King Cobra

Just 10-12 years back sighting of King Cobras was very rare. There were many myths revolving around these snakes. (It has a pearl on it's head which emits light in the night etc.) But in the last 10-12 years the sighting and the King Cobras entering the village and domestic ares have been increased to a large extent. In 2000 when a KC entered our farm house it became a very big news. Local transportation buses stooped near by our farm to see the KC.
But in the last couple of years sighting has become so common that when 2 months back a KC appeared near my in laws home there were hardly a few people to see that. In fact except me(who went to there to photograph) there were no outsiders. 

 Capturing the KC-
Since KCs are considered sacred in our part of world we don't kill them.In my in-laws home they called snake expert to capture it. Later it was released in the thich forest in the foothills of Kodachadri.

Below is the image of 2 KCs indulging in combat dance taken in 2009.

The scarcity of food in the forest ( mainly rodents) might have forced them to enter the human zone.
Anyone who can through more light on it?

ants-Building the nest

It's very interesting to see how the ants (or any insects like bees, wasps) build their nests. They build huge nests no where related to their size. I am always amazed to see how they choose certain set of leaves among thousands of leaves, how they bend those leaves, how they stitch those leaves etc. While stitching some of the ants strongly hold the lower leaf from their legs and pull the upper leaves from their mouth.

some ants act as guards who always watch the predators coming near. When I was trying to make images holding my camera in front of them they were closely watching me.

Some ants act as supervisors who checks works of each ant.

BeLLigundi-Dream came true

You may remember my promise to explore Belligundi water falls made almost one and a half years back. We had witnessed a huge water fall called BeLLigundi when we went to Booralugundi water falls.

Our team has decided to explore BeLLigundi that day. But for some reasons we could not make it.
Finally after postponing many dates we decided to go there on On Jan 11th.
We started early in the morning as the Water falls is hidden deep in the forests and this time we were sure that we have to trek hours together in the jungle. The starting point is almost 45 k.m. from my place Madodi. So we left here by 5.30 in the morning, had breakfast on the way, packed some food for the lunch. When we reached the starting point it was around 7.30 and it was very cold. We were total 7 in number. Raghavendra Udupa, naghabhushan, Manju, ganapathi, Dhakappa, Thimmappa and me. Dhakappa was our guide and he was the only person who knew the route.
It was very cold and we were in dilemma whether or not to carry our warm clothes as after some time we may not need them. Finally we left the place to start the trek at 7.45. After 45 minutes all of us who had carried jerkins started cursing ourselves as the weather started getting hot.

There is a temple at the beginning of the forest.

It was really a thick forest

If Dhakappa was not there we definitely would have lost in the forest.

After a few minutes I observed the route is not completely untouched by humans! There were clear signs of good road built a few years ago and now in decaying condition. This place is near Kanoor Kote  .  I asked Dakappa about the history of the place. He also knew little about it and he only told me that some years back it was the main route connecting Dakshin Kannada and his place.
The sides of the road were built with stones and upon them trees had grown. Some  trees look like at least 100 years old and I guess this road was used before the British constructed other roads to connect Dakshin Kannada with our place.
After around 3-4 k.m. of trek we reached near a stream. For my big surprise a tank made with single stone was there. May be it was made for the cart oxes to drink water. A small pipe like thing was also there by which humans can drink water. It was sure that this was one of the main road connecting two sides of the western ghats, may be couple of hundred years back.

We had snacks over there, filled our appetite and continued our trek. The last 2 k.m before the water falls was very tough. We had taken diversion from the old route. We had to descend at an inclination of     75degrees . It was not very easy for amateur trekkers like us. But when we reached the bottom of the falls we felt it was worth.
The falls was massive. As we expected it was around 400Ft.in height (this is just our guess.). It is the one of the tallest falls in Karnataka. Most admirable thing about this falls it's "wilderness". There was hardly any sign of human activity. It was like a private falls specially constructed for us amidst the deep jungles of western ghats.

We had our lunch, took some rest and started to go back. Oh! It was very tough. The 75degree inclination was tougher than we imagined. It took one our more to reach the place where the stone tank was built. 
Finally when we came back near the jeep it was 5.00 in the evening and it was a experience of the life time.
Though all of us were tired we were all very happy. The trek in the forest is unforgettable.
As we still had time to go back we decided to see sun set at "Booralu Gundi". It was again 2+2 k.m. of trek. The sunset was very beautiful that day and we could see the sun setting in the Arabian sea.

