I spent 6 days, 12 game drives, in Ranthambore, hoping to photograph some of their famous royal bengal tigers. It was my first time to India, having spent the last 15 years or so travelling to East and Southern Africa to photograph wildlife. Ranthambore was similar to the big national parks in Africa, in that the rules are quite strict, making tracking difficult. In addition, the park is quite a dense forest and so not only was it tough to spot a tiger, it was really difficult in many cases to get a clear shot. I went many drives without a sighting, and others with a tiger far off in the distance, obscured by tree branches and bushes. It was a big challenge!
All that said, I did have a few great sightings with these stunning animals. They have such an incredible presence, unlike anything I've experienced with another big cat.
In terms of equipment, I took two Canon R5s. I had the RF 600mm f/4 on one and the 100-300 f/2.8 on the other. I also had the 1.4x teleconverter with me, usually strapped to the 100-300 but sometimes on the 600 as well.
Beautiful set of images. The 100-300 f2.8 sure looks like a great companion to the 600 F4 in image quality and the flexibility of a zoom both with and without the TC.
Beautiful Images, Definitely on my bucket list of places to go. My personal favorites are 3, 5. On the first image have you thought about cropping it and taking some off the right side so the tiger is not so much in the center?
Lil Judd wrote:
Must have been an amazing experience
Lovely set
Lil
Thank you! It was challenging but a great experience.
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Dave_E wrote:
Beautiful set of images. The 100-300 f2.8 sure looks like a great companion to the 600 F4 in image quality and the flexibility of a zoom both with and without the TC.
Dave
Thank you. I've found this is the best combination for my wildlife shooting. The biggest drawback is of course size/weight. My camera bag easily weighs more than my luggage!
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paul_anderson wrote:
Beautiful Images, Definitely on my bucket list of places to go. My personal favorites are 3, 5. On the first image have you thought about cropping it and taking some off the right side so the tiger is not so much in the center?
Thank you! I am often torn with how best to crop, but in instances where I'm getting direct eye contact I find i prefer to keep the subject in the middle to emphasize it.
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jowul wrote:
That first image with the tiger's yellow eyes focused on you is indeed impressive. WOW.
Thank you!
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newyork wrote:
Unbelievable
Thanks!
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11rdgr88 wrote:
Lucky to be in the right place and right time to get these amazing shots.
Tigers are indeed photogenic as compared to the lions...for me.
I have to agree. I love lions, but they don't have the presence of these tigers.
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Bobg657 wrote:
Great set Shaadi, but the first one is particularly stunnung!
Terrific set of images! Impressive sight to see them in the wild.
I am pleased to hear they are so hard to find and get close to. Maybe that means they have a better chance of maintaining their wild life in spite of the pressure of human populations.
I envy you the opportunity to be among such so regal a creature! He knows you are there...you see him/her...at that 1 moment you have connected with such a beautiful creature. What a rush!
Very well done indeed despite some roadblocks!
Dan
My brother above is also a renowned wild cat photographer! Thanks "kd"!
Danpbphoto wrote:
My most favorite of the wild cats overall!
I envy you the opportunity to be among such so regal a creature! He knows you are there...you see him/her...at that 1 moment you have connected with such a beautiful creature. What a rush!
Very well done indeed despite some roadblocks!
Dan
My brother above is also a renowned wild cat photographer! Thanks "kd"!
Thank you for the kind words, Dan. It is definitely a rush in the moment!
Great images. After numerous trips to Africa, Ranthambore has been on our list for the next international trip.
Two questions:
1. Which travel outfitter did you use?
2. Was the park loaded with tourist vehicles?
ChicagoJeff wrote:
Great images. After numerous trips to Africa, Ranthambore has been on our list for the next international trip.
Two questions:
1. Which travel outfitter did you use?
2. Was the park loaded with tourist vehicles?
Thanks, Jeff.
1) I used Wild World India. I stressed that I wanted a guide/driver that was experienced and understood photography and they did pair me up with a team that seemed to be quite experienced. Send me a message if you'd like me to make an introduction. The principal joined me on several game drives.
2) This is the big concern with Ranthambore, I know it was mine. We've all seen the videos of all the vehicles crowding a tiger and it looks miserable. This is caused by a couple things I noticed. First, the rules are strict (no off-road, and the game drives are 3 and half hours in the morning and afternoon, no exceptions). Second, everyone is there for the same thing (tigers). This means whenever there's a sighting everyone congregates. The other issue is the canter van. These are large busses that will have 20+ people on them. It's the most affordable way to get in the park and attracts the most casual tourist. There are several of them in each zone and they are big and loud and the people on them tend to also be noisy. In summary, if there is a sighting pretty soon you will have every vehicle in the same place. It wasn't as bad as I feared, but it's definitely a thing. There are no private vehicles, if that's what you're asking.
