Professor explores wildlife from behind the camera

Jitender Govindani shares what goes into clicking a perfect picture in the wild

Hyderabad: From seeking a reference to visit a tiger safari to being considered a tiger expert, Prof Jitender Govindani has come a long way to have helped the Kanha Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) publish a tiger identification book, two coffee table books and one book each for the Corbett and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves.

In 2011, he was to make a presentation but the event got cancelled. He then went to the Corbett Tiger Reserve to spend his time on hand. “I spotted a tiger there and that was the beginning of my new journey. I did more trips in the next two years but still did not have a camera. I wanted to document the wildlife as I started understanding the wild world,” says Govindani, who first bought a mid-level camera, a Nikon D90, in 2013.

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Safari drivers and guards, who shared with him their knowledge on animal behaviours, the best locations to spot them and even the best way to frame them to see the wonderful Corbett, were his first gurus in wild photography.

What is in the bag?

Govindani now uses a Nikon D5. The Rs 4 lakh-plus camera is capable of clicking 14 frames per second. Speed of course matters in wildlife photography! It is paired with a 500mm (F4) lens for reaching out to the subjects from a safe distance. He also packs another body, Nikon 850, with a 70-200mm lens.

The golden hour, just when the Sun rises and there is a yellowish tinge, is the best. The back light helps too. It is misty in winters and is the best time to be in the wild, he says.
“Nothing can match the experience of tracking tigers using pugmarks. The ISO (light sensitivity) has to be higher. There is no time to fiddle with the gear and settings,” says Govindani, who always shoots in aperture priority mode and lets the camera take the most suitable shutter speed.

He rates his assignment for the cover page of Corbett high. “I was told the picture has to be an action shot, one which is not posted anywhere. I asked the officials to allow me to do a full-day shoot. The weather was chilly. I shot the pictures at 5.47 pm with ISO put at 12000,” says Govindani about the tiger series that made it to the coffee table book.
A picture of a tiger stalking, an elephant walking ahead, and an elephant with veins in its ears (it is called Laal Khaan, which means red ears) getting highlighted due to the backlight and a few others are his favourites.

Getting a picture is not guaranteed at all times. “I was on the safari for 11 days and did two sessions every day but had to come back without sighting a tiger,” he recollects the misses.

Costs?

Wildlife photography does not come cheap. Regular safari costs Rs 5,000-Rs 5,500 per person. Many may have to take a flight and then take a taxi. One-way taxi costs about Rs 5,000 or more as the distance is about 200 to 300 km from the airport. A decent stay costs upwards of Rs 3,000 per day while a luxury stay can go upwards of Rs 10,000. Many make it a three- or four-day stay.

Govindani, whose close-to-decade work filled up 3 TB hard disks, does exhibitions with the proceeds going to charity.

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