canis

BACK TO BLOGGING

2009-08-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

Last two months was absolutely hectic. A 12000kms drive across the Western Ghats photographing monsoons, delivering talks in schools and colleges, doing post work at desk for continuous 2 weeks was brilliant. It was a superb learning experience.

I have planned to keep this space systematically updated about my work from now. Check out for frequent updates.

Cheers,

Ram

Current mood: happy and energetic

SECRETS OF THE KING COBRA

2009-05-17T05:14:00.000-07:00

The film that i worked on in 2008 with Felis creations is being telecasted in National Geographic Channel.

The schedule is:

INDIA -Sunday, May 17th at 8pm, re-telecast at 11pm & 3 am

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG -Sunday, May 17th at 9pm

US -Saturday, May 16 at 8pm ET/11pm PT

Dont miss it!!!

cheers,

Ram

Thinking phase

2008-12-26T08:42:00.000-08:00

If u want to know the value or duration of one minute, best ways are to construct a sequence in the editing table and to workout in a fitness centre. 'How long a minute can stretch' can be known if u these two.This entire month has been scheduled completely with desk work and stuff. The last Fuji supersix exhibition will be inagurated on 29th december 2008 at all india fine arts and crafts society by Mr.Raghu rai. If u r in Delhi please step in to have a look at the exhibition.

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy

RAINFOREST SERIES

2008-12-18T23:54:00.000-08:00

Here it is...atlast

IMAGES FROM THE RAINFORESTS

http://www.ramnathshekar.com/rainforest.htm

Comments and suggestions welcome.

current mood: happy :)

off to field

2008-10-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

It has been two months since i got back from Agumbe after being in field for quite sometime. Last few months have a good time at desk making a promotional film, a booklet on frogs et cetera. I will be off to field for couple of weeks to do some serious still photography and it will be a special shoot for me as this is the first time i am taking my bolero into the field for work. Hope everything goes fine.

CHAOS

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy

TIRING WEEK, EDITING AND TRAVEL

2008-10-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Last week has been a phenomenal week in my learning curve(on the positive side). I sat to work on a promotional film without knowing anything about the post production part of film making. Finally after four days of continuous work without sleep, i managed to make a 12 minute promotional video and i hope it has come out decently well and will serve the purpose.I learnt a lot about post production part of film making and a lot more in this four days and also found that film making is very close to my heart and i am loving it.

During an awarness exhibition at Rajapalayan, Tamilnadu.

from left:Me,Mr.thangam Tenarasu,Education minister and Mr.maleswappa, IFS.

RAJAPA LAYAM WILDLIFE WEEK CELEBRATIONS
I came back from editing on 3rd morning at 6 AM. I left to a Rajapalayam in the southern part of Tamilnadu which is 700 kms from Chennai. It was a tiring long drive as i havent slept for the last few days. 75 pictures taken by me was exhibited there for around 2000 school children. I was a very good experience interacting with them. I had an oppurtunity to meet and interact many IFS officials from the southern part Tamilnadu. The exhibition was opened by Mr.Thangam tenarasu, the Education minister of Tamilnadu . Talks given by Mr.tenarasu and other forest department officialswas different from the usual long talks.They were good and informative.I had to drive back to chennai today morning as my brother is leaving to UK.
It has been a hectic week after editing and driving 1800 kms in two days but an extremely memorable week which made me learn a lot and also drive continuously with the bolero.

cheers,

ram

current mood:exhausted, Need a break.

MY NEW BABY....MY STRESS BUSTER

2008-09-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

After shifting from chennai few months back, i am shuttling between field, my native place and my aunts house in chennai. Equipment in one place, backup stuff's in some other place, it was fully of chaos travelling with all my equipment in buses was extremely unsafe. last time when i got back from agumbe i was travelling with 6 months of baggage, equipment, Hard drive's etc. I was badly looking for a second hand utility vehicle for travel and to dump all my stuff when i am going outdoors. Finally me and my dad decided to get a new Bolero. I took it for delivery last week and i am just loving it. Driving is my second passion and an absolute stress buster for me. Now with my second baby , i am planning to do a bit field trips and get back to still photography for couple of months.

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy and energetic

goodbye to the land of rains

2008-08-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

back to desk work in chennai. shoot is over...... trying to create a gallery of pictures in my site on the rainforest...

cheers,

ram

FUJI SUPER SIX EXHIBITON-AHMEDBAD

2008-07-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

cheers,

ram

PS: sorry... no time to write anything or post images.

UPDATES

2008-07-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

The banglore fuji super six exhibition was good. we had a good response.
Relaxed life for 2 weeks.
Drove 3000kms in 10 days.
saw Dasavataram- good movie but i expected a lot from kamal. story line was weak.
Finally i gave all my windows related stuff and shifted to apple completely.
still processing and managing last 6 month's images.....
Driving back to Agumbe tomorrow for the final shoot tomo.

I promise to open a new gallery in the site for my Rainforest Series once i come back from the shoot.

stay put

cheers,

ram

current mood: Energetic

BACK TO CIVILIZATION

2008-06-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

After a continuous two and a half months schedule, i drove back to chennai today. It took me 14 hours with a little bit of break. The first Two schedule for the National Geographic documentaty by Felis creations is over and we will be re grouping again for the shoot soon. Before i write about my rainforest experience i would like to inform a superb news to everyone.

I got a mail from BBC informing me that i reached till the finals in the Eric hosking award and semi final in Gerald Durrell award and creative visions of nature catergory . i am happy that i got to finals this time. i hope i will work better this year.

secondly the Fuji super six exhibition is commencing in Banglore on the 25th of june at 11 AM

VENUE: VENKATAPPA ART GALLERY, KASTURBA ROAD, BANGLORE G.P.O, BANGLORE

DATE AND TIME: 25th to 29th June 10am- pm

INAGURATION: 25th june at 11 AM

friends in Banglore do come to see our works.

Before i finish my post i would like to write a few words about my experience in the rainforests of Agumbe.

Photographing in rainforests is stunning and never easy. Every inch u move, u find something interesting. Fungi grows on every bark or tree. Tree frogs and toads are abundant. In the night the forests reverbrate with male frogs&toads calling for mate. u can never imagine how many frogs are calling in the night. probably 1000's or maybe more than that. If u get up in the morning the entire rainforest is covered by mist. A hornbill zooms past through the most echoing the forest with its voice. In the night distant calls of the brown hawk owl, forest eagle owl makes sure that the forest is completely alive in the night. words cannot describe the beauty and serenity of the rainforest. we were filming for NGT documentary. there are lots of hardships in keeping you and your equipment dry as fungus literally grows on everything. the equipement, your foot, clothes etc but the images and sequences u get in this conditions are out of the world. we filmed lots of sequences that were never before filmed in the wild.

I did a bit of still photography apart from filming. covering yourself with rain proof clothes, carrying a tripod, camera in heavy rains photographing it under the cover of an umbrella is just amazing. mists and rainforests evoke so much emotions in you.

with months of backlog i processing pictures, getting camera equipment serviced, college work etc etc i don think i can keep my blog active but i hope i will keep updating about my trips and work.

cheers,

ram

current mood: burnt out

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY. 1st ANNIVERSAY

2008-04-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

hi people! long time no communicate!
life is very hectic with work nowadays but i decided to post this blog on this very special day. on april 26th 2007 i started wildlife photography and how my parents got me all the equipment in a very difficult situation. my life changed completely after that day. according to me, my year starts only on april 26th. i am very happy to post this picture from the rainforests of Agumbe were i am currently working. its extremely great here. never in my wildest dreams i dreamt of everything that happened after april 26th 2007. i am hoping to maintain this and work hard to follow my goals.

thats it! i give up. net connection is slow like a snail.
cheers,
ram

current mood: exhausted and happy
PS:- success is 99% perspiration and 1% external inspiration :)

GOODBYE CHENNAI

2008-04-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

I was asked to shift to chennai from my native place so that i can get a good training here to join some medical college. i was a mom's kid. they asked to do medicine and i came here joined some coaching classes etc. i don know wer it went right n one fine day i met shekar dattatri in the year april 2003. i still remember the nagarahole: tales from the indian jungle being screened in satyam theatre. after the show i met him and the first question i asked was " was this film shot in a ' high density' camera? people say first impression is best impression but i think that didnt work in my case. by 2004 i decided i should do wildlife photography as a hobby after seeing all the films and photography by various people. gradually paths changed and i got addicted to wildlife and photography like crazy. later i the nikon f55 and a normal lens wont work out for anything good. when i realised it was 2005. then i asked my dad to get a nikon d80 and a 50-500mm lens ad began shooting with it. i was quite satisfied with the results but i wanted to do something professionally. when i was in my last year of schooling my thougts comepletely changed and i got hooked on to wildlife. i bunked almost 100 out of 180 working days in school. finally in 2007 april 26th i convinced my dad somehow to invest on high end camera gears. i am still figuring out as to what made him get all the equipement i use now. not even in my wildest dreams i imagined that i will get addicted to it like this. almost the whole year till now everything happened in the blink of an eye and now i am the happiest person in the world because i will be doing what i wanted to do.

i am leaving to agumbe tomorrow to work with felis creations. i wont be coming back to chennai again for atleast a year or two due to many reason.. till the day i came here, chennai and my friends have made me think completely different, and and gave me extremely good support to pursue my passion and always welcomed me to teach me whatever i wanted. i am grateful to all my friends in chennai. i hope i can meet them if i come back to chennai later. i hope i will find time to do some still work. i will keep updating reports about my experience in agumbe.

i don think i can sleep tonight as i am very excited about working in agumbe and extermely happy that i am leaving chennai. i had enough being here and i just couldn work here anymore.

just thought of quoting few lines from the poem " the road not taken " by Robert frost

........ i shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence

two roads diverged in a wood, and I

took the one less traveled by,

and that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

cheers,

ram

2008-04-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

I just dont have enough time to write about the Fuji supersix chennai launch that happened yesterday. considering the fact that chennai is a sleepy city, the opening was good :) the exhibition is on till 15th of this month. if u r in chennai, do step in to see our works.

shekar inagurating the exhibition

shekar and me

cheers,

ram

FUJI SUPERSIX EXHIBITION, CHENNAI

2008-04-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

After a very good response received from Fuji super six exhibition in Mumbai, we now take the exhibition to Chennai. I cordially invite you for the exhibition on behalf of Fuji and Jindal photo.

For friends in Chennai, I will be leaving Chennai on april 12^thonce for all. I hope to meet you all during the exhibition.

VENUE: LALIT KALA ACADEMY,REGIONAL CENTER, NO.4, GREAMS ROAD,

CHENNAI-6

DATE: 9-4-08 TO 15-4-08

GALLERY TIMINGS: 11 AM -7 PM

INAGURATION BY Mr.SHEKAR DATTATRI AT 5PM ON APRIL 9^TH.

cheers,

ram

mac is here

2008-04-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly five days since my old laptop went for a toss. i had given it to the service to get it fixed. meanwhile i was gifted a macbook by who else but my dad :) i got it this afternoon and i am just loving it. editing pics in mac is just out of the world. its extremely superb and to edit images with a mac. past few days has been busy getting stuffs ready for the fuji exhibition which is gonna be inagurated in chennai and enjoying last few days of my life in chennai :)

PS:- its a bit difficult to work on mac after working on windows for a long time. hoping to make my laptop made for each other soon :)

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy

FREEDOM ATLAST

2008-03-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I don know how the experience in hell will be but if someone asks me if i had experienced hell, i will definitely say i experienced hell with people in chennai for the last four months coz of my grave mistakes. i was finding a good reason to leave chennai. finally in another 12 days exactly i will be off from this dump next few months i will be working on BBC/NGC assignments with felis creations ( www.feliscreations.com ) i am very happy that i will be taking few years break from my college and working on what i love, wildlife, forests, photography and filmmaking.
the fuji exhibition will be in chennai on april 9th. i will write a seperate post about it soon. stay put for more happenings :)

TENDERNESS AND TRUST

Enjoy this image till then.last april i made this image in my backyard at my native place. however troublesome this guy was, the mother didnt let him down. I always love to shoot primates, elephants and bears. the emotions they show is out of the world. somehow i nowadays feel i can converse with animals i shoot :) guess i am going mad

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy

NATURE, ART AND LOVE

2008-03-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

i got a call from my friend, a well known musician asking me to come to his house immedaitely When i went to his house and he was soaked in tears. when i asked wat was his problem he told that his x lover has been engaged to another guy. he was giving a beautiful philosophical touching words which made me think a lot. people, its not just a philosophical talk given by a guy in such conditions. It makes us think a lot. excerpts from watever he spoke:

History has a lot of bizarre patterns of love failures, which apparently implies that only the guy eventually become the losers. Rite from romeo-juliet, devdas-parvati, anarkali-salim to every single tom dick and harry we find on streets have found love broken up due to usual and unusual reasons. But the common pattern that I observe, is that its always the guys who ruin their lives thinking about their lost love and its mostly the girls who end up as parent driven puppets or people who find love almost instantaneously after their long drawn “ I will be single for ever, Its you or noone” speeches. Statuory warning: for people who disagree with me, please mail me historical details, articles, fiction, facts proving me wrong and I bet u r gonna give google a run for its money :) ( No offence meant )

I like to change sides here and state that the guys are really stupid and they are ruining their lives thinking about their lost love and the girl’s being very clever creatures have mastered the art of “moving on” .They have moved so far that they have circum navigated the globe six times whereas the stupid guys moved on to the nearest liquor shop or to the next phase in his life where his main aim is to stay away from her memories.

Let us take a classic example of a boy and a girl who are madly in love with each other and due to usual “unforeseen family circumstances or unusual break ups” they decide to end their relationship and what succeeds can be predicted by any onlooker. The story will most probably go like

a) Guy-girl breaks up. Guy takes to alcohol. Girl engages in a sob-fest for a temporary period of time and starts acting clever :)

b) Guy-girl break up: guy goes abroad, throws away all his loved ones belongings, tries to stream line his life based on one bottom line “ I have to avoid her memories”

c) Guy-girl break up: girl takes to alcohol, guys moves on with another girl,girl grows a beard and meets the guy after two years. The guy has two children and one girl child is apparently named after the lover ( are u shocked? Are you flabber gasted? )

If u are really shocked or u laughed at option ‘c’ you have accepted my theory indirectly which is the one possible way. If u find at option ‘a’ amussing pack your bags and move to Bollywood. and so jokes apart. Inevitably whether we like it or not the girl moves on( no she doesn grow a beard!)and the guy doesn’t( oh yes! He does grow a beard)

I seriously like to ask this question. Wat is love and trust in its most pure and unadulterated form?

Answer:

1) when u throw a three year old child up in the air and catch it, it smiles having the trust that u will catch it again.

2) the unconditional love given by a mother to a child irrespective of how the child treats her.

3) Any art form

God is not visible. He does not reveal himself directly. But we feel his divinity. Don’t we? That is because he has created nature, art and love as his representations in this world. Such a divine spot has been allotted for love. With these being the case how can we even think of polluting it? Me being a connoissuer or art, I can raise my voice to stop the pollution of nature and art. How can I raise my voice against the pollution of love?

The reason why god gave love such an important part in our lives is because of the fact that bonding between any two entities is only possible through it. If u ask me art has been showering its unconditional love on me since the day i was born on this world. Sometimes I reciprocated it. sometimes I did not. Did my impudence ever affect the unconditional love art has been showering on me. The answer is no. It has created an unbreakable bond similar to a bond between mother and a child and, me being the irresponsible child of my loving mother ( art) so I guess now your are clear with what I meant before.

Love between humans has to condescend through all barriers void of pollution if that situation happens. It can be equated to my love story with art. But the unfortunate and the bitter truth is that humans are humans. We are wicked, evil, fickle and we strive to destroy every single bit of the innocence that we have left in us. In the process we are deluding ourselves coating sugar to these bitter facts. Love is one which has its divine place and we as humans should keep its divinity intact. I don ever think that is happening. The biggest mistake I have made and I regret doing it is believing that no matter what happens, love can be so unconditional between two human beings.

