For all the budding nature photographers, who do not understand what responsible photography is all about, they need to ask themselves few questions, before delving deep into photography. Nature photography in particular.
I  thought of a small check list of items that can serve as a thought-starters for all the intending-to-be  photographers:
1. Why do I want to do photography? Why Nature in particular when there are hundreds of thousands of nature photographers out there?
Nature/Wildlife photography has become a ‘fashionable hobby’ among youth and young cash-rich professionals. In one of my previous posts here, I had indicated that every person with a camera in hand is indeed a photographer. But, the most important part of photography is sense of responsibility. Asking yourself – Am I a responsible photographer? Defining the term ‘being responsible’ is tough. Asking oneself a simple ( yet profound ) question like:  ”How much of fragile nature of natural ecosystems and habitats do I understand?” would answer most part of it. It also brings in lot of other thoughts on making of a responsible photographer. Respect for subject that you intend to shoot and maintainability of safe distance from the subject so as to not to intrude too close should be of prime importance. While along the nature’s trail, do not litter, do not leave back any thing, do not take anything, take only photographs for memories. Do you really understand the gravity of these words?
2. Art Vs Documentation.
Art – you either have it in your genes or you don’t. If you don’t and you still want to photograph, then documentation is a way to start with. Document what one sees in nature is the best way to learn the mysteries of nature and behaviors of various birds, mammals and insects. In the process, probing and searching for one’s signature would definitely yield in creation of unique and artistic images.
3. Passion Vs profession or part time?
Many of the photographers, as beginners would start as amateur photographers – where they have a day job other than photography. Converting it into a profession is altogether a different ball game. The question is are you there? If you are passionate about photography, by making it as a profession, how much of your ideals and ethics you intend to take along the journey of being a professional photography. And how much of it do you wish to compromise!
Drawing a line is tough especially when it boils down to your bread and butter. Prime question is – are you *willing* to not to cross the boundaries and yet earn your daily bread?
For me, I do photography because I am passionate about it.
4. Affordability and acquisition
Every day, I get atleast 1-2 e-mails from lots of aspiring photographers asking me questions like – “How do I become a wildlife photographer?” , ” What equipments do I need to buy to shoot like a pro?”, “How can I make images like you do?”. Though these questions sound redundant, I would like to pen down my personal thoughts on photographic tools, a bit.
Photography is indeed an expensive craft to start as a hobby. One need to think many times before getting into it. Investment ( spending, as my friend Ganesh says) on the photographic tools can drill deep holes in your pocket. Investing wisely and effectively after a well thought out strategy should be the need of the hour. Just because your close friend is a photographer, you shouldn’t be one. Just because your friend has the best of the cameras/equipments, you need not invest in the same set of tools, unless it suits your photographic style and needs!
5. The End goal
Always start with a goal in mind. Where do you see as a nature photographer 5 years down the lane? Do you intend to photograph/document as many numbers of birds/species in your life time or do you intend to grow as an artist? Unless you are clear on your thoughts as to why you intend to photgraph, what you intend to do with the craft and what you intend to convey through your ‘photographic messages‘, photography as a hobby or art or serious hobby or profession or what ever you intend to call it, would loose its real essence.
Meaningless, thankless, aimless, irresponsible and unethical work as a photographer would do no justice to the spirit of art and craft of photography.
Let’s be mindful. It is true for any art form.
There are couple of questions that are bothering me since some time now.
Is a telephoto lens a must in the arsenal of a nature/wildlife photographer? Does having a telephoto lens makes me a renowned nature photographer?
Reciprocity
Nature photography is a vast arena and one life time is insufficient to completely study and be a master student or to perfectly live a profession or become a genius artist. Let me break it into two parts. Nature and photography. When you think of nature, you can think of the tiniest of the creatures that is existing to the widest possible landscape to the biggest mammal on the planet. How you wish to portray depends on your creativity and perspective. If you wish to get up close and personal and the intent is to show the extreme details of the wings of a butterfly you need a higher magnification macro lens, if you intend to make a hair counting portrait of an eagle and yet work from a safe distance, you may need large focal length telephoto lens, if you intend to show a panoramic view of the Himalayas then you may need an ultra wide angle lens. Photographing all these scenario is very much possible and is what is done currently by me and many others.
