About DrRave

TRAVELLER AND EXPLORER

I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, grew up all over the place (Dubai, Ukraine, UK) and now live in India with my wife and kid. My journey into photography began as a hobby while I was studying Medicine in Kiev, UKRAINE.

I started shooting portraits of my then girlfriend, now wife and our pets, a dog and a cat, for fun and soon realised that I had a connection with my camera and wanted to create more. The more I shot, the more obsessed I became.

At the time, there was only dial-up internet and no real resources to learn online. While I was in Med school, I read photography books, and magazines, starred at paintings and taught myself photography and later filmmaking.

Soon I was making enough money shooting stock images that I could travel the world and meet amazing people from all over. I invested in my business and kept upgrading my gear and improving my skills including video.

COMMERCIAL WORK

For the past 20 years I have been shooting for iStockphoto, Getty Images and shot a ton of commercial work locally. My interests lie in Fashion, Portrait, Food, Product and Architecture photography and video.

Working with Getty Images and iStockphoto, I have sold more than 100,000 images which have been used worldwide in media, news, ads, TV, by companies like Microsoft, Lenovo, Apple, Forbes, US gov, and many more.

STUDENT AND TEACHER

I consider myself a student, constantly learning new skills, tips and tricks of the trade. Photography and Photoshop have been pillars on which I stand tall today.

Over the years I have learnt a lot and love to share this information with others. I have no secrets and enjoy teaching and mentoring other photographers and designers. Every year I conduct a few workshops and teach photography and photoshop to those willing to learn.

GEAR

CANON cameras are my weapon of choice. I currently shoot and film with a Canon EOS R5, 5D MK III and a Canon 80D. My favourite lenses are Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS II and the Canon 85mm for portraits, the Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 and 100mm macro for everyday and product work. These lenses deliver beautiful, creamy, rich with shallow depth of field.

My studio is fully equiped with several flash strobes and a plethora of video lighting gear from Aputure and Godox. I film everything on the R5 with Atomos Ninja V+ and Hollyland Mars wirelss transmission to multiple screens, iPads and phones. I use this wireless setup on every single shoot to wirelessly transfer images to the MacBook Pro or to multiple screens in real-time, for 2 reasons: