The Wide Angle Wild Life Photographer Strikes Again!

Perhaps I’m the only guy in the whole world who goes to a jungle safari with only a wide-angle lens in the bag, but surprisingly it’s never been that disappointing.

Before you read any further, I suggest you read the backstory told in two parts:

https://joshimukard.com/2013/07/15/joshi-mukards-wildlife-photography-and-other-updates/

https://joshimukard.com/2014/11/06/going-wide-in-the-wild/

I was back in the wild recently, yet again, with my trusty wide-angle lens. This time in the jungle of K.Gudi/B.R Hills.

Here are my unique wildlife shots. I have tried to make it easier for you.

Deer

A big bird

I’m sure there’s something in this pic. I don’t do blank clicks, you know. Maybe if I can invest some more time on this, I should be able to tell you – two hours is clearly not enough.

We scoured the forest for six hours in two separate safaris to see a tiger. We thought we saw one – just a glimpse through the foliage:

But then it turned out to be this guy crouching behind the bushes to pass nature’s first call:

We didn’t get to see even a leopard, because it was sitting here all along:

Photo Courtesy: The guy from the other jeep!

Look at us! Have you ever seen a cool group like us, we look like we are going for a night-out party in the jungle – all smiles and laughs

On any trip, friends pester me to click their portraits. Mr. SV wanted me to take a very impressive photo of him. His girlfriend cannot be more proud:

Late into the night, we were attempting at photographing stars – without much success – when Mr. BR from our group interpreted a langur’s cry – god knows for what – as a Leopard alarm. Since Mr. BR has heard similar calls in his many forays into the Indian jungles in the past (he never stuck around ever to see to what turned up at the end of an alarm), and since his initials are B.R – at least some validation – we took his words and rushed back to our cottages.

In the tented cottage closest to where the alarm calls were heard, the occupants, two girls, found out to their alarm that their door wouldn’t lock. After much deliberation, they decided to use one of the girl’s make-up bag which was as heavy as a couple of solid bricks – yes, she just cannot live without her kit even in the middle of a jungle, but thankfully – to fashion an ingenious system which would keep the latch in place and secure the door. They slept peacefully through the night, confident that they were safe from the supposedly wandering leopard, only to wake up in the morning and see the door wide open.

Theories ran rife. The most acceptable theory was that the leopard, named Vasanth Kumar – named so for his rather pleasant demeanor, was indeed prowling in the area that night and did visit the tent. But seeing the door ajar, he thought this:

and briskly went off into the brushes.

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That’s all for now. I will be back soon with more of my ‘jungle tales’. Ciao.