Tigress - Take a Walk On The Wild Side

[Kiran Khanzode]

Sharing one of my favorites from a recent 2 week trip to the sweltering heat of India in May '09. The extreme temperatures and the time spent in travel (oh, the jetlag too) along with the money spent is all worth it when I get one such picture to bring back.
Taken in Bandhavgarh National Park, India.

Waited for her one early morning on the side of the Rajbehra dam (morning is the only time that I wanted to take some pictures here due to the wonderful lighting, evenings are backlit). She eventually walked the 50 or so feet of the dam after an hour's wait. It was all worth it (those 15 seconds)... I got 2-3 frames worth showcasing out of the 18-20 odd ones that I snapped.

EOS 40D, 300 f/2.8 IS with canon 2x tele at 600mm f/8, ISO 400, 1/640, beanbag in jeep.

C&C is welcome.

Regards,
Kiran

[Stu Bowie]

I like the early morning light, as its shows the warm golden colours of the tiger very well. The paw off the ground shows movement, and overall, nice and sharp. Great capture Kiran.

[Morkel Erasmus]

stunning light and detail! was she walking on the dam wall? that would be my only nit. a lovely cat.

[Fabs Forns]

Oh, by now I know that location :)
Sweet light and pose and I wish I could ge there one day, thank for sharing it.

[Arthur Morris]

Lovely light and creature. I am OK with all the trees but the one behind the Tiger's head....

Was that the dam or the **** dam? Actually, I do not mind the dam here. What is the purpose of their walking the dam?

[Kiran Khanzode]

Thx guys, Sorry Art, can't cut any trees in the forest ! :-).

As for the dam, it's a part of the Rajbehra area inside the park (man-made dam of course). During the wet season, when the water levels are up, the dam wall is barely visible and the tigers appear as if they are walking on water, it's quite a sight, am yet to capture in my camera.

The Tigers of this area usually sit/bathe in the water (especially in summers) and then cross over to a hill on the other side (once in a while). It's about 50-70 feet distance on the wall. I wanted to get some pictures of them in the water, but my luck was not that good.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for the info, Kiran. What's the matter: your ax is not sharpened???

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This is one of your best images. Since I am not too happy with the man made structures, I would crop a bit from the bottom, like Krishnan's version shared earlier. Also, I would crop on the left just a little bit to remove a few leaves.

Artie,
This year the rains were less. So this man made dam had less of water. In the previous years, the dam was not visible due to the overflowing water.

[Kiran Khanzode]

Thanks, Sabyasachi ! Art, No, my chainsaw was too big to fit in the carry-on baggage :-)

[Arthur Morris]

Kiran, They have new portable chain saws that run on batteries!

[Arthur Morris]

Sabya, re:

Since I am not too happy with the man made structures, I would crop a bit from the bottom, like Krishnan's version shared earlier.

I respectfully disagree about cropping from the bottom. It's a dam, and no amount of cropping will make it not a dam. Better to leave the needed space at the bottom (unlike Krishnan's version).