Wildlife Photography that Amazes and Inspires

Read How Hobby Begets Successful Career for Wildlife Photographer Rathika Ramasamy

Rathika Ramasamy is, by every measure, one of the world’s best wildlife photographers.

But it wasn’t always so.

College educated, but not in the arts, she has an MBA/Computer Engineering background.

It was just little over a dozen years ago in 2003 that she ventured into the field of wildlife photography. Today she stands tall as one of India’s, and the world’s best.

She started by photographing birds.

I took up photography as a hobby initially and slowly became passionate about it. My journey in wildlife photography started around 2003. Love for nature, wildlife and photography drew me into this profession naturally. Once when I visited the Bharatpur sanctuary, I was overwhelmed with the awe of birds, enjoyed watching them and wanted to capture them. Okhla bird Sanctuary is 15 min drive from my home, I used to go daily there, spend three hours watching them. Many migratory birds come to Delhi on their migratory route during the winter season. In the summer, we have resident birds to shoot. I somehow was hence constantly exposed to the beauty of the birds. And bird photography is possible throughout the year. This is one of the main reasons I got drawn to shooting birds. Thus, the journey began.

Ramasamy is inspired by nature. Birds and animals fascinate her. She loves that with wildlife photography there is no dullness. It can be exciting in the action, and in the waiting for the magic to happen.

That is not to say it is all easy work. Of course she recognizes there is no control over her wild animal “models.” As the photographer you must be willing to wait and give the subject both time and physical space. Some animals are quite shy, just spotting them can be challenging, much less capturing their image in a natural pose in their native environment.

While some photographers use darkroom techniques to enhance their work, she says she believes it is her responsibility to accurately represent the scene.

 In describing one of her favorite shots, she says:

Monitor Lizards are found widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent and are pesky egg thieves. They used to eat parakeet eggs from tree nests is what I have read in the books. For the first time, when I got a chance to watch them in action, I was simply amazed. With a humanlike instinct, like any parent to safeguard their little one, they were fighting so vigorously to chase the lizard away. It is one of my unforgettable moments in the history of nature I’ve captured, to watch and photograph this spectacle. It was taken at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India. You can see the Parakeet pair vigorously attacking the Monitor Lizard, trying to bite the tail of the lizard. The whole attack lasted only a few seconds and the lizard was running for the life.

If you want to become a wildlife photographer, Ramasamy recommends you know the basics of photography and get to know your subject. Do you homework and be patient.

And if you are lucky, you will have a career that brings you accolades and pleasure as does this talented photographer.

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Read more about this incredible wildlife photographer at Cambyte

All photographs copyright Rathika Ramasamy