I was completely moved by watever he said. i guess this will imply for people who are truly in love and not for people who fake in the name of love.

PS:- the musician didnt intend to hurt anyone and he is not a male chauvinist
cheers,

ram

current mood: depressed.

working 20*7

2008-03-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

off late i have been working like a mule. spending hours studying photography,filmmaking and wildlife. lot of surprises coming up soon :) its already 5 AM and i am still working on how to improve my working style and skills. i get to YM and i am welcomed by my friends:

pras: you?
pras: :)
pras: cant believe man
ram: yes dude, its me.
pras: when i see ram getting up so early my comp is acting weird dude

abhi: dude how come so early? its gonna rain cats and dogs man

sara: grt ram! someone had started to work on academics...

wat??get used seeing me up even at 6 AM . nowadays i am available online almost 24 hours...

cheers,

ram

current mood : thinking

EMOTIONS, PHOTOGRAPHY AND WRITING

2008-03-23T02:59:00.000-07:00

Recently when i was in periyar i discovered that i can even write songs :) i found out that any form of art is reflection of what our mind thinks. when u r in a good mood, energetic and happy, u tend to make images that show happiness and vibrant colours. if u r sad and depressed, its reflected in the images we make.
when i was trekking in periyar, i sat down on the river bed late in the evening to try my hands on writing. The distant call of a white cheeked barbet and the sound of cicadas echoed across the forest. The silent sounds of the periyar river was soft. The moon gradually rose up from the hills of western ghats. Till with the sudden sharp call of the sambhar, the wind is suddenly still and the barbet stopped calling. i started writing emotions and finally it shaped up like this.

"Why can't I speak when I have so much to tell?
Why can't I write when I have so much in mind?
Why can't I sing when there's music in my heart?
Why can't I dance when there's rythm in the air?

Too many words left unspoken
Too many things left undone
Why can't it be and why can't I?
For all I know this pain deep inside
Took the gladness from my heart.

Is this the pain of missing you?
Is this the reason behind it all?

Hear the agony of my heart
Longing for you and for your touch
Feeling your love, feeling your face
Missing your sweet talks and care

When will the waiting ever be over?
For as long as we are apart I can never be whole
Oh! My Dearest Love
I just want you to know
That my heart is aching because
"I'M MISSING YOU!"

think i should give up photography and start writing poems. any comments? :) currently writing an article on emotions and photography. hope i will complete it soon and post it. stay put.

cheers,

ram

current mood: exhausted

PERIYAR DIARY

2008-03-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

After a long gap of nearly one and half of years I went to my home, periyar Tiger reserve. after going there i found that people who truly love us will never leave us and forget us. it was an amazing feeling to be welcomed by people who know me there.I was there for the “ PERIYAR INHERITANCE” book launch but I had sometime to go into the field for few hours. I reached periyar expecting rains but it was completely dry. First few days I just wandered in the rainforest without camera. A cloudy day, little bit of drizzle, great hornbills flying above like a jet, barbets calling, suddenly a surprised barking deer flees away after seeing me. It was completely silent but in periyar each centimeter of land with be teaming with some activity if u observe keenly. From termites to tigers periyar supports very rich wildlife. Haven for butterflies, birds and plants. I just felt completely relieved from weeks long work. The book launch went very well. Dr. anish Andheria gave an awe inspiring talk on periyar and western ghats. It was attended by people from varying interest and the nature club members along with us.

Srilankan frogmouth ( Batrachostumus moniliger )

Next day I trekked with my camera. The morning was dull and hazy. Bird activity was normal. Racket tailed drongos flying in front of us and lands in a trees chasing small minivets and common rose finches. A white bellied treepie was busy feeding on a coral tree. A little above a brown pygmy woodpecker was keenly concentrating on pecking and chiseling the bark looking for insects and tiger signs were quite promising. Anish explained me about analyzing scats and signs left by a tiger. It was amazing to know about everything. A few hour walk with him threw light into garbology and analyzing nature’s sign language.

Wynaad laughingthrush ( Garrulax delesserti )

Ramnath chandrasekhar :)

After a few kilometers walk, rajan sighted a pair of srilankan frogmouth. This is my first sighting of this elusive spirit of the rainforest. I tried to photograph this pair which was close to 12 feet but shutter speeds dropped to 1/3s and lower. But to my luck, sun just opened up for few seconds and it lit just the female bird through the canopy. Made some quick shots and continued trekking. On our way back we had a very good opportunity of a close encounter with the Wynaad laughingthrush, a rare endemic bird of western ghats. I managed to get some pics in the low light but it became just a record shots. Periyar never forgets to reveals it beauty to me I guess. Everytime I go there I find something special. I decided to spend 20 days in may just in periyar to explore the core areas completely on foot. My last two days in periyar I was completely sick with temperatures soaring at 105 degress and a severe septic ulcer but everything just vanishes when I was trekking in periyar. Next few days I took complete rest in my native before getting back to work in Chennai. Waiting to get back to periyar again.

BIRDS SPOTTED:

1)white bellied blue flycatcher
2)white bellied treepie
3)Srilankan frogmouth
4)Hill myna
5)Malabar grey hornbill
6) great Indian hornbill
7)Jungle babbler
8)Wynaad laughingthrush
9)White cheeked barbet
10)small minivet
11)common rosefinch
12)Brown pygmy woodpecker
13)scarlet minivet
15)Racket tailed drongo
16)Bronzed drongo
17)Malabar whistling thrush
18)Yellow browed bulbul
19)Crimson fronted barbet
20)Grey junglefowl
21)Stork billed kingfisher
22)pied kingfisher

cheers,

ram

current mood: energetic

ATLAST, SITE IS UPLOADED

2008-03-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

finally after few months, i had time to upload my site. gujrat images has been posted in the new images category and a separate gallery for my personal favourites. check it out

here is the link

http://www.ramnathshekar.com/new.htm

cheers,

ram

TREE

2008-02-25T09:35:00.001-08:00

I sat down to write an article for my blog but i felt too lazy to finish it...when i was looking my archive i found a pic that made me think a bit. tell your views on how u view this picture...
Meanwhile trip reports and recent images will be uploaded in a day or two. stay put :)

somehow when i saw this pic i thought the bark of the tree is our heart and the top branches and leaves are the arteries and veins in our body. i guess i should catch up with some sleep :)
on a serious note, if we consider out body system important, please take steps that u can to protect wildlife and forests. every single step matters in conservation.

cheers,

ram

PERIYAR INHERITANCE

2008-02-21T02:18:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Recently SANCTUARY ASIA published the book PERIYAR INHERITANCE. Its a brilliantly made book on Periyar Tiger Reserve written by Bittu shagal, Editor, sanctuary asia and Dr. Anish andheria. The book is dedicated for Periyar, Its wildlife and Its protectors. This is a very special book for me, for two reasons. One, i am one of the contributors for the book and second, its written on Periyar Tiger Reserve which i revere and love every second. If u get a copy this book, u can read about the fragile lively eco system in the south western ghats and help to protect it.

TO order a a copy of this book contact,

SANCTUARY ASIA
145/146, Pragati Industrial Estate,
N.M. Joshi Marg,
Lower Parel,
Mumbai – 400 011

PH:(91-22) 2301 6848 or 2301 6849

cheers,

RAM

current mood:

energetic

FUJI SUPER SIX LAUNCH

2008-01-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

The fuji super six 2008 by jindal photo and fuji film was scheduled to lauch at the national center of performing arts ( NCPA),mumbai. i made a quick 6 hours journey to mumbai just to attend the launch. The exhibtion had a good response and lot of people turned out to see the works of six wildlife photographers. this is my first opening this year after a special mention at the sanctuary awards last year. i felt very happy to see my pictures exhibited with well experienced wildlife photographers of India.

lighting the lamp: from L to R: Hira punjabi, Adik Shirodkar, Amber paintal( Jindal photo),
kakubhai kotari( behind), me.

