chandrashekhar Kalayansundram, Jitender Govandani, Kunwardeep Sign Arora, etc, etc. Stay tuned and let me know if you found the information and recomendations useful.

Image Courtsey: Save Animals Facing Exctinction Organisation