Day Visit to Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve

Just as we returned back from Kabini, a casual conversation led to an impromptu trip to the Maidenahalli Blackbuck Reserve near Madhugiri. The onward journey was filled with surprises as we got lost a bit and took the "roads less traveled" to reach our destination. The mis-adventure delayed us by at least an hour as compared to the regular route. Given that we were five of us including Pozu in the jeep, the rough ride wasn't exactly something that we were thrilled about. The only silver lining was that it didn't matter if there was a road or not, the jeep could potentially navigate through anything.

We reached the place at around 10AM and even before we entered the gate, we had already encountered our first herd of the antelopes and the cameras were in action. 

As we entered into the sanctuary, we tried to get in touch with the guard at the office but nobody was available so we said we'll come back again during lunch time and check. We continued through the marked trails, tracking the herds in an attempt to get them in range but the shy creatures kept moving away from us. 

We saw a few harriers hovering around but didn't get a chance to get a photograph them. There were a couple of spotted owlets who made us run around a bit to get a reasonably clean background. 

An Indian Bushlark was kind enough to hold it's position while we got some shots. 

The return journey was a lot better since we took the normal route via Madhugiri and we were able to make it home in a little over 3 hours. Overall, it was a good day spent out in the wild, and that's all that matters!

Blackbucks of Velavadar!

I've been to the Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve quite a few times earlier and my experience with the blackbucks there was always that they're too shy and would always maintain a good distance from the car. The terrain also made it difficult to position yourself for a good angle to shoot. I was hoping that things would be different at Velavadar!

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the blackbucks are seen in quite high numbers at Velavadar as compared to Maidenahalli, to add to that, the grassland give a very nice feel to the surroundings. The bucks are quite used to human presence and though they're not exactly friendly, they're not too shy either. You'd not see them curiously wanting to come close to you but the distance they maintain is good enough to get some close up shots of these beauties.

I was so keen on getting a silhouette shot of the blackbucks with the sun setting in the background, but you simply can't get them to be where you'd like. It's a matter of positioning yourself and waiting for the perfect setting, but it's not always a success when you have limited time at hand.

I must admit that watching the blackbucks grazing for prolonged periods isn't a very exciting thing, but they can spring up quite a few surprises at you. Jumping Blackbucks are a treat to watch and if you can get a shot with them in the air, you're done for the day! I tried that a few times but failed to get a crisp shot, they're either too fast to focus while they jump, or too close to get them fully in the frame. Apart from jumping, even the mock fighting drills can get you some interesting shots. I got lucky with these two males wanting to be captured on camera. To be honest, it was difficult to get them both in the frame since I was shooting with a 1.4x TC on the 600mm, but with a little bit of adjustment in my position I finally managed to fit them in.

Tech Specs:

Canon 1D Mark IV + Canon 600mm F4 IS L with 1.4x TC
Shot at 840mm, 1/160, F8 at ISO 100

Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

"Today we celebrate our Independence Day!", this is the dialogue that I still remember from the I-Day movie. Some things just leave a mark on your mind and even though it isnt relevant in this situation, it still comes to mind when I think of I-Day.

I just finished processing some pictures from this weekend trip to Maidenahalli and was very happy with a couple of them. Here's a b/w conversion that almost turned out like a sketch.

Tech Specs:
Canon 1D Mark IV + Canon 600mm with 1.4x TC
Shot at 840mm, 1/1000s, f8 and ISO 400