ME at the exhibition

A write up about me

As i was not at the exhibition for a long time i went again this weekend to address the media and to meet my friends. i just returned to chennai. next few months will be rejuvination time for me :)It has been a tiring year end last year and a beginning. i still haven started working on my gujrat images. hoping to catch up with everything in coming weeks. i will keep my works posted.

cheers,

ram

current mood: tired and happy

TIME FOR MY FAMILY

2008-01-11T03:39:00.001-08:00

I had earlier planned to spend a week in Periyar Tiger Reserve for birding and macro work. But i just realised that i havent met my parents for a year. so i thought i can spend a week with them. life is after all about dividing time between work, academics, friends and family . so i am leaving to my native tonight for a week and i am travelling without my gears after 4 years.
i will start processing my pictures full time when i am back. fortunately my monitor started showing bandings when i came back from gujrat. so i am getting a lacie monitor with calibrator in a while. hold on for a while friends. see u after a week. happy makara shankaranti and for people in gujrat wish u a happy kite festival.

cheers,

ram

current mood: relaxed

FUJI SUPER SIX 2008

2008-01-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, i am very happy to inform you that i am one of the six photographers for the " fuji super six".
fuji super six is organised by fuji film and jindal photo http://www.jindalphoto.com/fujifilm_supersix.html Their main aim is to promote the art of photography. So they choose six photographers from the country and exhibit their pictures in 7 cities this year. they promote these six photographers with the help of media and exhibiting their pictures.
for the year 2008 fuji has selected me as one of the six photographers.The other 5 are
1) Hira punjabi
2) Sanat shodan
3) Gul H gujrajani
4) SK. tiwari
5) S.U Saravanakumar

The inaguration is on jan 22nd at National Center for performing arts, mumbai. If u happen to be in membai on 22nd do visit the exhibition.

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy

WELCOME TO GUJRAT

2008-01-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

After a 20 days grueling stint , driving 3000 kms from the grasslands of velavadar, to the lions of gir; the sea coast of jamnagar and porbandar, the lively deserts of great rann of kutch and little rann of kutch i am heading back to Chennai today. As I am waiting for my flight to Chennai from ahmedbad I already started missing the wildlife and forests of Gujrat.

In another few hours I will be in the noisy and dull capital of TamilNadu trying to get back to academics and to fix strained relationships. From now there is no golden light, lighting the grasslands and desert that stretches for miles, no wolves,no hyenas and no beautiful sunset. .it’s just people and pollution. The trip was overwhelmingly successful after working for 18 hours a day with wildlife. As I have 80 GB of images to process and lots of my experience to write, I assure that the blog will be completely active.Many visitors to my site and blog told me that its lying idle for a long time. friends, gear up for a treat from gujrat! J

Cheers,

Ram

Current mood: accomplished

THE TIMES COMES AGAIN

2007-11-28T04:39:00.000-08:00

hey people, sorry for not upadting my blog for a long time. well, when december comes its once again time to get back to work. i am off to few places in Tamilnadu,gujrat for next one month and to my home,Periyar Tiger Reserve in jan. once i get back from the trip i will update my site and write detailed trip reports.
By the way a good news awaits u. let it be a surprise. i will reveal it in the year 2008 :)

posting a picture of one of the common raptors of India, crested serpent eagle.

WISHING U A PROPEROUS NEW YEAR AND CHRISTMAS.

cheers,

ram

current mood: energetic

A TRYST WITH OWLS

2007-10-20T04:29:00.001-07:00

As usual i went to Nanmanglam this morning for birding and photography. This shoot is very special for two reasons. one, this is my first shoot with my mentor, Mr.shekar dattatri. i don think he needs any introduction. The second is i could spend two full hours observing owls and photographing it after a long time. Many people have asked about details on Nanmanglam. so i am trying my hands on writing this time :)

GREAT HORNED OWL

ONE OF THE ABANDONED QUARRIES IN NANMANGALM

A few kms drive in the out skirts of chennai will take u to Nanmangalam.Its a small scrub jungle with four abandoned quarries which is now home to the great horned owls( Bubo bubo). Nanmangalam is a good place for birding and photographing owls and other birds in close quarters.Its a very good place to see plenty of invertebrates. For a photographer and a birder this is a good place. Some of the birds found here are Great horned owl, Pied crested cuckoo, Little grebe, Oriental honey buzzard, Black kite, Shikra, Yellow throated sparrow, Crimson throated barbet, Loten's sunbird, Purple rumped sun bird. the secretive ruddy crake was sighted in Nanmanglam after 20 years. Its an amazing place for butterflies too. Mammals that are sighted here are the jackal, fox, civet etc.

GREAT HORNED OWL

Do u think a place like this in Chennai will be left alone buy all illegal activities? the answer is obviously a big NO. The 150 hecatre scrub jungle has lot of pressures. The abandoned quarries are the washing areas for laundry guys. People in the nearby areas come here for lot of anti social activities. They nasty the place like anything. Tree cutting is rampant.It is used as a play ground in weekends with owls and birds as unnoticed spectators. The list of problems goes on and none seems to take any remedial measures for this place.
we reached the place early this morning. it was cloudy with overcast skies but later it was bright for few hours. As it there was less light bird activity was very less. but when we reached the first quarry we saw two great horned owls perching majestically for hours. I managaed to get some pictures fast thinking the owl will fly after seeing us but both the owls wer perched in the same place for nearly two hours,allowing me to fiddle with exposure and light. I was expecting one of them to fly but it just didnt happen today. clouds gathered and it was time to move. on our way back shekar showed me a beautiful flower, Gloriousa superba and told that its a fast disappearing species in the wild as people uproot it and export it as it has medicinal value. i managed to get some good shots.

GLORIOUSA SUPERBA

LITTLE GREBE-MALE

HORNED OWL IN ITS HABITAT

Its was time to move as clouds gathered think and started raining. I packed up my equipment and left the place. The slight drizzle would have created an amazing set up to shoot owls which would have been wet and puffy but the light was just not in favour of me. I hope i come back again next weekend to go some efficient work.
Birders in chennai, don think there is not much places around chennai for birding.plenty of places are there which needs attention too. Hope i will go to such places around chennai and write in the near future.

cheers,

ram

WEEKEND SHOOT

2007-10-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

i don wanna fill my blog with words. had been to nanmangalam this morning. for rest of the story let the pictures below speak :)

ELEMENTS OF NATURE
A rock,water,a plant,sand below the water ,a dragonfly,shadow!!!

Resting after mating

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

hope the picture spoke stories.

cheers,

ram

SITE RE VAMPED

2007-10-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

After a long time, i re vamped my site and added some of my good pictures with few new pages. check out the site and mail me ur suggestions.

address: www.ramnathshekar.com

cheers,

ram

hmmmmmmm

2007-10-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

well, sorry for being dead for a while. There is nothing special happening rite now. I was stuck with Madras christian college. After a break of 20 days i got back to do some photography at Nanmangalam, a place in the outskirts of chennai where u can see great horned owls. i was unlucky for the last few months as i didnt site a single owl there. today i got a glimpse of it and made some pictures. After trekking the abandoned quarries for few hours i found a spider feeding in a fly. i tried some macro stuff with it. check out the pictures. for the next one month i will again be busy with Madras christian college. after that i will get back to field for a while.

cheers,

ram

A session with Chameleon

2007-08-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

I got a call early this morning from arun, the reptile guy of my college . He asked me to come immediately to photograph a chameleon that he caught this morning when he was searching for snakes.taking my macro lens out i rushed to college to photograph it. It just stopped raining and the sky was overcast with the first ray of light coming out. I got some good shots of this guy and was very happy as i wanted to photograph a chameleon many years back n it came true today. check out the pics.

