Ranganathittu, another heaven for those starting off into photography and experts alike. A place that offers you plenty of subjects to shot and as you evolve tests your ability to be creative with the same subjects. A place I rushed to as soon as I picked up my 40D and 70-300 Sigma, without IS. The perils of getting into bird photography with a lens without IS was soon realized. But that is the lens that helped me build a steady hand. Necessity is the mother of stability. Not all pics in this series are from 70-300 however. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a 100-400 L F4.5-F5.6 and have been holding on to it since. Sharing pics from that as well.
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A Great Egret poses in its breeding plumage. a low exposure helped in achieving the naturally black background with mild touch ups below.
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A flock of Black headed Ibis make their way to the river in the morning. It is always beautiful to watch their flight and the beautiful V pattern they make. But this day they were a small group.
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And of course a resident Ranganathittu yawns (I hope that's what it is doing). The light was harsh and it was against the light, hence remained unprocessed in my system for almost 2 years now. 2 years changes a lot of things and when I rediscovered this pic, fell in love with it. I used the harsh lights to make a monochrome of this croc in action.
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The Indian cormorant with its beautiful Emerald green eyes basks in the sun after a good swim.
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It is take off time for this painted stork after a good drink of water. It is amazing to see these birds in action. Every second there is something to click.
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The spoonbill enjoys a bath. i would have really loved to compose these shots better. But initial reaction is to capture. With more visits it is easier to have pre-planned compositions in the head that can be executed the moment opportunity arises.
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The Eurasian Thick-knee or the Stone curlew, another most commonly clicked birds from Ranganathittu. These birds are so used to humans that they hardly make any effort to move away as we get closer. The initial temptation is to get as close as possible, specially with a new lens. After a while that temptation wears off and it is how to make something new and different. Easier said than done.. :)
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Nesting Swallows fly across the river. It is amazing to see the speed in which they fly in and out of the nests. It is almost a blur and an amazing challenge to click of course while ensuring the birds are not disturbed in any way.
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The most famous resident of Ranganathittu. The river terns- So much that it is easy to get a full frame shot of them with a 4x Point and shoot cam. Of course the larger the lens it is better to stay that far behind, though even the boatmen take pleasure in taking you as close as possible to these terns, till your lens touches them, to demonstrate how comfortable they are.
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This pic is among my favourites just for the uniqueness in the pose and the diversity of the birds.
As the Spoonbill and Openbill pose together in the beautiful morning light giving the impression of a studio shot.
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 Photographs and work by Tharangini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. |
