There are 4 key elements to be a better photographer.
1. Understand your subject.
2. Understand the fundamental concepts of photography, including composition aspects.
3. Understand your equipment and shooting techniques.
4. Have a good grasp of digital post processing.
Each of these are very tightly coupled with each other and it is important to have a good grasp on each of them. Continue reading
Bharatpur, Rajasthan
Hebbal Lake, Bangalore, Karnataka
The Keoladeo Ghana National Park (also known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary) is home to numerous species including the Indian Monitor Lizard. They are quiet easy to photograph as they come out in the sun to bask. Continue reading
At my recent Bharatpur National Park workshop we were working on composing eye level shots. When choosing a tripod for wildlife photography avoid tripods with the centre column, as you can see you need to flatten up the legs for eye level.
I’ve never said getting great images in the wild is easy and the participants were willing to follow my lead to get the shots. They got some great eye level photos of the jackals here. Continue reading
Kabini Backwaters, Karnataka
One of the most frequently asked question I receive is about what settings to use to photograph a sunset or sunrise.
This image was photographed at Satpura National Park – an amazing place to capture both due to the beautiful watery surroundings. The open grounds offer the added advantage of being the habitat of mammals like the spotted deer so I planned to capture them in silhouette against the magical sky. Continue reading
As a wildlife photographer and educator I have the privileged opportunity to give workshops in numerous national parks of India. At the Satpura National Park in Madhya Pradesh I witnessed this kind of behaviour from the Sambar Deer for the first time. It was playing by itself in the muddy water. It sunk its face in the mud, got up, ran around in the water and suddenly jumped. Continue reading
Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
Exposure is a complex area of photography, but in situations like these where the habitat is open it is a bit easy to use the standard “sunny f16 rule”. Continue reading
During travel to national parks and wildlife areas, apart from concentrating on mammals, birds and local fauna, it’s always good to absorb and document the flora and habitat as well. Kanha is a very beautiful park and the habitat is what makes it special. The early morning mist especially provides a lot of opportunities to make creative images. Continue reading
Hampi, Karnataka
This is one of my favourite images from Kanha National Park. Half the work of a photographer is being a keen observer of your surroundings, always being on the look out for pleasing compositions wherever you are.
In many images the background makes or breaks the subject. The reddish meadows of Kanha in the background and the evening golden light made this image for me. Continue reading
An important tip in image making is a photographer’s ability to visualize the shots before clicking the camera. Take some time to study the subject and see what you can do with it.
Early mornings are the best time for these kind of creative shots when there’s play of shadow and light combined with mist or fog. During the drive in Kahna National Park I saw the rays of light falling on areas of shadow across the safari track. I asked the driver to stop and waited for some subject to enter the frame. This scene is good by itself, but a subject in this light creates a powerful impact on the image. Of course, a tiger entering the scene would be the jackpot. Continue reading
Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan
As I scan through the various images photographed at Kanha National Park, I found this one interesting as it takes a simple subject but presents it in an unexpected way. I’ve said many times that tigers aren’t the only subjects in the Indian wilds. Kanha is such a beautiful place that it’s not difficult to  make creative images of more commonly sighted wildlife subjects. Continue reading
Daroji Bear Sanctuary, Karnataka
We’ve been having amazing tiger sightings at our Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve workshop.
I captured this cub during the evening safari at Magdi zone. It was a real beauty. We saw it along with the other cub. Later it came on to the road and the other Jeep got some amazing shots… Continue reading
Corbett National Park is a great place to make some great images of Asiatic Elephants and May is an especially good season to be there. The Dhikala grasslands complements the elephants by providing a great background for your photography.
A zoom lens in the 100-400 or 80-400 range serves best for this area as it provides flexibility to make close-ups or to include the habitat in the shot.
While composing this image I waited for the baby elephant to show itself as it was always behind its mother. Continue reading
Thippagondanahalli Reservoir, Karnataka
Organikos 