cheers,

ram

BEGGING ECONOMICS IN TRAINS

2007-08-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

I travel by train everyday to attend college for attendance :) it takes me 40 minutes to reach my college which is 30 kms from my place. i usually spend the time in train reading newspapers. today as i was late i couldn get the newspaper from the stall. the compartment was full and few beggars were playing some instruments asking money. A thought struck my mind.
usually a local train makes 20 trips from egmore to tambaram. from morning 9 AM to 12 AM and from 4 PM to 8 PM train will be packed with people shuttling here and there. The beggars throng the compartments everytime using all innovative methods to collect money.i have seen beggars with debit cards!
In a compartment 100 people can sit. there r totally 8 compartments normal in the local train and many times a day 12 car shuttles between stations in peak hours of traffic. in a compartment of 100 people if 10 people offer 1 rupee each the beggars can collect 80 rupees from 8 compartments in a trip from egmore to tambaram. in 20 trips a day they collect money ranging from 1500-2000 per day and in a month( 30 days) they earn from 45000 to 60000 per months.
now 60000 is a lot more honey than what many IT people with a little experience get paid these days. Beggars don have to worry about all taxes.
Now,people, r u gonna try ur hands on begging ;) keep me posted :)

current mood::-O

cheers,

ram

FINALLY A LEOPARD SIGHTING AFTER 4 YEARS

2007-08-27T04:58:00.000-07:00

I made a quick trip to mudumalai hoping to see a big cat with my friend Avinash( software engineer and mountaineer and nature lover) and ' the snake catcher' arun kumar. we found the jeep and started to mudumalai from banglore. Reaching mudumalai by 7 PM in the evening we were driving to our friend John's place at masinagudi.
It start to drizzling. we could hear only the sound of water droplets and the cool gentle wind was blowing silently. it was very pleasant. as we moved further we could see a spotted animal near the tree. " leopard....leopard" was my call and avinash came to a screaching halt. we searched for the leopard in that place and we should see it neat the tree. it should be a 1 1/2 year old leopard cub. i couldn believe my eyes. i am not always lucky with big cats or even lesser cats. visiting BR hills( one of the highest densities of leopard population) sround 15 times i could spot the leopard. This is my first sighting of a leopard in four years. unfortunately i packed my 200-400 as it was late in the night. i managed to get a record shot with my 70-200. though its not a good picture the sight is always amazing.

the cub was watching the jeep light for nearly 3 minutes and another cub was calling up the hill. alarm call echoed across mudumalai wildlife sanctuary as the elusive and charming big cat was on prowl. a sambhar deer was very close to us. it was very disturbed and scared. the deer was surrounded by 2 cubs and its mother and the jeep on the other side. it just couldn move anywhere. we were expecting the leopard some forest guards came and make a big fuss for parking the vehicle off the road. finally we had to leave.
we marked the place where we spotted it so that we can search the next day morning. the whole night i was dreaming about my first leopard sighting and was hoping to see it in day light to make some good pictures. as usual i was unlucky the next day. It was raning the whole morning and i couldn take my camera out. on my way back i stayed in mysore for a day to do some bird photography in the lakes of mysore with my friend Mr.Kulashekara. i will write about the superb lake and the birds in the next post.

cheers,

ram

current mood: happy :)

FROM THE PRESS

2007-08-22T03:09:00.000-07:00

An article about me was published last week in a leading tamil magazine 'ananda vigadan' on the teen acheivers category. here is the write up. have a look

cheers,

ram

DISPLAY OF IMAGES TANGERINE

2007-08-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

a display of 10 images of birds captured by me is at tangerine from august 19th to august 31st... the theme is wings,pictures costing Rs.2000 each..off the sales 25% will be given to periyar foundation(part of periyar tiger reserve) which is working on bio-diversity conservation, research and tribal welfare.

tangerine:- 5,murrays gate road,
alwarpet
chennai-18
ph:044-24355834

if u r in chennai do have a look at my images. if u have fat wallet u can order for the pictures by contacting me.

current mood:- happy :)

cheers,
ram

AT 3.50 AM

2007-08-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

i totally didnt get any sleep today. i am completely disturbed and pre occupied. thought of posting some of my pics here but totally no mood rite now. by the way tamil weekly magazine "ananda vigadan" interviewed me a week back to write an article.they did some funny artificial photo shoot last week. i guess it will be published today. check out in the nearby book stalls.heading back to sleep.........

current mood: awake

cheers,

ram

WATER EVERYWHERE BUT LESS BIRDS

2007-08-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

i made a quick weekend trip to wetlands and lakes near pondhichery in search of birds. the day was dull and cloudy in osteri lake, a huge lake 10 kms from pondhichery wer lot of migratory and resident birds come here after rains. i guess its because of the delayed monsoons that i couldn sight much birds. far away i saw lots of common coots, purple swamp hen and dab chicks. i am yet to process those images. a dull weekend in terms of photography :) i came home and fell sick. hope i will be get some time to post process images.
btw i was reading an article written by nature photographer ganesh HS on post processing. i love his way of work and he is simply amazing in making images and writting articles. i thought i can share this article with u.http://www.naturelyrics.com/articles/process_feelings/process_feel.html . his works can be seen at www.naturelyrics.com

current mood: sick

cheers,

ram.

THE WEEKEND WORK

2007-07-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

i had attended a nature quest programme on srilankan reptiles by world renowned herpetologist Anselm de silva. the talk was good and informative. sunday was asusual movie time and post processing pictures. i got time to see die hard 4, a very good action packed entertainer. goona sleep soon so that i can start a mundane life from monday.

cheers,

ram

working for my site

2007-07-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

i sat down to write an article on the restoration work going on in adyar estuary and creek but i am in no mood to write it today. just started to process pic for my site www.naturelook.info . my friend avinash from banglore is designing it. i hope it will be ready by august end.

current mood: happy :)

cheers,

ram.

PASSION, GOALS,AMBITIONS,ASTROLOGY.............