Opposing Forces
Turning the table upside down. If I am seeing from below, why wouldn’t I think of seeing the same scene from top? How about shooting the same butterfly with a wide angle lens, a landscape with a macro lens and a bird with a wide angle lens? People will laugh at me. Who cares? Is it my image or do I wish to be a conformist? The image I created will be mine but am scared as the image is not saleable. Saleable?! I need to make that tiger portrait!
Having the best of the camera in the market make me a better photographer artist? I shoot with a semi-professional body and hence is my work not professional?
Reciprocity
What is my end goal in photographing a scene? A print? An addition to my collection of online portfolio? or A creation? One of the best things that happened in the field of photography is technology. There is a downside to it. Shooting slides/film was always a challenge. Studying the scene, shooting it to technical perfection and seeing it on a big print to analyse the mistakes of image that WAS created are just handful of inherent challenges in slide photography. It is/was a really expensive profession. The craft could be mastered only by technically proficient photographer. Now with the emergence of digital technology, every person with the camera is indeed eligible to be called a photographer. I shoot with best of the cameras available in the market and that completes my awesome set of online portfolio of images. People appreciate my work and I am famous.
Opposing forces
Every photographer is NOT an artist. Â Elevation from being a photographer to being an artist needs characters like vision, creativity and originality. Am I one?. Art is not cliche. But, I want to make some images with fantastic action of birds. I need a 10 FPS camera so that I don’t miss any opportunity that I witness in the field. I want to be an award winning photographer. I need a high megapixel camera so that I can print it large.
What do I do with all the images I make? Where is the photography community heading and where am IÂ heading? Hunt for the answers is on, but will I find the right answers?
To the reader : What are your thoughts?
This is going to be a long post, so please bear with me.
From dictionary:
ac·knowl·edg·ment[ak-nol-ij-muhnt]
–noun
1. An act of acknowledging.
2. Recognition of the existence or truth of something
3. An expression of appreciation.
4. A thing done or given in appreciation or gratitude.
Gratitude - that’s the word. A word that communicates a sense of indebtedness, appreciation, a lot of reverence and a feeling of thankfulness towards another person, an accomplice or with whom you are related to. A few days back I had a tiny dicussion with one of my close buddy on photography and its dynamics in India. Since photography is a generic term and refers to a universe of stereotypes, we concentrated on nature photography as both of us are nature photographers and we have been very closely associated within the community. One thing led to another and we ended up in a conversation of being thankful to all the people with whom we are closely related – with whom we interact very closely on day-to -day basis. I would like to thank those people and would like to write a few words about them ( as to what I feel about them ), people who have had some profound influence on me ever since I started my photography. These people are friends both in real as well as virtual world.
Acknowledgements to someone who truely inspires you is what is lacking in us. I strongly feel it’s cultural and higly individualistic attitudes and ego clashes that prevents us from not being thankful to whom who inspires us constantly. I have seen people failing consistently to give credits from whom they have learnt something. Being indebted makes me get rid of the “I”ness, makes me feel happy and connected to all of them and hence this post.
Anil Ranganatha – A friend since more than a decade, has an unique eye in photographing nature. He was the one who was the initial trigger for me in taking up nature photography. Though he is on and off photography since few months because of personal priorities, whenever he finds time, he doesn’t think twice in engaging himself in spending time with nature. One of his latest works on west coast of India is truly inspirational and worth looking at it many times.
Ashwini Kumar Bhat – Nature photographer with some unique perspectives. A keen observer, an excellent birder hails from the region of Sirsi, Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. This region is home of some endemic western ghats birds and life forms and one can imagine the influence of nature on him ever since his birth and his association with natural elements of the region. I always admire his unique and artistic compositional abilities and creations.
Dhritiman Mukherjee – Here in India, we believe, If there is a unique natural history moment or a rare species that is yet to be photographed, we first look at one of the most adventurous professional nature photographers and that’s Dhritiman. His documentation of nature is unique, awe-inspiring and stunning to say the least. He is one photographer who is all the time travelling being at the right time in the right places. Always comes back with stunning images and raises the bar among the nature photographers in India.
