Nirav Patel-A portrait Photographer I recently found - Rowan

Nirav Patel is a San Fransisco based photographer I recently found through Instagram. Looking through his work, it is incredible to me his ability to manipulate light, giving his photos an beautiful softness and intensity at the same time. While the models he chooses to shoot and their posing do not seem to have much variation, it is obvious to me that he has a very strong understanding of how to work with light in a way that is very impressive.  I love how he uses artificial light to very subtly emulate the look of natural light, and also goes beyond the constraints of natural light when putting together very stylized  and fantastical lighting situations. I don't have a very clear idea of how he achieves such a look, but it makes me want to experiment with using color gels on my flash, and working to create stark contrasts between light and dark. It is a very appealing look to me.  He has made me very much want to experiment with emulating him, and try out methods of lighting I haven't in the past.