2007-07-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

I just got back from college and i want to share with u a very touching incident that happened in the college today. It is about my very good friend sharath. i am writing it very casually in direct speech coz people will have a feel about what happened :)
I don how to introduce sharath to you. To put it in a very simple way he is a photo copy of me. so people who know about me can figure out who sharath is... but for people who don know me here i go.... sharath is a very good wildlife enthusiast and a good naturalist. He does wildlife photography with his cool D SLR's and big bazookas. He is so very addicted to it and he never listens to even the good lectures in my zoology department coz most of the time he will be reading books and papers on wildlife, photography etc. He literally breathes wildlife and is very keen in pursuing his career as a naturalist|wildlife photographer|film maker. ok.....enough introducing him.let me come to the senario.
English class was going in the 170 years old gallery room of Madras Christian College. The accoustics is so well made that even a small pin drop in the front row can be heard at the back,20 rows away from the front. The class was silent as my favourite english prof was teaching a poem " Thought fox". When i entered the class i couldn find sharath. I thought he should be somewhere out in the woods searching for snakes n stuff. As he was teaching something related to nature i was hooked to it. Suddenly my concentration was diverted as my mobile was vibrating. i saw a message n it was from sharath. the message was ".... ram,how many times i begged u to see me last hour.... u never turned up.... pls spend sometime for ur friend too...don just spend time only with ur love..." and i got another message from him saying " dude i can feel my Blood pressure shooting up like anything...there r chances i may collapse in the class". Now i came to know that he is in class. I just turned around and i saw him crying with his faced red and bloated. He was shivering and after seeing me he literally collapsed on the bench. ' thud' the sound echoed and the professor noticed him falling. I told him that my friend is not well and i need to speak to him so grant me permission. the professor being a nice human allowed us both and asked him whether he was not well. sharath replied " sir, its nothing physical, its all mental trauma of that i am undergoing". i took out my crying friend sharath and asked him what had happened.I thought it was his usual stressful life he is leading. whenever i see him he will be stressed because of the college n he always says "we r going in a path without knowing where it will lead. we need to do something related to our passion soon etc etc" he is a typical workaholic. After he reaches home he sits before his comp working on pictures n studying something related to wildlife. today he totally broke down. i know something wrong had happened.i asked him. this is wat he said......
Ram " i got a call from my mom, dude. They consulted a sri lankan astrologer it seems. The astrologer told that i should not be into wildlife photography and i should not aim to become a good naturalist because the planetary positions tells that being a naturalist, knowing about wildlife will spoil my life and instead i should get into some academic stuff deviating to genetics etc and pursue a life in that, and the astrologer also said that i am badly influenced by my friends and my well wishers. and the most funniest part was that the astrologer told my parents not to get me married before i am 35" and that i am having a girl friend from last december.
i couldn stop my laugh when he said the last stuff. but then i controlled and listened to him.
"......so because of all this my mom is going to be with me here in chennai and monitor my activities to make sure that i dont concentrate on wildlife. My equipment will be locked. Freedom is cut. I shouldn read books related to wildlife. i shouldn meet people related to wildlife and i should only concentrate in academic stuff like genetics, molecular biology etc. wat stupid astrolger he is ram... who the hell is he to decide wat i should do.... passion is determined by interest and its not the astrologer who should say what i should be doing in life. watever we do we should be happy in doing it. people think We all study and join a company just to earn money for a prosperous life. life is not just money... its more than that... we follow our passion and ambition so that we can lead a peaceful life and feel very happy in what we r doing. i don know how the hell an astrologer can decicde about my life...... its kept on going n he started narrating about wat he will do if situation like this happens. from wat he spoke i know that he is a man who follows he passion and leads his life in his own terms.
and ram"last month our micro biology professor asked the students " friends, y is that we r studying all these subjects for three whole years" 95% of the students replied " TO MINT MONEY". i was shocked. as far as i know many people in my dept study zoology without knowing y we r studying. there is no burning passion and ambition in them. they have a very little knowledge on wats happening to this country. The topper of my class don know about the glasgow incident and the trial. he didnt know that india is playing a match with england. he just knows wat is a cell, technical stuffs on that etc...few of my friends in pondicherry university who r studying ecology and wildlife don even know about the actual tiger crisis in india...they r not aware that tigers r wiped out from sariska. I didnt mean to say that they should know about cricket match, blasts and current issues etc. u need to learn know more and not just stick to the book. some people's minds r like a cup filled with coffee. u cant fill more coffee unless u empty it or pour it. our mind is exactly like a cup of coffee.if we need to add coffee(knowledge) we must register required knowledge in our mind and pour the unwanted stuffs out. wat ever we study we must give it back in some way or the other to develop our nation and to do something to this country. it should not be just earning money. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. wat ever we do finally we should be happy in wat we r doing. Learn what u excel and what makes u happy. The real source of happiness can be stated in a single word: achievement. lasting happiness comes from steadily working to accomplish your goals and advancing confidently in the direction of your life's purpose. THIS SHOULD BE DETERMINED BY YOU WHO IS GONNA WORK AND NOT THE ASTROLOGER WHO IS NOWAY CONNECTED TO YOU.
This is wat he said in that fifteen minutes with his eyes like an image which is totally out of focus. he was lying down crying with his eyes completely drenched. he was telling me that he don know wat he is gonna do without his books and equpiment. he said he is gonna start from scrap and build up gradually. by saying this he moved out of the college with a great frustration.
The reason why i want to share this to u is to show how people r believeing in astrology and how its influencing ones's life very badly. i didnt mean to say that 'don't believe in astrology' its totally each person's own perceptive on viewing it. but my opinion is astrology and astrologers should not determine the passion and ambition of a person and it should not choose your life partner or wat u should do in your life etc.Everything in your life should be decided by u. people say astrologers fore tell the future but nowadays in this present world "FUTURE IS NOT WRITTEN. ITS IS MADE BY THE INDIVIDUAL". IF U LEAD YOUR LIFE WITH A SINGLE MINDED GOAL AND A PASSION TOWARDS IT,U WILL DEFINIELY ACHIEVE IT and such persons can see their future just infront of their eyes. This is my view on passion, achievement, goals, astrology etc. People who r contradicting my views r most welcome :) i am ready for a debate :) and one imporant thing i need to reveal to my blog readers is The person sharath is none other than me. This is wat is happening to me rite now. I wrote this stuff with a fully dejected state of mind . The person whom i mentioned as ram is my friend arun.

follow your passion,work with a perfect mind set with a goal in life,

current mood: depressed

ram.

Ranebennur blackbuck sanctuary- once home for the Great Indian Bustard

2007-07-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Last month i had gone Ranebennur Black buck sanctuary from daroji,700 kms from Chennai. Harish told me that he will show me the place were the Rreat Indian Bustard which was once found in the sanctuary. he had told many incidences about bustards and Ranebennur. so i was keen on visiting the place.
Ranebennur blackbuck sanctuary was declared a wildlife sanctuary on the 17th of june 1974.It was created to protect the majestic blackbuck. Spread over the sprawling area of 119 square kilo meters,it is divided into three blocks viz; hulathi,hunasikatti and alageri for administrative purposes.it has a core area of 14.87 kms and a buffer zone of 104.13 km wherein the tourists are allowed. The vegetation here comprises mainly of scrub forests and extensive eucalyptus plantations. Located in haveri district. The fauna here comprises wild pig,fox,jackal, wolf,blackbuck etc.

Accompanied by the ACF, Ranebennur we reached there late in the night. An awesome dinner was arranged by him n he was telling about the efforts taken to protect the bustards.
Next morning with a great excitement n worry I entered the sanctuary. Excitement because I will be seeing blackbucks for the first time and there r good chances of sighting my favorite animal, the wolf, and worry because I am driving my dad’s sedan in the thorny and rugged mud roads of Ranebennur. After driving in and out of the sanctuary I was totally exhausted. I couldn’t sight even a single blackbuck. After leaving the sanctuary harish was explaining how the blackbucks would raid the crop fields in the night. They enter silently after sun set, graze peacefully in the fields n get back before dawn as though nothing had happened. A typical robbery style :) Heading back to the forest IB i did some birding in the near by area.

Next day we left to the sanctuary very early by 4 am. On my way I had a very nice sighting of the black naped hare. It was resting in the open area n my car provided a very good hide to photograph it. But the light was very very low and shutter speed was 1\30th of a second. I Managed to get a record shot of it in the open. At this situation the VR really helped.
Driving few feet away we came across a jackal out in the open but again the light was not fortunate for me. I managed to get some shot of the blackbucks. But everything was a record shot. I didn’t expect wat I wanted. Heading back in the evening I was accompanied by the forester Hiramutt. He saw a shepard.his sheep was grazing the area. He got down to catch him but he ran. When he came back he was carrying a goat from the herd so that the Shepard will collect it by paying fine. We put the goat in the back seat and reached the IB. on our we just couldn hear anything because the goat which was on the seat was bleating like hell.

That night we had a very good touching conversation with Harish and ACF. They we talking about the existence of great Indian bustards in this area. They were lot of them in the nineties and it was depleting due to heavy encroachment and the habitat of the great Indian bustards was grazed complete by 5 lakhs sheep in that area. Bustard prefers open grasslands but this place was planted with eucalpytus trees which was a very big hinderence to them. They breed very slow and lays one or two eggs a year. As they lay in the land which r prone to predators. They r none other than us, humans, the most greediest n senseless species in the world. At the end the numbers dropped down as count down and reached zero. Harish made a awareness’ film on bustards in Ranebennur. In one of the clipping a Shepard was narrating how he cooked the bustard egg for food. All this were very evident that the great Indian bustards will be viped from Ranebennur. Its very disheartening to see the habitat without the bustards :( the forest department is planning for a captive breeding programme here but we don know how effective it will be. we lost most of them without knowing the importance. Atleast now people should wake up to help conserve one of the greatest endemic bird of India,THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD.
Finally before everyone left harish told me a touchy quote with mosturising eyes. Ram “We people now atleast know something about the bustard but it took us a long time to know about it. Now around 400 birds survive in 7 states of India. All the places r filled with biotic pressures. One thing is for sure ram, we are now holding the bustards tail. Its upto us, humans to bring the bird back from the brink of extinction or just to bring the feathers from the tail” It was very touching and I promised harish that I will do my maximum to influence people about the status of bustards.

I hope after reading this article u would have got an over view of the status of bustards.I think I am doing a bit of conservation. R u doing it?

