Frequently Asked Questions

About Me

From the earliest I can recall I’ve always had an affinity to nature, an emotional connect with quiet mornings, the chirping of birds, the candid behaviour of animals when they don’t realise a human is watching, the clouds rolling over the hills, gushing streams - I can ramble on. Much of this came from my grandfather who, when I was but a few moons old, narrated Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson’s adventures while I perched on his lap. My photos are an homage to him and an effort to portray ‘that feeling’, you know, when you watch twilight in the jungle, the sense of isolation when you have a beach to yourself, the sound of a swift river over some rocks, the roar of a waterfall - they are all about telling ‘that’ story. I first started in the late 80’s with my father’s Canon AF35M and a roll of 35mm film.
And then in 2003 while I was studying in Cambridge I had an epiphany one weekend when, with my good friends Jeremy and Ciprian, I visited some stables near Cambridge. Driving through the beautiful landscape of East Anglia with its rolling green fields and isolated woodlands literally made me go Ahh! This was the precise moment when I made up my mind to buy myself a camera and capture the beauty of the places I went to, its animals, birds, people and architecture. Once I had one in my hands it opened up my world, it gave me something to look forward to, to explore, to discover, to photograph and to tell the story I saw, felt and heard.
Yes. After a long and fruitful Sales and Sales Operations career spanning over 25 years with organizations like Oracle and IBM I decided to quit it all and pursue my dream and passion after the passing of my mother.
She was my inspiration and my last few conversations with her were about taking my hobby of over 20 years and truly pursuing it.
I am completely self taught topping it off with some classes from real professionals as icing. And through the years, over various expeditions, misadventures and applications I have taught and honed my skills and equipped myself with the finer nuances of the art and the craft.
There are quite a few I admire and follow and attempt to emulate - both contemporary and old masters. Annie Leibovitz, Joel Sartore, Ami Vitale, Cristina Mittermeier, Frans Lanting, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Arthur Morris, Steve McCurry, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke White, Christian Ziegler, Darren Heath, Tim Laman, Will Burrard-Lucas, Morten Hilmer, Dhritiman Mukherjee, Vladimir Rys, Paul Nicklen, Marina Cano, Jonathan and Angie Scott, Dereck and Beverly Joubert and so many more.
I have learnt from all of them.
Yes, I have quite a few which I have listed in my Publications section. I have also spoken at various events chief among them was the TEDx talk titled “Nature’s Eternal Lens: Capturing the Infinite of Life”

Ethics and process

Yes and in the few instances they are not I have clearly specified them.
In my formative years I had once travelled to the Mysore Zoo and photographed the denizens. Since then I have had the opportunity to witness those same species in the wild and the contrast between the impact of captivity vs the freedom of the wild has been striking and hard to understand leave alone explain. So now I only shoot animals in the wild, usually with some of the habitat in an attempt to showcase the wild as it should be.
No. I make sure I am ethically creating my photos and am committed to not harming or disturbing wildlife. Which is why almost all my photos have a unique story which I share when a limited edition canvas of that photo is sold.
With a lot of patience, time and effort. In countries where they are allowed and safe I use blinds, in others I stalk the bird or animal with long lenses. In other instances when I have local - read tribal - support who know the animal behavior, I take their help and advice.
Some of these instances are illustrated in my On Location Gallery.
This, given the advent of AI, now holds a completely new meaning and ought to be defined elaborately.
The simple answer is no! I have never felt the need to digitally manipulate my photos.
I do use LightRoom for standard adjustments (color, exposure etc) when required and for my composites I use the most suitable software - especially for astro and star trails where stacking is required I use StarStax.
I prefer getting it right in camera as much as possible to save time later. And through so many years of shooting I have learnt that if I am patient and wait long enough the animal or bird will always give me the photo I have visualised.
Although all my photos are geotagged I do not explicitly share the location unless it is along with a Limited Edition Canvas. I do this specifically to protect the precise locations of vulnerable species and to prevent disturbance. The instances where I have shared the location it is usually a a publicly accessible location.

Printing & Licensing

You can place an order via the Order Form on my FineArt Print section. Available formats are archival quality paper for smaller prints and canvas for the larger prints. Some of the photos which can be printed are shared in a Print Catalog.
I use archival fine art paper & canvas with the ultimate texture and colour rendition for my wildlife prints and they are always printed on Canon or Epson printers. My entire process is elaborated in detail here.
I do license my images as a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to use the final delivered photographs for non-commercial, editorial, promotional, social media campaigns and archival purposes related to Wildlife and Nature Conservation.
Usually I will have a contract in place requesting due credit in all instances where my images and/or videos have been used or published, whether in print, digital, or any other medium.
I retain all the copyright and all other intellectual property rights to all photographic and video content/ material.
If interested please contact me for details.
Because I only do limited edition prints upon request and not commercially, all shipping and shipping costs will be discussed on a case to case basis on the size and the framing options requested or suggested.
There have been earlier instances when I have shipped only the canvases in sealed FineArt container tubes which keep the prints protected during the shipping. Framed prints can be shipped in a similar fashion but I prefer if they can be picked up by the buyer if possible. Some of the sizes I have printed can be viewed here.
Shipping times will depend on the size and mode of the shipment as most of the prints are large.
I offer a full refund if you are not entirely satisfied with your FineArt wildlife print and the period of refund lasts for 2 weeks after you receive your print. Prior communication with me should be established and documented before initiating any return. I am yet to have needed to refund anyone, but I like to offer maximum peace of mind, and to assure you of the finest print quality in my wildlife fine art prints.

All the details of my printing process, placing orders, shipping policies and return/ refund policies are listed on my FineArt Print page and the catalog is displayed here.

Workshops & Sessions

No. I do not lead trips or tours, provide information on locations, dates, and what clients can expect to learn. Nor do I do any workshops as I myself am still a student of the craft.
Depending on the sincerity of the person if someone does seek my guidance in the field I am more than happy to help.
No. I do not offer offer personalized coaching.

Technical Questions

I am a Canon user. All my gear - the cameras, lenses, tripods and everything else I use most often - can be found in my Kit Bag.
I have had the good fortune and the opportunity to photograph in dense tropical rain forests, sand deserts, salt deserts, mountains, hills, fields, thorny jungles, on sea shores and each has its special place because they have each taught me something I didn’t know.
The best time is when the light is best - could be blue hour or golden hour both in the morning or evenings. Cloudy days make for very diffused lighting, harsh light or light reflected from snow can make for spectacular high key images and vice versa for low key images. So chase the light.
Research, observation, patience, and knowing animal behavior. Spending time with a local to understand the conditions and the habits of the animals or birds is priceless.