Some time ago I heard rumblings of an insanely great amateur photographer in one of the best cities in the world for texture and color. I didn’t make the connection with the bearded young man who snapped away quietly at a blogger meetup until I got home, checked out sidebar and realized I had already added Akshay Mahajan in a late-night Flickr binge.

These last few weeks, Akshay’s been outdoing himself. Check out the recursive, Escher-like composition…

… the color gradients…

… the retro ’70s flatness in this snapshot of Carter Road:

Now look how far he’s come from his work just two years ago. The EXIF data shows that Akshay started out with humble point ‘n clicks, a Canon Powershot S40 and S70, before upgrading to a digital SLR, a Nikon D70s. The upgrade made his work look more cinematic and professional.

Akshay might disagree. As Melody generously dropped us home after the meetup, he, Peter and I bored her to tears arguing the impact of equipment beyond the necessity of skill. My best photos came with an old-school SLR, and the point ‘n clicks I’ve slummed with for years have never measured up. Akshay and Peter argued it’s all about light, but you don’t get depth of field effects without aperture control, you don’t get sharp night shots without a high-end sensor, and you certainly don’t get the colors above.

I’ve sacrificed many a memorable image on the altar of streamlining, but I’m confident the tech curve will catch me up. Eventually. Meanwhile, the denizens of the Net are not the only ones who’ve noticed Akshay’s photostream…