People who have suggestions and who r willing to help can mail to Mr.Harish Bhat , honorary wildlife warden,Banglore. Email: harishrbhat@gmail.com

HELP PROTECT THE BUSTARDS

current mood: thinking

Will be continued……

Conserve wildlife,
Ram.

weekend photography and post processing workshop

2007-07-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

i was in blore last weekend to attend a workshop on photography n post processing by my friend sudhir shivaram( www.thejunglelook.com ), an expert bird photographer from banglore. its was a very wonderful session n the weekend was utilized to the maximum constructively. from next month i will be spending weekends in banglore n nearby places for photography.

current mood: energetic

cheers,
ram

WEEKEND BIRDING AND LENS TEST

2007-07-08T00:09:00.001-07:00

i was in Nanmangalam to test my mistress( my new lens) :) Nanmangalam is a scrub jungle in the out skirts of chennai. it is home to lot of birds espeically the great horned owl. i was there with Mr.murugavel,environemntal activist and ornithologist and my friend deepika. the main reason to go there is to test my lens though my spine didnt permit me to do photography like how i was doing before. i started aching the minute i lifted it :( but on the happier part the lens is rocking. auto focus is razor sharp and VR works amazingly well. i couldn believe that i used 200-400 for my one month shoot in south india.
after i recover completely i decided to work full time in weekends for documenting wildlife and to work on the book

have a look at this image clicked with the new lens :)

current mood: very happy

cheers,

ram.

BEHIND THE SCENES DAROJI

2007-07-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

have a look at some behind the scenes pictures from daroji.
me waitng for the bears to come

the hide used for photographing bears. dad s fiat pertra made into a all terrain vehicle :)

the place wer the bears,bushquails, francolins,spurfowls, peacocks come to feed.

coming up:
a post on Rane benur blackbuck sanctuary- home for wolves n blackbucks.

current mood: happy

cheers,

ram.

BEAR HAVEN

2007-07-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Atlast I found time to write about my field trips. I was in daroji for a week with my friend arvind rao,a Wildlife Photographer who designs air crafts and Rahul Chavan,a wildlife biologist from United Kingdom. Daroji is 50 kms from bellari, the richest district in Karnataka. It’s the best place in the world to see the sloth bear. I spend a week photographing bears, painted spur fowls, jungle bushquails, francolins and few other birds and mammals. It was a very amazing trip.

Photographing bears in Daroji is tough especially when u go there In summer . We park the vehicle in a particular place were the bears come to feed. The car is used as a hide. We reach the place by 1pm and station the car behind the bushed and cover it. The hot afternoon from 1 pm to 6 pm will exhaust everything in u. the bears come slowly in the evening. The first day was my luckiest day. I am photographing bears for the first time and the excellent light and setting provided by nature is good. I saw two female bears with cubs. We got some shots of cubs playing, resting, feeding etc. I burnt some 14 GB and by the end I ran out of cards. NeXt day I decided to bring the laptop to transfer images while photographing. But after that,the next four days we didn’t have good bear sightings. Daroji is also the best place to photograph Painted spurfowl, a beautiful south Indian endemic bird.

I met my dear friend Harish bhat, researcher from IISc and honorary wildlife warden, banglore. He is an expert in south Indian jungles and he worked extensively over adecade in the forests of Karnataka. I was about to leave to Chennai on 9^th but harish said we will go to Rane benur blackbuck sanctuary and try to photograph wolves n blackbucks. Post poning my trip we left Daroji to Rane benur blackbuck sanctuary, one the home of great Indian bustard.

I will write about Rane benur blackbuck Sanctuary and the Real story of how great indian Bustards were wiped out from Rane benur.

current mood: happy

Cheers,

Ram

My mistress is back replaced!!

2007-07-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks i was anxious as i returned my falulty lens to the place were i bought.It refused to focus in the field and i was manually focussing which is reflected badly in my images.I got a call from FOTO TRADE(the place were i get my equipment) today saying " sir, your old lens is replaced for a new one, u can collect it today". I left college immediately bunking the last hour and rushed to foto trade to collect my lens. I tested the lens in a near by wetland and it was absolutely perfect. razor sharp focussing with D2xs, VR works amazingly well and everything is perfect.
i am waiting to completely recover so that i can be into action :)

current mood: happy

cheers,
ram

Grounded!

2007-07-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

My first bad news this year. i went to the doctor as i was suffering from severe pain in my spine. after examining my x ray and stuff he said its a mild slip disc and adviced me not to give any load on my back.with my camera equipment weighing some 10 kilos i just cant think about carrying it. i should be in rest for atleast four months. so rite now its just college- home. now i will be having enough time learning post processing... digging all my old pics n segregating it. i hope i recover soon n get back to work asusual :)

current mood: pissed off

cheers,
ram

working 20* 7

2007-06-22T23:35:00.000-07:00

I was completely tied up with work over the last one week. finally after working 20*7 last week i could post process some of my photographs which i made over the last one month in the field. Its was a very fruitful trip. I managed to photograph 71 species of birds and 21 species of mammals and few insects.over all 100 species photographed in 32 days.

list of birds photographed:
1)river tern
2)spotted owlet
3)purple rumped sunbird
4)southern grey shrike
5)painted spurfowl
6)rufous tree pie
7)ashy crowned sparrow lark
8)yellow billed babbler
9)spotted dove
10)little brown dove
11)jungle buskquail
12)red unmped swallow
13)common iora
14)indian busklark
15)oriental patrincole
16)grey francloin
17)petronia
18)red vented bul bul
19)indian roller
20)grey headed fishing eagle
21)painted stork
22)laudhing dove
23)indian night jar
24)indian robin
25)black winged stilts
26)purple moorhen
27)barn swallow
28)crimson fronted barbet
29)whie bellied shortwing
30)grey breasted laughing thrush
31)grey headed canary flycatcher
32)pied bushchat
33)pacific swallow
34)nilgiri pipit
35)yellow browed bulbul
36)little grebe
37)great egret
38)brown fish owl
39)crested hawk eagle
40)white breasted kingfisher
41)crested serpent eagle
42)spot billed duck
43)painted snipe
44)jungle myna
45)black drongo
46)common hoopoe
47)lesser flameback
48)eurasian blackbird
49)eurasian collared dove
50)grey jungle fowl
51)rose ringed parakeet
52)pond heron
53)brahminy myna
54)grey heron
55)bay backed shrike
56)racket tailed drongo
57)malabar whistling thrush
58)pied crested cuckoo
59)common crow
60)eurasian spoonbill
61)paradise flycatcher
62)nilgiri flycatcher
63)oriental white eye
64)rufous babbler
65)nilgiri woodpigeon
66)sirkeer malkoha
67)coucal
68)painted snipe
67)malabar grey hornbill
68)white bellied tree pie
69)jungle owlet
70)peafowl

mammals photographed:

1)spotted deer
2)sambhar deer
3)barking deer
5)black naped hare
6)hanuman langur
7)nilgiri thar
8)tiger
9)elephant
10)jackal
11)black buck
12)ruddy mongoose
13)sloth bear
14)wild boar
15)bonnet macaque
16)gaur
17)dusky striped squrriel
18)three striped palm squrriel
19)wild dogs
20)malabar gaint squrriel
21)stripe necked mongoose

These r some of the species i photographed from may7th to june 9th. i promise to keep my blog active with pictures and reports when i find time.

current mood: happy and energetic

cheers,
ram

BACK FROM DAROJI

2007-06-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

After a few days stay in Badhra i moved to Daroji bear sanctuary near Bellari.Its a haven for sloth bears. A 6 days stay in daroji was one of my best trips in the last two years.I went mad shooting bears,francolins, spurfowls etc burning some 25 GB worth pictures. After daroji i went for a day to Rane benur blackbuck sanctuary. A one day trip i could get the Blackbuck,Jackal, Black naped hare and few birds to my store.

i heard that my college re opens on 13th[:(]. So i ended my 32 day long trip at Rane benur and started to chennai. This month shoot was very successful as i could document 61 species of birds and 25 species of mammals. i should work 24*7 to post process 100 GB worth pics. i will upload my blog with pics and trip reports when time permits. rite now i am back to the concrete jungles of Chennai and trying to learn some academics [:)]

current mood: missing daroji

cheers,

ram

BACK FROM MUNNAR

2007-05-24T10:52:00.003-07:00

I was on a three day birding trip with K.V Eldhose and my friend in munnar. I don think Eldose needs an introduction. Almost all birders in India know about him. He usually doesn spot birds whereas he tracks them. He took us to a place and played the white bellied shortwing call and the bird came out from no where revealing its identity.