From the photographic point of view it was not a good trip for me. I had to run with my friend who didn't had interest in  'just forest'. Also when we reached the water falls the light was very harsh and I just had the choice to make record shots.

Pleasant surprise

Today I received a mail from www.nwf.org saying my image "Damsel fly " mating has won the Honorable mention in the 2010 National Wildlife Photo contest. It will be featured in a slide show on the National Wild life Federation's website in the magazine's Photo Zone pages in 2011.

IMPRESSIONS

From the last a few days I am trying to make some minimalistic nature  images, especially kind of abstract images.

It is interesting to note that, majority of the nature photographers don't like abstract images. We are a little hesitant to 'look beyond the obvious'. Some time back I have posted an abstract image in a nature photography forum. The moderator has commented " Usually I don't like abstract images, but nice image." Not that it is right or wrong, but usually this is how we perceive nature.

 Some time back I was talking to one of the moderator of  CNP , Ashwini Kumar Bhat . He shared an interesting experience when they decide to start the forum. For one of his friend the name 'creative nature photography' itself was meaningless. "What is there to create in nature? You take what is there in nature. What is creative thing in it?"

Some one may ask "why do you choose specifically nature to make abstract images? When your intension is to 'show beyond the obvious' you can chose a wire instead of a creeper. Why nature photography?". The answer is simple. To me photography is not only the final product,i.e. photograph. But the whole process of making images is photography. The way I try to find forms, shapes, patterns, colors, through the view finder makes me gel with the nature. And this makes nature photography more interesting and fun.  Of course I like to try all kind of photography, but for this reason I like shoot more nature.

   In these images I tried to concentrate on lines and minimum colors. Though I have I titled it "impressions" these are not influenced by impressionism moment in fine art.

Into the wild

The place where I live is surrounded by  mountains and ever green forests of western ghats. After taking photography seriously I wanted to explore many those mountains and forests which are rarely accessed by human beings.
Last week myself and  my old  friend Yogesh went for a whole day trekking to one of those forests.

I tried to make some images to depict the monsoon mood.

Monsoon Raagas

  As all of  you know I am living amidst the thick forests of Western Ghats. It's a place full of green, mountain, birds etc. Especially in the time of monsoon the beauty of the place reaches to it's peak. It is my long time wish to make some images in the rainy days through which I can depict monsoon. The big challenge for this israin itself! Mist and the water are the biggest enemies of the camera. Last year in the attempt my camera got exposed to the mist. I had to replace the CCD of the camera.
So This year I was scared to do the experiments as with at-most difficulty I had changed my camera and my new D90 is in perfect condition. I didn't want to take extra risk. But when the monsoon started and the nature began to dance with wings spread to it's own tunes my desire started to grow again.
Finally, today I decided to take the risk, but with proper care. I hired a jeep and collected enough plastic bags to cover my camera, in the event of rain fall.
This morning we (myself and my wife Anusha)  around 5.30 in the morning headed to Kollur ghats. I had already noted the places where to take photos. In fact I have even composed the scenes and the only thing remaining was recording them on the sensor.

There are many streams flowing only during the time of monsoon. I used my camera bag as bean bag to achieve the slow shutter.
There is a beautiful view point facing west. One has to be there to enjoy the beauty of the place.I feel  thousand words or hundred images will definitely fail to describe the serenity of the place.When we reached there luckily and very a rarely rainbow was formed on the valley. I could not believe my eyes, it was so serenic!It was out of the world. It lasted for a few seconds I was in very awkward position to make image and with a little difficulty I managed to make 2 images.

Just a few meter ahead there was another stream flowing with the style of a super model!  We didn't want to waste a single opportunity.

                                          (Difference in the color is due to white balance)                                                        After making some more images  we headed back towards the foothill of Kodachadri,Khareghati. Though we were not sure of making any images as it is the thick forest and thousands of leaches are waiting for us to step down from the jeep. But we managed to make some images sitting in the jeep.

                                                    

The mist, gigantic trees soaked in the rain were a treat to watch.

                            

    It was getting late and we reluctantly headed back to home.

PS: Please see the larger images to get better impact of the place