Govind Vijayakumar shares his Wildlife Photography Tips and Experiences from the Wild

Why Wildlife Photography?

During the initial days of photography, I tried doing all types of photography, and after two years, found my areas of interest in photographing wildlife and birds.

During the early days, I was also interested in Architecture and People photography. This switch to wildlife photography was mainly due to my interest in Nature.

Which Camera Gear do you use for wildlife photography?

I use Canon 1DX Mark II with Canon 500 mm f4 L IS II Lens combination for wildlife photography. For photographing birds, I add a 1.4x Teleconverter to this lens combination to get an additional 200mm reach.

I also carry Canon 7D Mark II camera with Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS lens. I use this combination for capturing animal landscapes.

Can you share your Top 5 Experiences in Wildlife and Bird Photography?

It is tough to pick my best five experiences in wildlife photography. For me, each of my photography trips is unique.

Snow Leopard Photography Expedition

The Snow Leopard photo expedition was one of my toughest wildlife photography expedition. The best chance of sighting this elusive Grey Ghost of Himalayas is during the winter season when the temperatures are in the range of -10 to -30 degrees.

I have done this expedition at Kibber in Himachal Pradesh, India; which is known for snow leopards in the winter.

Another factor which makes it even harder is the altitude. There will be less oxygen in the atmosphere due to this high-altitude factor.

The roads were covered with two feet of snow. So, I had to walk most of the time. There were trackers who were good in spotting these magnificent cat species.

I was lucky enough to sight four snow leopards in 7 days: one male sitting on top of a kill, another female with two cubs. The male snow leopard gave excellent opportunities to photograph in close range. But, the female with the cubs was a little far.

The photography was a bit tough since there was haze due to the light getting reflected from the snow-clad mountains. So, getting the right exposure was a little tricky.

Photographing Birds of Paradise

It is the dream of any Bird photographer or a Birder to sight and photograph the Birds of Paradise. I was fortunate to shoot a few of these beautiful bird species.

I had travelled from India to Papua New Guinea to photograph these incredible bird beauties. If you ask me, which ones are the favourites amongst these, then I will have three species: Blue Bird of Paradise, Raggiana Bird of Paradise and the Lesser Bird of Paradise.

All these three birds are canopy birds, which makes life tough for a bird photographer to get a good shot. Blue Bird of Paradise is my dream bird, and I managed to get some good shots of this Blue beauty from the highlands of Mount Hagen in PNG.

The display of the Raggiana bird of Paradise gave me goosebumps. The sad thing is, it happens early morning when the light is low and stops displaying once the Sun comes up. So, getting a well-exposed shot is tough, unless you know how to play with your camera settings.

Leopards of Kabini

Kabini, beautiful forest located in Karnataka, India, is an excellent place to photograph both Leopards and Tigers. Sighting a Leopard or Tiger in any national park in India is a matter of luck. Even if you get a sighting, the cat may be inside the bush, and you will not get a good shot.

It took me around ten trips to get a good shot of the leopard climbing down the tree with a deer kill. When I sighted it initially, then it was sitting on top of a tree with its kill, and I had to wait patiently to get this shot. I had only a small window to get this shot, so I had to be a fast shooter to freeze the action at the right moment.

I have photographed many Leopards from Kabini. But, this one remains my favourite image.

Tigers of Ranthambore

Ranthambore is the Land of Tigers and the Tigers in this area are quite bold. They are not camera shy. So, if you are lucky to sight one, then you will have a good chance of getting a beautiful shot.

I had visited Ranthambore when one of the Tigress, Noor had delivered four cubs. They were around one month old. These cubs were very playful and naughty, and they were not bothered by the presence of people or cameras.

Elephants of Corbett

Jim Corbett National Park, located near the banks of river Ramganga in Uttarakhand is well known for its Elephants and Tigers. Corbett is also known as the “Land of Trumpets and Roar.” Some of my best images of wild Elephants are from the Corbett.

The Landscape and the vegetation of Corbett National park are unique. In the early morning, I had the opportunity to photograph elephants drinking water from the Ramganga river when the gorgeous golden rays of the Sun touched the river, lighting the whole scene in shades of orange and red.

I also got the opportunity to capture some beautiful images of the Tusker bathing in the river, splashing water from all sides. The Tusker was photographed in the afternoon, and it was a perfect challenge since the lighting was harsh, and I need to compensate for the exposure to get the image without burnt highlights.

What are your Tips for Upcoming Photographers?

The two best tips which I can give to upcoming photographers are: be thorough with photography basics, and understand the strengths and limitations of your camera. If you are interested in learning Wildlife specific photography tips, then you can read my Useful Wildlife Photography Tips.

Learning the photography basics will help you to operate any camera to get the desired shot. Just reading and understanding alone will not help. You should implement the same when you are in the field.

The best way to start is by shooting in Manual mode. It will teach you a lot as you make lots of mistakes in the beginning and you will learn from it if the interest is sincere.

If you are not finding it easy to shoot in Manual mode initially, then you can start shooting in any of the semi-automatic modes like the Aperture Priority mode. Later you can switch to Manual Mode

Play with your camera settings to learn what all your camera is capable of doing. Understand the dynamic range of your camera and know the sweet spot of your lens. Shoot and see when the image gets very noisy. Limit your ISO threshold limit accordingly.

You can learn more photography tips and tutorials from Govind’s website, Photography Axis.

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