Why Photographing Wildlife is Like Fishing for Landlocked Salmon

A pack of Golden Jackals and a pair of Asian Antelopes at the Sultanpur National Park

Some of the best photographs I have taken have turned out to be those shot in unexpected conditions, an experience most wildlife photographers will have experienced. You plan to visit a wildlife sanctuary because the weather is clear. You set out early in the morning and reach the location only to have the weather worsen. The mist rolls in and you are in a state of uncertainty about whether to return home or hope that the wind will drive away the mist. On another occasion you see a large bird flying towards you, you point your camera towards the bird, and see it filling the viewfinder even as you press the shutter button, hoping to have taken your best shot to date, alas, lo and behold, it comes out blurred because the shutter speed was way too low. In other cases, it might be about having the wrong aperture or even the wrong ISO setting. Often the settings you have for still shots will not work for shots that have movement in them, especially those of birds flying in the air. It is clear that photographing wildlife is like fishing for landlocked Salmon. Sometimes you get a good catch, but most often you end up with nothing!

A pack of Golden Jackals and a pair of Asian Antelopes at the Sultanpur National Park

Just yesterday when I visited the Sultanpur National Park early in the morning I least expected to spot a pack of Golden Jackals and a pair of Asian Antelopes, also known as Neel Gai staring down at me down the trail that I was walking on. Thankfully I had been alerted by a fleeting glance of a Golden Jackal fleeting into the underbrush by the side of the trail. You might not however be as lucky when a brace of Partridges shoots across your path just in front of you! At other times you hide in the bushes hoping to take a potshot at some of the ducks paddling around seemingly unaware of your presence, but then, the moment you poke your head out, a Lapwing calls out the alarm and the entire flock vanishes into thin air! It goes without saying that some of your best photographs might not be the ones in which the birds' eyes are in focus, in fact, some of the best photographs might be ones you might discard or delete because you think they are not very clear! Just one day while on a visit to the Najafgarh lake near the Chandu Budhera village I spotted a troika of Flamingos out in the distance. The weather was really bad, thanks to the poor AQI levels and the photographs that I took of these birds turned out to be not so sharp at all. However, on looking at them closely, I realised that while the birds were not so clear, I had however managed to capture the atmosphere and the ambience of the scene. There was a sense of mystery, a sense of suspense in the moment.

Flamingos spotted one misty morning at the Najafgarh Lake

Flamingos can stand on one leg for hours!

As if the weather was not a spoilsport, having a large number of Batchelor Asian Antelopes wander across the scene scaring away that exotic bird you had been trailing so patiently might be a put-off, so you might as well decide to take a snap of the intruders, with good effect . If you can capture their startlement, then I guess it would be a better tradeoff from photographing that exotic bird.

A flock of Asian Antelopes at the Sultanpur National Park

Who was more startled, these Antelopes or me?

How strange it is you visit a national park thinking you will get a few photographs of migratory birds but end up taking photographs of animals! This blog post should have had more pictures of birds than it has, but then, I guess you need to make do with anything that offers a decent enough reason for stepping outdoors on a holiday, early in the morning. I guess you need to have something to justify your inability to stay at home even on a holiday! 

A Kingfisher at the Sultanpur National Park

A Blue-throat at the Sultanpur National Park

A Greater Coucal at the Sultanpur National Park

The best possible photograph that one can take is that of an expression of startlement or amazement etched on the faces of bovine creatures. It is amazing how many of them you will find in a National Park like the Sultanpur National Park. Having a multitude of domesticated animals including stray dogs can defeat the very purpose of having a National Park for migratory birds.

We need to have a National Park for domestic animals too!

Bird Spotting at the Najafgarh Lake

A triptych of Bar-headed Geese at the Najafgarh Lake

A visit to the Sultanpur National Park on the 19th of February turned out to be a disappointment because when my brother and I reached the park, it was to learn that it had been closed to visitors since the Governor was visiting it later in the day. However, the closure of the National Park was a blessing in disguise as we then decided to locate the 'Sultanpur Flats' but ended at the Najafgarh Lake close by! We were pleasantly astonished by the huge scale of the wetland and the huge number of birds we could spot there. The Sultanpur National Park doesn't even play second fiddle to the Najafgarh Lake. The Bar-headed Geese that had been missing from the Sultanpur National Park were present in huge numbers, and they were not even scared of us, unlike the birds in the Sultanpur National Park. We were able to spot Brown-headed Gulls, Sarus Cranes, Open Billed Storks, Spot-billed Ducks and Greylag Geese in large numbers.

A flock of Bar-headed Geese stretches across the horizon!

A visit to the Najafgarh lake will afford one a close glimpse of Open Billed Storks in large numbers. Incidentally, the juvenile storks have closed bills while the adult ones have bills that are open in the middle, hence, Open Billed Storks.

The Sage-An Open billed Stork in the morning sun

Open Billed Storks face-off

A Sarus Crane pair watch a flypast of an assortment of Ducks and Ibis

It was a great surprise to spot a large number of Brown-headed Gulls at the lake. What I took to be the ubiquitous Lapwings turned out to be a large number of Gulls, both Brown-headed as well as White-headed wading on the water. I was able to capture one of these in flight, not a very clear photograph, but then distinct enough to identify it as a Brown-headed Gull!

