Wildlife Photography Tour, Kanha in January 2011.

My First Wildlife Photo Tour of the year 2011 to Kanha was a success for me and my group and with sightings of almost all the mammals of kanha and a variety of birds and rare animal behavior. We were lucky to see so many animals as temp had dropped to almost -6 deg celcius(a record low for kanha) a few days before and sightings were very less. When I was there the temp was still very low for me a mumbaikar whose winter is a cool breeze, The lowest it went during my stay was around -1 deg celcius.

Following is a photo narration of the trip with a few of my fav images from the trip.

IMAGE 1. This is the first tigress we saw on our first safari, its a lovely setting with the barasingha looking at the tigress in the background. The tigress has a radio collar. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/640s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 2. Just after the above tigress dissappeared this guy came along and went in the same direction, this was probably one of the best sloth bear sightings i have had, he was not at all concerned with our vehicle or us around, he came quite close for a bear in Kanha. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/80s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 3. Barasingha Stag Silhouette watching a tourist vehicle approaching. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/1600s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 200.

IMAGE 4. Barasingha Stag in golden light. Click Here for a slightly bigger image.  Rare Barasingha or swamp deer, the Hard–ground barasinghas (Rucervus duvauceli branderi) is found only in Kanha. This male was unusually comfortable walking on the dirt track used by vehicle and also by the tigers. He walked almost 1.5 kms with us. I like to take images that have a play of light and this one works well. The Golden light just reflects on his body and antlers. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/320s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 200.

IMAGE 5. Dhole on the lookout for cheetal, the tourist watch and photograph in the background. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4.5, 1/320s, aperture priority, 0ev, Matrix metering, ISO 200.

IMAGE 6. Dhole Closeup. The 200-400 is awesome when the subject is close by. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4.5, 1/320s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 7. This Jackal was calling a tigress which was sitting accross on the left, it tried hard as if to distract it from something probably pups. After a minute or so the tigress couldnt bear it and ran after the jackal, you can see the image below of tigress running. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/250s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 8. Tigress leaps with both front feet above ground. She was focused on getting the jackal but the jackal was too smart. Click Here for another image of the same sequence. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/1000s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 9. The image shows the habitat of this very camouflaged and elusive mammal. We witnessed a very rare and ultimate sequence, just after we saw the jackal being chased by the tigress, we saw a dhole chase this leopard and while our gypsy was still moving towards the scene i saw the dhole jump behind the leopard while the leopard climbed the tree, it was as if the dhole would also climbing the tree. There was only 1 vehicle standing there in the right place, i wished we had been there a little earlier, i could have got the dhole jumping on the leopard image. Anyway i am satisfied even to witness such a rare scene in the wild. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/160s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400. (I had to correct the exposure in Capture NX, should have been 0ev)

IMAGE 10. The same Leopard on tree in a relaxed pose after the dholes left, We also saw another smaller leopard on ground which this leopard seems to be looking at, probably young one of this mother. Infact this was my best leopard sighting also just after i left this place we saw a male leopard running by. 3 leopards in the entire trip would have been a record but here we saw 3 in the same safari. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/160s, aperture priority, +0.3ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 11. Barasingha female. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/200s, aperture priority, +0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 200.

IMAGE 12. Barasingha female looking at Gaur & Egrets. I have intentionally broken the rule that foreground needs to be in focus although i have a image with the deer in focus but i don’t like it as much as this one. Some times breaking rules is good to satisfy your creative needs. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/2000s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 13. Barasingha Deers backlit in the grass. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/1600s, aperture priority, -0.7ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 14. Barasingha Deer Drinking water and eating the algae. The ripples in the water create a nice balance in the image and i think it helps the composition very much. Image shot using a Nikon d300+ nikor 200-400vr on monopod at F4, 1/2000s, aperture priority, -0.3ev, Matrix metering, ISO 400.

IMAGE 15. Tourist, Wild lifers, Nature lovers and Photographers, Cameraman at kanha.

IMAGE 16. A tree backlit looks beautifully glittering. Here i tried to underexpose the backlit tree, a little PP in Capture NX to get the desired effect.

Thats about it from Kanha in January, pls do leave your comments and would love to know your fav 3 images. 🙂