He showed me eight endemics and i got full frame pics of few endemics.The highlight of the trip was the white bellied shortwing, nilgiri pipit, and nilgiri thar.I was extremely happy as i got to spend my 18th birthday with them all( Thars, Pipits, Shortwings, Eldose and my dearest friend).I was presented the Birds of prey of the indian sub continent by Rishad naoroji, a book that i wanted to get for quite sometime.

We reached rather early around 7:00AM to take the bus at eight to Eravikulam national park.It was good we did that for two reasons as the crowd tothe park was a lot and I also managed to get a shot of the Malabar whistling thrush.Soon after we got off the bus we spotted two Nilgiri pipit,and i got good shots of them feeding each other.We walked up the road just for a few metres and we were surrounded by Niligiri Thars(Hemadactylus hylorchis).I got some decent shotsof saddleback(male thar)females, sub adult and kids.

BIRDS:
1)White bellied shortwing
2)Nilgiri pipit
3) nilgiri flycatcher( male,female, juvenile)
4)Greybreasted laughing thrush
5) Black and orange flycatcher
6)nilgiri wood pigeon
7) Rufous babbler
8)Crimson backed sun bird
9)Pacific swallows
10)Velvet fronted nutach
11)Malabar whistling thrush
12)Oriental white eye
13)Balck bul bul
14) White cheeked barbet
15)Little grebe
16)Pond heron
17)Common moorhen
18)Bronzed drongo
19)jungle crow
20)Grey headed canary flycatcher
21)Schimitar Babbler
22)Long tailed shrike
23)jungle babbler
24)Lesser cormorant
25)Yellow browed bul bul
26)Red spur fowl
27)Pied bushchat
28)Painted bushquail
29)Red vented bul bul
30) Red whiskered bul bul
31)Red watled lapwing
32)Asian palm swift
33)Paddy field pipit
34)Grey jungle fowl
35)Common kestrel
36)Crested serpent eagle
Mammals:
1)nilgiri thar
2)Dusky stripped squrriel

After munnar i am going to my native for a three day break then starting again to Badhra, Daroji and bhemeswari. then i am heading back to chennai on 10th as my college re opens on the 11th.i hope the connection is fast enough to upload pics from the field.

curent mood: happy

cheers,
ram.

Birthday with thars, shortwings and pipits

2007-05-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

After kabini i set out on a long journey to munnar for a three day birding trip with the bird man Eldhose. I spent my birthday with nilgiri thars, white bellied shortwings, nilgiri pipits and few more birds. As the net is very slow here in munnar i will post my images and trip report soon.

current mood: celebration

cheers,
ram

Trip updates

2007-05-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

A week in bandipur was kind of dull. Sighted few birds. Got few good shots of stripe necked mongoose,crested serpent eagle and streak throated woodpecker. I am listing the sightings below.

BIRDS:
1) common hoopoe
2) pied bushchat
3) common myna
4) jungle myna
5) streak throated woodpecker
6) red vented bulbul
7) yellow footed green pigeon
8) brahminy myna
9) white breasted water hen
10) grey jungle fowl
11) lesser flameback
12) black drongo
13) paddy field pipit
14) white bellied woodpecker
15) crested serpent eagle
16) peacock
17) spotted dove
18) yellow billed babbler
19) rose ringed parakeet
20) great tit
21) red wattled lapwing
22) chestnut headed bee eater
23) Indian roller
24) Pond heron
25) Grey heron
26) Dabchicks
27) Greater egret
28) Spot billed duck
29) Little egret
30) Tickell’s blue flycatcher
31) Fantail flycatcher
32) Red spur fowl
33) Indian bushlark
34) Brahminy kite
35) Indian robin
36) Lesser cormorant
37) Grey heron

MAMMALS:
1) spotted deer
2) sambhar deer
3) barking deer
4) wild dogs(A pack of 6)
5) elephants
6) stripe necked mongoose
7) common langur
8) Indian gaur
9) Wild boar

BRT was my next target just few hours drive from Bandipur.It was not all that great,as I missed leopard and wild dogs only sighted few birds(more or less the usual ones).

A long and tiring drive to Kabini I reached the place at 3:45 missing the route couple of times.I was just in time for the safari at 4:00PM.Dumping my luggage I rushed with my equipment taking the first jeep inside.Just 500 metres from the checkpost I glimpsed the royal being of the world.By the time we reached he was just moving away from the salt lick.I thought I missed the most exciting happening.But as I took out my new 200-400 with D2xs and clicked in continuous mode for half a second which made the tiger look into my new lens.I am always unlucky on the field,but that instance made me think I am lucky enough.I managed to get my first few shots of Tiger, from south India in the lush surroundings behind the backwaters of Kabini.

The second day as usual extremely dull sightings with just a few birds and the usual elephants at the back waters of Kabini.

Day Three was spectacular!!Ever since I saw the Planet earth footage of the complete wild dog hunt,I was yearning to photograph some what similar event in India and it happened today. It was a gloomy evening to be precise 5:45PM in the Nagarahole national park.The jeep driver and me were sitting in the front and having an eye level view of the hunt and kill. A pack of seven wild dogs( Cuon alphinus) was on a spotted deer(Axis axis) kill. I was urging the driver to stop the vehicle quite far from the happening but my driver cleverly stopped it parallel.It helped me witness and photograph the entire process of wild dogs on a huge male stag. When I started photographing the sky opened up and the golden evening light was falling on the dogs. Few dogs finished their share and were resting whereas One removed the eye of the stag and was feedingon it. My day was made, wild dog removing the eye of the stag on a golden evening light, eye level 25 feet near the jeep. Wow! What more could a photographer ask for?!i just clicked few pictures and witnessed how the wilddogs were feeding on the stag.

My trip was done.last day was again a normal day with elephants and few birds. The late evening of the last day turned out to be rather entertaining. If not for me it was definitely for the others. sipping cold whisky in the bar, I was showing the pictures I clicked in kabini this time to my naturalist friends at kabini.

current mood: happy and energetic

cheers,

ram

trip postponed....

2007-04-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

I was all set to leave on 28th april for a 48 day trip to few places in karnataka, kerala and tamil nadu but unfortunately my grand ma passed. My dad compelled me to stay in my native for the next 13 days to perform and follow rituals and traditions.Rite now i am under native arrest, driving to near by places in search of birds and mainly slender loris which is found in abundance here in my native. I will be starting my trip from 7th may from my native. Driving to bandipur , kabini , anamalais , badhra ,brt ,periyar , eravikulam , daroji , bheemeswari , point calimere, sriviliputur grizzled gaint squriel sanctuary and few more places. and BTW the D2xs and 200-400 f4 VR combination simply rocks. Track sharp focusing and it works well with tc's.
I will update my blog when in field if time permits.

current mood: sad

cheers,
Ram

Back with a bang!!

2007-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

It has been three full months since I took my camera to the field. I was stuck with fucking exams. I need to clear 14 papers this time so I have kept my equipment in my native to avoid distraction . Lot of things have happened in these three months.I have gained more knowledge on wildlife and photography,books being one of my sources.After a long argument and discussion with my dad I got a ransom amount for my equipment. I have planned to write a coffee table book on the wildlife of Tamil nadu. The day of reckoning is nearing. From 28th of this month I will be off to the field for 50 days. I decided to stay with Nikon and got my new equipment finally. From this trip onwards I shall be heavily loaded. I wish someone could sponsor me a car..he he.

So here goes my equipment list:
Bodies:
Nikon D2xs
Nikon d200
Nikon F80
Lenses:
Nikon 200-400mm f4 VR
Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR
Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR micro
Nikon 12-24mm f4 VR
Nikon 2x and 1.4x tele convertors
Nikon SB-800 flash
14 GB worth CF cards
EN-El 3 batteries for D200
Gitzo GT 2530 tripod with Wimberley gimble version II head
Ameristep hides

And few more accessories…

A fresh life, new set of equipment, new target hope everything works out well this year.

current mood: happy and energetic

cheers,
ram