Brown-headed Gull

Brown-headed Gull

Brown-headed Gull

The Najafgarh Lake is fed by the Sahibi River, an ancient canal that draws water from the Yamuna River in Delhi. Lately, damage in the embankments of the river caused widescale flooding of the area causing it to become a massive wetland, that doesn't mean that the Najafgarh lake is a new wetland. In fact, historical evidence suggests that the area was a wetland in the past too. Bar-headed Geese come out rather nicely in photographs, provided you are close enough to them, without of course spooking them. 

Open Billed Storks foraging for food at the Najafgarh Lake

Bar-headed Geese at the wetland

Better Wildlife Photography-Photographing Emotions and Behaviour

Face-off  (Juvenile Asian Antelope greeting each other)

Are you bored with the wildlife photographs you take? Could it be because most of them are predictable, two dimensional and perhaps boring? A large number of wildlife photography initiates would believe that the best wildlife photographs are the ones with birds flying and carnivores leaping to the kill. Unfortunately, this is far from true! Some of the best wildlife photographs tell a story. A photograph that has a human interest angle to it will definitely stand out from the others.

The Contortionist - A Juvenile Painted Stork enjoys a scratch

People often believe that photographing wildlife requires simply a zoom lens, a DSLR and a tripod, along with camouflage clothes and the typical wide-brimmed hat. The fact is that the truth is far from what is described in the previous sentence. While, no doubt, having the necessary equipment and clothing goes a long way in capturing some of the most iconic photographs, there is much more that is required in terms of skills. Patience and persistence are important values that can help you take some amazing wildlife pictures. Sometimes, wildlife photography enthusiasts focus on motion photography, especially flying birds and animals in motion. I too used to focus on flying birds but then realised gradually that photographing bird and animal behaviour can be most fulfilling. There is, often a great story in photographs that capture bird or animal behaviour, especially when this behaviour focuses on adults and juveniles! In some cases, it is a great joy to see adult birds and animals displaying affection towards each other. Good photographs tell a story, they don't just capture a moment.

Juvenile Painted Storks sparring with each other

One of the most important skills one needs to develop as a wildlife photography enthusiast is the ability to observe the behaviour of animals and birds, to learn to predict their actions and to have an eye for behaviour. In this blog of mine, I will focus on the typical behaviour of wildlife including bonding amongst siblings, parental bonding and general curiosity of wild animals towards the photographer. All this is possible only when the photographer is able to creep in close enough to the subject without frightening it away. Moving noiselessly, avoiding abrupt movements, blending in with the background, avoiding creating long silhouettes can all help one observe animals in their natural habitats. 

Face-off

Visitors to the National Parks will often have come across larger mammals like the Asian Antelope and smaller mammals like the Golden Jackal sizing them up. This could also be an example of wild animals displaying behaviour that is indicative of their sense of feeling threatened by the presence of human beings. The animal-human conflict is exemplified by this aggressive posturing by these resident animals. 

A Male Asian Antelope stands guard

A curious Golden Jackal faces the photographer

The eyes say it all!

Observing animals and birds in their natural environments, moving around comfortably and being able to capture their interactions and behaviour amongst themselves can be a most fulfilling moment. I have concentrated on Jackals, Sarus Cranes, Painted Storks and Ducks in general. Even looking at the more commonly found pigeons in the backyard can offer great ideas for meaningful wildlife photography!

Two Pigeons share an intimate moment

Animals and birds have emotions. The love that a mother Crane shows for her child is relatable, and so is the joy of going for a scratch in the morning! The sight of two juvenile antelopes facing each other is rather like a silent greeting between siblings. A picture of a mother Antelope feeding her calves is something that one can relate to as a human being! In these rather difficult times of the Pandemic, lockdowns, online classes and work from home have all robbed us of the emotional support of our peers, friends and family members. Looking at wildlife displaying emotions is something that helps us salvage remnants of feelings that we have for each other. I have thus selected a few of my photographs that depict emotions in wildlife, especially as a suggestion for taking meaningful photographs of wildlife that inspire us to be more human!

Singing and scratching in unison

Sarus Cranes do things in unison. They sing together, scratch together, forage together and fly together. It is interesting to see how the dominant partner starts the song which is followed by the partner. These photographs were taken at Najafgarh Lake.

A pair of Sarus Cranes sing in unison

The male Sarus Crane stands guard while the female grooms herself

Sarus Cranes enjoying a grooming session

Sarus Cranes grooming themselves for the day

A grooming session

The equipment I use includes two DSLRs, a Canon 1300D and a Canon 1500D. The lenses include a Canon IS II 55 - 250 mm and a 70-300 mm Canon EF 70-300 mm IS II USM lens. The reason why I don't use a bigger lens is that I like travelling light. While I do carry a tripod at times, I feel that it limits your movements. As far as clothes are concerned, wearing a pair of jeans, tees with muted colours and a cap are a must. My favourite camera settings include an ISO range of 100 to 400, a shutter speed ranging from 1/320 to 1/800. For metering, I choose between spot metering or evaluative metering options. For the focus, I use the single focus or AI focus.

Some of the best wildlife photographs record the maternal instincts of mothers feeding their offspring. Mammals will feed their offspring milk while birds will root up in the shallows to bring out delectable crustaceans and other food for their offsprings. These photographs were taken at the Sultanpur National Park.

Mother and Daughter bonding

Sarus Crane mother helping a juvenile clear its beak

Momma's love - Female Asian Antelope feeding  her calves