Tucked away into my flight seat, I began writing this piece as we fly out of South America towards Africa. It was the first day of the new year. And the end of one of my longest tours – all of 35 days (not to mention another 4 days of flying) spent in Argentina, Chile and Antarctica. A big smile had lit up my face a few minutes ago as I glanced through the photographs that I made through the trip. It had been an amazing photography experience, in addition to being an enriching travel experience, on virtually the opposite […]
Widely considered to be the ancestor of the domestic cat. Though it is a species that is quite widespread across Africa, it is not an easy one to see due to its secretive and largely nocturnal nature. In a decade of driving around Kruger, this was the first time that Neil was seeing one![…]
At first glance, it seemed like a dry leaf. A bird had just landed in that area of the bush and had seemingly vanished. Searching for it had become a puzzle. A thorough search through the camera lens and – again – nothing. I thought to myself “There’s something clearly wrong. Let’s look at that bush again.” And there it was. In fact, the bird was the “dry leaf”! As I went around the path to get a better view, the Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) stood almost motionless, orienting itself to face me all the time with its beak pointing upwards. Imitating a reed or […]
Wildlife Photography is addictive, isn’t it? From the very first photograph, there is a certain satisfaction of having captured a fleeting moment in time. And along with it is an urge to do better – improve one’s technique, photograph more wildlife, visit more places or even get a better shot than the one already taken. This passion, along with camera equipment becoming affordable and wilderness areas becoming more accessible (both in terms of reach and information), have made wildlife photography one of the fastest growing hobbies in India today. Millions, if not billions, of photographs […]
The few endemic birds of the Nicobar islands are very charismatic. And they were the biggest motivation for me to make the journey to the remote island of Great Nicobar in March this year. The world’s smallest eagle made the trip special!
Dorje was visibly upset. “You’re late! I’d told you to be here by 9 o’clock. There were fresh tracks this morning. But now the animal has moved on.” Those words weren’t the easiest to hear that morning. But then, this was no other place. It was Kibber, a small village high in the Trans Himalayan region of Spiti Valley. And we were not talking about any other animal. It was the Grey Ghost of the mountains – the Snow Leopard. And Dorje was the Scanner – the person tracking the elusive animal. The first morning at 4300m altitude had not been […]
A collection of photographs of Blackbucks in action and how to capture them,
Field ethics that I follow while photographing Blackbucks in action.
What happens when a snail comes face-to-face with a Malabar Pit Viper?