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The focal length of lenses was never more
than 300 mm. and equally remarkable
was the fact that one had to work much
harder to access places to fi nd a species
of one’s interest as well as be a keen
naturalist. It wasn’t a common skill
or hobby.
Today, we have cameras that can
even shoot under moonlight. Digital
photography has made things so much
easier. Not to mention the freedom and
ease to process one’s images once they
are taken. Cameras can focus, expose
correctly and take more than 12 images in
RAW mode, all in less than a second.
But what has really changed the
face of wildlife photography in the last
decade are online forums and social media.
Thanks to the Internet and forums such
as India Nature Watch, people reach out
to each other to not only share technical
information, but information about natural
history and the best places to fi nd a
certain species. They link up through
networks and social groups and travel
together on photography tours.
Today, in the year 2017, more than two
billion images are posted online ‘everyday’
and as per statistics, a person with
moderate social media presence, consumes
a few hundred images daily. So how can a
photographer capture an image that will
stand out as ‘one in a billion’?
As a photographer, I ask myself this
question everyday. Is my photograph
good enough in this deluge of images?
Am I making meaningful photographs? In
this process of questioning myself, I have
moved on from defi ning it from a ‘good
image’ to a ‘successful image’.
In today’s world, it’s not the image
with the perfect angle and perfect
lighting that works, but it’s the image
that makes the most emotional connect
with your audience. I have seen images
taken with cell phones that are powerful
enough for people to notice, remember,
stand up and want to act to protect
nature or local culture, or just be
awestruck by the natural world.
In the quest to do this, I fi nd that
photographers have innovated but also
have crossed the line of what is ethical
and legal.
Historically, information about what
to photograph and where was very rare
FACING PAGE The procedure of capturing
a wild elephant is highly traumatic for all
involved as the author discovered while
documenting escalating confl ict in Hassan
district of Karnataka.
T. N. A. PERUMALWildlife Photography in India
“In the early 1900s, it was the ‘in-thing’; a matter of pride and prestige, to hunt
with a gun. Fortunately, enlightened persons discarded the gun in favour of
the camera when they discovered that photography was a far better sport,
demanding even greater stealth and skill, better knowledge of animals, in
addition to a keenly developed sense of aesthetics. The fact that animals shot
with the camera were free to roam the jungles greatly added to the magnetic
draw for this new activity. Photographs had other advantages over blood
sports. The images were more permanent and, what is more, such ‘trophies’
could easily be duplicated and then shared with friends!
Many of our pioneer wildlife photographers were ‘hunters turned
photographers’. We owe much to F. W. Champion, Col. Jim Corbett, Col. Bates,
Phillips, E. N. H. Lowther, Loke Wan Tho, Dr. Salim Ali, E. P. Gee, O. C. Edwards
and even M. Krishnan who is one of India’s leading wildlife photographers
today. Most of these stalwarts set an example for us by producing
masterpieces in the face of tremendous handicaps – mainly heavy, slow
equipment and limited photographic materials. In my opinion, F. W. Champion
still has no parallel, his photographs of tigers and leopards obtained with trip-
wire and powder-fl ash being virtually unbeatable.
Though these photographers were all of diff erent temperaments and
from diff erent walks of life, what was common to them was the spirit of
adventure, perfection, patience, dedication to the study of animals and a
love for the outdoors. Their passionate concern for wildlife and devotion
to their craft and natural history is evident in their inspiring photographs
and literature. These are the qualities required in the making of a wildlife
photographer. We are fortunate indeed to have inherited this legacy of
good photography from our pioneers.
... I feel that the main motivation for being in jungles with our cameras is to
be one with nature, far from the maddening rat-race, pollution and cacophony
of modern life, and to renew our spiritual relationship with our beautiful forests
and animals – the ‘beautiful people’. Let us enjoy their company and not
disturb them unduly in our over-enthusiasm to get ‘great’ pictures. Let us make
it a sport and not introduce unwanted pressures, interferences and thrust
unnatural ‘conditioning’ on animals that may unduly modify their normal lives.
Let our tribe of wildlife photographers increase; more wildlife and camera
enthusiasts would mean more concerned people championing the cause
of wildlife preservation. It will also augur well for the safe future of our
sanctuaries and national parks. Perhaps, for the future welfare of man himself.”
Excerpts from Wildlife Photography in India, Problems and Prospects
by T.N.A. Perumal, VOL. X. No. 3. May/June 1990