Saravanan Sundaram
Saravanan Sundaram spends almost 150 days in wilderness. After five years of pursuing wildlife photography, he now encourages youngsters to go inside forests and learn about wildlife. He himself often escapes into the thickets of Topslip, Mudumalai and Valparai during the weekends. “It started as a hobby and now I feel like spending the rest of my life in the forest. The experience of the wild is sublime,” says Saravanan, after visiting 15 sanctuaries in India and Maasai Mara and Botswana in Africa. “These trips sensitised me towards environment and wildlife and taught me not to expect anything from life.” Saravanan loves the big cat and the monsoon safaris. “My first tiger sighting was in Mudumalai but the sanctuary I love the most is Bandipur,” he says. “Once, after waiting for months, I shot a tigress with four cubs. It got published in Nat Geo and got selected in numerous competitions.” “I am grateful to the tigress,” he adds.
Rathika Ramasamy
Rathika’s love with the camera started when she was a school student. The flowers, bees, butterflies and lizards in the garden were her subjects. She first stepped inside a sanctuary in 2003 and fell in love with birds at Bharatpur. “I was using D70, my first digicam and by fluke, I got a close up of a colourful bird,” recalls Rathika. “I did not know anything about wildlife photography then. Over the years, I have learnt to be patient and also read a lot.” Rathika has visited over 20 national parks around the world. “The best place to start wildlife photography is the outskirts of the city we live in,” she says. Rathika has many memorable moments in the wild but regards her first close encounter with the big cat at Jim Corbett as a special one. “The Tiger was having a meal by the Ramganga river. It was a rare sight and I felt blessed and lucky.” Rathika also loves watching elephants, “They are mighty and majestic. In summer, Corbett is full of elephants and other surprises that give me an adrenaline rush,” she says.
Sridhar Mohan
A project on Ornithology spanning two years at Mettupalayam Forest College gave Sridhar Mohan his first experience of the wild. He started as a street photographer and freelanced for a magazine in Madurai but keenly watched the Nat geo channel always. “I always dreamt of watching wild elephants up close,” says Sridhar. His dream came true at the Kothagiri forest range, an elephant corridor. “I woke up at 5 in the morning and took pictures of an elephant herd. There were 15 of them drinking water at the stream giving me splendid shots,” remembers Sridhar. But he also faced some anxious moments when due to lack of experience he used the flash and was charged by an elephant. “I ran for life and fell into a trench.” During the weekends, he bikes off to Bandipur, Valparai or Mudumalai. “This summer was my ninth safari into Bandipur and I spotted ‘the prince of Bandipur’ - the biggest tiger of the reserve,” says Sridhar.
The majestic animal is his favourite too. “I still love the rush it gave me on my first sighting.”
Munis Raja --
Munis Raja tried his hands in all genres of photography. “But wildlife is close to my heart,” he declares. Munis is an engineer by profession but six years ago, he started birding around Chennai. The Pulicat lake near Andhra border flocked by the greater flamingos was his regular haunt.
“Watching birds is a stress buster and has become a part of my routine now,” says Munis, whose picture ‘Flamingo colony’ won the Best Asian photography award in 2013 given by Sanctuary Asia. The photo also got into the wildlife calendar of 2014. The Bandipur, Masinagudi, Kabini forest ranges in Karnakata are second home to Munis. But the trek in Tadoba is the most memorable one. “On my fifth safari, I sighted a tiger that suddenly emerged suddenly from the bush. I froze and my heart was racing. There are only 3,500 of them in the whole world, and I saw one of them. I silently interacted with the tiger. It was a spiritual bliss. It’s like saying Hi to a stranger and walking off,” recalls Munis. “Experiences in the wild are more like discovering yourself. Photographing animals come later, but one should enjoy the sights first.”
Sangeeta Dhanuka
“As a child, I used to religiously watch the series 'our living planet" on Doordarshan. Just that I didn't know we had wildlife in India too! I got into it in 1999 and went deeper into nature and wildlife. Photography was a natural progression and became a passion gradually,” says Sangeeta Dhanuka, a visitor to more than 30 sanctuaries. “I started out as a birder but later realized I was missing out on the mammals and went in search of the big cats and jumbos.” “I went to Tadoba and the sightings were good but a wildlife photographer is never satisfied. Then I saw a tiger drinking from a waterhole just ahead of our gypsy on the road. My hands shook but I started clicking. In the initial thrill, the first 15-20 shots were wasted. So I calmed myself down and then came a moment when the tiger and I locked eyes.” Sangeeta finds it hard to describe “that moment”. She finds peace and solitude to be most striking about forest. “Unlike humans nature loves you unconditionally and speaks back to you if you listen.”
Guna Amuthan
“The most fascinating aspect of forest and wildlife is the thrill of spotting animals and the expectation and curiosity involved in it,” says Guna Amuthan, after visiting Bannerghatta, Topslip and Yelappara in Kerala. After two years filming elements of the streets, he tried his hands at shooting the wildlife at Bannerghatta. “Initially, I thought shooting wildlife is a fancy job, but once into the forest I realised deeper meanings -- that the world is also home to these animals apart from us humans and I felt humbled,” says Guna. “I can never forget how a tiger leaped out suddenly from behind a mound at Bannerghatta giving me goosebumps. My frames were hazy but I wasn’t bothered,” says Guna. After returning home, Guna got interested in clicking squirrels, geckos and butterflies. Recently, he branched out to bird photography. “Trips to the jungle,” he says, “help to understand animals better and that happens through experience only.” Guna is planning a photo story on the elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu and how it has been blocked.
