This was my first safari in a new jungle, Pilibhit situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The tigers there are known to be larger than most Royal Bengal Tigers in India.
We arrived at the homestay at about 1pm and left for the safari by 1.45pm. We were informed that of a pair of mating tigers had been seen in the morning safari. So our guide decided to try and track this pair down.
We went to the general area where they had last been seen but could not find them. We then went to a few other spots coming back to the area they had been sighted in the morning. Finally near the end of our safari timing, we decided to take one more round of that area. This was our 4th attempt.
Suddenly we spotted this huge male sitting in the bushes. We stopped about 50 meters from him. After a minute or so he came out of the bushes onto the dirt track.
He stood for a second looking at us, snarled and then suddenly charged at us.
Initially you freeze. Then the adrenaline kicked in. I steadied the 600 PF (which luckily is a lightweight lens) and tried to focus on the the tiger. Shot a burst of images. Got a few frames in focus primarily due to the excellent focusing capabilities of the Z9 & the 600mm PF.
Minimal Post done. Really only thing I did was enhance colors from a Nikon Camera Flat Profile.
Difficult for the following reasons.
A. Difficult to track down a tiger in the wild. They camouflage very well in the thick tall grass. Also being solitary animals (they do not roam in a pack of 15 plus like a lion pride) they are more difficult to find. But luckily like most creatures they have certain habits and patterns of behaviour.
B. It was my first safari in a new jungle that I had never been to before. I was not on familiar or even a known area. Wildlife photographers' will understand the benefits of being on familiar territory while doing wildlife. Sometimes that is the only thing in your control in wildlife photography.
B. Scary to see a tiger charge at you. Hands quake.
C. Unexpected and sudden turn of events.
D. Keep focus on the subject with the vehicle wanting to reverse.
E. You have only split seconds to execute the shot. Unlike other action shots, you do not get to chose your seat, angle or direction of the light source.
Yes, I would certainly hope to be in a safe protected vehicle, or you'd have been dinner for that tiger. Great photo... one to be proud of. I really like the soft background elements which complement and place focus on the subject without any distractions. The dust adds to the impact that he's charging quickly at you.
I was in a safari park in England with a then-tiny daughter. A tiger stood in front of me acting like a big ole pussy cat. Then my daughter came into view off to the side and it instantly went into hunt mode and ran and leaped for her. I am very pleased with the engineer who designed that fence! And hopefully you survived to send this photo to us…or your descendants are kindly sharing your story :)
ANUJ RAWLA This image scores the best for me over others for the scope of this contest. This frame could not have been staged.
Importantly, this is world competition grade masala.
Keep up good work.
Thank you. 🙏