I am a Freelance Soft Skills Trainer by profession since 2011, when I quit my full-time working career. My current resident city is Kolhapur in Maharashtra State, India since 2012. I started my photography journey passionately in February 2018 (at the age of 47), when I joined a group of amateur photographers – Kolhapur Amateur Photographers Association. Here I got the opportunity to learn the basics of photography and my journey as a photographer will always be dedicated to this group that taught me. In 2018 August, I got the first editor favorite on the Nat Geo Your Shot platform that boosted my morale and confidence a lot to take up this journey more seriously. During the lockdown 2020, all the big names of Indian and World Photography stepped forward on most of the social media platforms through their live talks, chats and knowledge sharing sessions. As I attended these sessions. it gave me the further level of understanding like - How to take the basic knowledge to the next level, how to see things, how to approach or look towards photography, how to diversify our outlook etc. All these sessions helped me a lot in enhancing my journey and move onwards with a new perspective. As the professional work reduced post covid, I am concentrating more on photography since 2020 second half. Subsequently it has been more of self-study since, and now I love the genres of Street, Travel and Culture Photography. Recently I completed a course in Documentary Photography through the Shivaji University in my city in October 2023. Post this course I am looking forward to venture deeper into Documentary and Street Photography. Prizes and Accolades: • First Prize Chiiz Magazine monthly contest of June 2019 • Second Prize in “SET IN STONE” contest by India Lost and Found Organization, Judge Amit Pasricha July 2020 • 1 photo used by LENSCULTURE in their promotion for call of street photography awards of 2020 season. • Second Prize in the Black and White Category at the 6th CLICK Photography Exhibition, Judge Dr. Rajendra Mahamuni, Founder and Head of the Photography Department at Fergusson College, Pune, India January 2022 • Best Photography Award in the Manikarnika 5th National Online Photography Exhibition and Competition June 2022 • Best Photo award at the MumbaiOgraphy Exhibition judged by Rohinton Mehta Sir December 2022 • First Prize in the 5th PCI International Photography Contest and Exhibition, Kolkata, January 2023 in Social Documentary Category, Judge Shafiqul Alam Kiron • Honorable Mention in the 5th PCI International Photography Contest and Exhibition, Kolkata, January 2023, in Climate Change Category, Judge Kallol Mukherjee • 6 Photos Awarded by the Head Curator Team on 1X.COM platform so far. • 3 photos displayed on the website of Kolhapur District Tourism website • Did the Navratri 2023 Assignment for SAKAL newspaper in which totally 10 photos were published, one each daily during the festival. • 2nd Runner up and 5th prize in the 14th PHOTOFRY Competition cum Exhibition by APAC Institute November 2023 under the Light and Shadow category/theme. • 3rd Prize in the Competition organized by Maharashtra Tourism Department on the theme of Landmarks of Maharashtra. • Reached the Final 20 nominations in the Portraits in Streets Competition arranged by the Street Photography Gallery, December 2023 • Reached the Final 7 Nominees stage in Mobile Photography Category at XPOSURE INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2023 SHARJAH