Ganesh H. Shankar – It would still be an understatement if I say he is one of the best nature photographers in India. With over a decade of experience in nature photography, his hardwork and photographic creations always stands distinctly ahead of time and space. His images are hauntingly beautiful, highly individual, creative and instantly revetting to all the viewers with unique signature written all over His creations. A true artist by heart and a ‘photo-scientist’ by mind who is fearless and bold in his experiments, succeeds in his attempts most of the time. Most importantly, he shares his knowledge! His images are brain-starters for the day for me, many times!!
His work is acclaimed both in India and internationally. Every since we came in contact with each other, our friendship has grown in leaps and bounds. Every time I look at his work, there is always something to learn, something magical and awe-inspiring. Every image in his portfolio has a definite purpose and a definite reason for its existence. The most admirable quality in him is his commitment and ethics.
Guy Tal – A true artist, master of initimate landscape photography. Though I have not had a very close association with Guy in the real world, His work has a profound influence on me. Thanks to technology and internet. This fantastic writer and a visual artist by profession is one of the best fine art nature photographers who hails from the USA. His ability to translate his emotions to pixels and words is astounding and highly admirable. His singular vision of intimate landscape photography and abstractness is a treasure of art. Every image that he has created glistens like rare gems!
Jayanth Sharma – An excellent natural history photographer whose passion for nature photography is something to look out for. He has travelled across India, Africa and parts of S.E Asia photographing many endemic species. He has won many awards and recognitions across the photography domain in the country. He is currently pursuing his passion for photography by working as full time professional. As very good friend of mine, we have travelled to many places together and its been quite an experience photographing next to Jayanth.
Kalyan Varma – Naturalist, knowledgeable and an excellent natural history photographer who quit is high-paying software job for the love of nature and nature photography. Recently he has been collaborating with wildlife scientists and researchers in documenting the fragile ecosystems in India.
His acumen in writing photo essays is commendable and his work is acclaimed across photographic community. A true conservationis and naturalist by heart. During my early days of photography, I was in constant touch with Kalyan, understanding the basics of camera. He had been very helpful in providing me some very good inputs on natural history and photography during my infancy in photography.
Santosh Saligram – If it is passion for Tigers and Tiger phorography, Santosh’s name tops the list. An excellent writer and his writing skills has acclaimed attention across the photographic community in India. He is someone who is constantly inspiring me through his stunning photographs and knowledge on the big cat. You can ask him to stay away from anything, not Tigers! His second home is Bandhavragh National Park, Madhya pradesh, India. I see him as One of the ambassadors for tiger consevation in India.
Shivakumar L Narayan – One of my best friends with whom the association was accidental, now everlasting. A partner-in-crime, I must confess. ‘Photo-technically’ strong, inquisitive of new technologies in the world of photography is with whom I have been constantly photographing nature since last few years. His work is diverse and highly evocative. When I first came across with his work on travel photography, I was struck by his amazing creations that involved bold use of lines and stunning compositions of architecture and travel. His black and white work during his short stint of work in the UK is still afresh in my mind. Ever since he has come back to India for good, there is no looking back and has visited numerous national parks across india documenting life forms and creating and adding many artistic images to his collection. He has also been a close accomplice in various team work that includes - CNP and LW.
Sriharsha Ganjam – If its astronomy, time lapse or astro-photography – Sriharsha’s name is synonymous in Indian photography community. The ability to translate his imaginations to an image is astrounding. Extremely passionate about nature and astro-photography. I have seen him wake up in the middle of the night and drive up to a local reservoir fearing nothing waiting for the right moment to photograph. His work on time lapse is inspirational and admirable. Thankfully, His association with landscape wizards has surely boosted our portfolio of landscape images of India.
Sudhir Shivaram – Bangalore based wildlife photographer who specializes in bird photography was one of my initial gurus in nature photography. His unparalleled ability and passion for sharing photography and post-processing tips is something to look out for. I always admire his ability of reaching out to the young mass of budding nature photographers in India in sharing his technical and post-processing skills. His knowledge on birds and bird photography is exceptional.
Vijay Mohan Raj – With Indian Forest Service, I must say he is a true nature soldier. Very affable person, always mentoring and guiding aspiring nature photographers, is another good friend of mine. He is a treasure house of knowledge on Natural History. His photography skills and creative eye  is something not many can miss out for long. His “MaLe” and “Insects” images have had a lasting impact on me.
Ofcourse, I am indebted to many more people whom I have come across in this short journey of mine including my family and other ever encouraging friends without whom I couldn’t have done this. It’s the contraint of time and space that I cannot write about all of them. Atleast, I am happy that I don’t fail to acknowledge few people who have profoundly influenced me in the world of art and photography.
