The shoot skool VIRTUOSO!

He calls it the Angel Wings. It has a pristine purity that jumps right out and touches your soul. Prathap DK’s photograph of the Great Egret is beautiful, as it looks straight at the lens in flight — a feat any photographer would be awed by. If what we do defines us, makes us go beyond ordinary, the avid city photographer and software engineer Prathap DK is the sum of all these, and more thanks to his virtual photography ‘school.’ He has created a microsystem of ripples in photographic brilliance virtually with his blog http://www. naturephotographysimplified.com/ that has over 6,000 members and over one lakh visitors a month, from Canada, US, Australia, etc. And just recently released his third e-book on bird photography. His passion has taken a flight of its own, imparting knowledge on photography, and giving back tools to empower others interested in the beguiling lens. He has also written innumerable articles on the acclaimed digital photography school.com, which has over a million subscribers worldwide. Infact the technical editor of the site wrote a testimonial for his earlier e-book. This inspired fellow has a simplicity of purpose and today with three hugely popular e-books, it’s his pertinent and incisive learning imparted that stands out.

“I have done few coffee table books and calendars for the corporates too and have self-published my own coffee table book The Moments. I contribute to one of the biggest blogs in the world, Digital Photography School. Every guest blog post is shared anywhere between 6,000 to 20,000 times. I also contribute to other photography blogs — 121clicks.com. An article is getting published in Smart Photography magazine December 2015,” says the lensman.

Ask Prathap, and he humbly brushes his expertise aside as he dedicates himself to creating a family of avid photographers that rise above the milieu, just like Prathap did with his own website, http://www.prathapphotography.com/. “I am basically a softwear engineer, and am very passionate about photography, nature, landscapes and birds. My blog will complete two years on December 4. Incidentally, the blog started as a tool to teach friends and co-photographers about the art. During my days at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, I found that my knowledge on the subject was pretty good and I had a good hold on the subject. Most photographers are bogged down by the DSLR and I wanted to break this.” So what Prathap essentially does is a detailed survey about what people want explained and covers those topics exhaustingly. “I break myths, which is also where the three e-books were born. My first was on bird photography and elucidated how to do it right and was given away for free. Then came the post processing for bird photography which sold 1,000 plus. The latest e book was released last week on bird photography simplified,” Prathap explains.

But that’s not all keeping the engineer from AIT, Chikmagalur inspired. He also holds workshops and most recently was the co-workshop leader with Radhika Ramaswamy held at his favourite spot of all — the Bharatpur bird Sanctuary. His advice is simple, “Start thinking like a pro,” and the rest will follow.