About
The person behind the frame.
Dhaval Vanol is a photographer, cinematographer and creative director based in Ahmedabad, working across India. He builds images for brands that need to be believed, not just seen — campaigns, catalogues, films and documentary-style content shaped around a single idea before a single light is switched on.
His approach comes from the stage as much as the studio: restraint, timing and an obsession with where the light falls. Every project starts with a conversation about intent, and ends with frames a brand can live in for years.
Journey
A path built one discipline at a time.
Theatre
It began on stage. Blocking, rhythm, silence and the way a single spotlight could change the meaning of a scene — the first lessons in directing attention.
B.Com
A commerce degree that quietly built the other half of the craft: how businesses think, how brands spend, and why good work has to earn its place.
Post Graduate — Photography
Formal study of the image. Light, lens, composition and process, practiced until instinct replaced calculation.
Professional Practice
First commissioned work. Sets, clients, deadlines and the discipline of delivering a frame that has to perform, not just please.
Shadow & Light
The studio takes shape. A team, a language and a body of work spanning fashion, food, jewellery, architecture, branding and film across India.
Expertise
Photography
Editorial, campaign, catalogue and product imagery built around light first and everything else second.
Cinematography
Films, reels and brand documentaries — motion shot with the same restraint as a still frame.
Creative Direction
Concept, styling, mood and narrative — deciding what a brand should feel like before a camera is opened.
Production
Casting, sets, crew and schedules. The unglamorous scaffolding that makes the glamorous frame possible.
Light is not just technique. It is language.
Selected Experience
Work made with brands, studios and designers.
- PetpoojaBrand Campaign
- CraftrootsFashion Catalogue
- Gujarat Tourism ProjectsDestination Films
- Jewellery Brands & StudiosProduct & Campaign
- Fashion Brands & DesignersEditorial & Lookbook
- Commercial BusinessesContent & Advertising
Shadow & Light
The studio is the philosophy, made practical.
Shadow & Light Advertising began as Dhaval's own practice and grew into a studio with a fixed point of view: contrast tells the truth. Shadow gives an image weight; light gives it meaning. Everything the team makes — a jewellery close-up, a food campaign, a resort film, a designer's lookbook — is built on that balance.
As Creative Director he stays on the floor: directing the concept, the light and the edit, so that what a client approves on a moodboard is what actually leaves the studio.
In His Words
“I don't photograph products. I photograph the reason someone should care about them.”
Dhaval Vanol — Founder & Creative Director