Never follow the crowd.
-Bernard Baruch
Being a member of Landscape Wizards, I am excited to share a give away activity by the team.
If you are interested in winning and also intend to carry forward your responsibility as  a reader, visit Landscape wizards blog here.
Intend to follow us or the crowd? Choice is yours . . .
Feelings - that’s the word used in common paralance. Personally, for me, that word conveys anything that is intended with a lot lesser depth or impact than the word emotion. Emotions are feelings and not the other way round. Emotions can be felt, but feelings cannot be emoted. Emotions arise as a result of mental agitation, disturbance or pain. It’s a much stronger feeling than ‘feelings’. In the physical world, it’s just a chemical activity in the brain. But this message that is created by such a thing called brain is so powerful that it is capable unravelling a process called – creation. Creation in a much higher plane. It’s the plane of art.
Since the very beginning of human civilization, we have never stopped creating. There is no single mind that has ever stopped thinking unless it is dead. The very first ‘modern man’ created tools for hunting. Such a thing happened not consciously, but subconsciously. There was a sense of necessity, a sense of vulnerability, a sense of controlling the so called world that initiated such a subconscious process. With the evolving gray matter, tools were developed for re-creating what the nature had already created. And the necessity for such a creation was solely the very thought of documenting what was seen in raw nature. Thus, primordial ‘cave art’ emerged. The very first writing. The very first process of documentation. The art of translation.
Evolution of modern-artist-man has been a profound gift of nature. Complex, philosophical thoughts originated in my mind when I was watching the “Primates” episode of Life series on television. The way mother chimpanzee teaches its offspring the ‘art of living‘ was simply mindblowing. Hats off to the cameramen and the entire team of artists who brought back those intimate visuals to us.
So what does feelings, emotions, cave art, primates and television series – Life have in common? Art and its evolution. It’s a state of mind that simply existed, exists and will continue to exist for ever. Translation of emotions to something tangible is what creates art. Process of translation is creation. Trigger for the process of translation is emotion. The translator is called an artist.
Am I one?
At first I was a typical beginner who had admired some fantastic works from some superb photographer artists, before I picked up my first DSLR and there was no looking back since then.
Now reminising on some of my past experiences, Nature always has inspired me and I have always been longing for outdoors ever since I started by expeditions into the wild. Begin late monsoons of 2006, my memories are still afresh, when I made a maiden journey into the real wilderness – for me it was the southern western ghats region in the state of Karnataka. It was pouring and I never knew what real monsoons in the wild mean, till I experienced it first hand. It was lush green, dampness and moss everywhere. Omnipresent leeches welcomed us. The buzz of the cicadas and western ghats endemic birds were music to our ears.
That was the defining moment for me.
For 2 full days we spent our night in a basic accomodation under the pouring rains. It was bliss and I knew what my emotions were telling my mind. When I came back to the civilization, I had decided to pursue my passion for Nature Photography . Visibility was less, I had to work hard and I was never concerned about what others think of me. I became a weekend warrior and started to hike and roam the wild places. I made some fantastic friends during the last 4 years of my journey in nature photography and I am still cherishing the everlasting friendship and association with such lovely people who are equally passionate about nature, nature photography and art and they have been pursing the art with determination, will and passion. And as I look back, I am enthralled at the experience I have had and my association with some wonderful people along the way.
Just like “writers block”, I had a short stint of “photographer’s block” and that was mainly because of personal priorities that kept me occupied for close to an year now! Yes, time and tide waits for none. Despite all the priorities ( I hate to call them hurdles and they never are and will be! ), I was in constant touch with my fellow photographer friends who never let me down. Best part of being in such a company is that they keep your passion for nature alive and burning through their inspirational work. I must say I am lucky to have such friends. I need not name them here as they know whom am referring to and am greatful to them.
So what has changed in past few months? Many things! My thought process, way of approach to nature photography and most importantly, as you read this, this website of mine. Its been an arduous work and since the time I got busy and couldn’t make images, I spent the whole of scorching Indian summer thinking, designing and working on this new site and here it is finally. With this first blog post, I hope to keep the blog alive and kicking sharing my new experiences and discoveries I make during my expeditions in the wild. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
