| The Challenge |
Photographing tigers in the wild is at times very frustrating. Periods between sightings can often extend into days and even weeks. This makes it very difficult to produce original pictures, pictures with atmosphere or mood. The exhilaration in actually seeing a tiger, after what could be a wait of several days, initially makes you record a scene just as you see it. This in itself is a great skill, but after a while a talented photographer should look beyond a scene and try to create something a little different. This presents a great challenge as at times you have only seconds to assess a situation and decide the best and most impressive way of capturing the scene on film.
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| Risk |
Ultimately it comes down to risk. You have to take chances. Are you prepared to sacrifice your precious sighting in the knowledge that the mood your trying to create could, and often does, result in an unusable image? With experience, however, you can minimise this risk. When you begin to understand the forest and the light that it produces and how it transfers to film you can really create images that say so much more about you and your skills than a "simple" record of a tiger in the wild.
Sunlight and Shadow
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| Forest Light |
The winter months of December to February produce the most wonderful light in the world. It’s a joy to drive through the forest creating pictures, painting with light. Especially early morning in the dhok forests around the three lakes, where the falling sunlight is split into beautiful shafts by the tree’s canopy. This produces large areas of light and shade and in these places you can really manipulate the light to your advantage, producing creative, atmospheric images that are widely evocative of both the forest and the tiger.
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| Light and Shade |
My favourite images are the ones with a strong contrast within the frame. Where your subject, or a part of it is, is lit against a dark background. The opportunities to photograph, tigers in particular, in these conditions are few and fleeting so when presented with a chance it is vital you make the most of it.
MachalI in Padam Talao Landscape
This picture is of Machali within the lakes landscape. The harsh sunlight reflected off Padam Talao and resulted in the washed out colours you see. I love the way the light has resulted in the forest at the far side of the lake becoming almost invisible and also the way Machali is almost in silhouette, you can just make out the stripes on her coat. For this picture I overexposed +1, ensuring that both Machali and the forest at the far side had just enough detail in them, whilst still emphasizing the reflected glare from the lake.
Khemsa Kund
This picture was taken at Khemsa Kund in Ranthambhore. We spotted this young male tiger resting 40ft below the track in a dense, dark valley at the base of the Ranthambhore Fort. The forest canopy sliced the afternoon sun into long beams of light and several of these lit the tiger and the surrounding foliage. By underexposing 1 and a 1/2 stops on the camera I saturated the light on the tiger, resulting in his coat turning a deep, vivid red. This also darkened the shaded areas to a beautiful, jet black, resulting in this striking image. Note how both of the eyes are lit. This is essential for the feel of the picture and gives life to the tiger. For me this picture evokes visions of the tiger, not as a living reality, but as a presence. A mysterious, cryptic hunter roaming the deep valleys of the forest in search of prey.
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