It is not easy to hold your nerves. On one wet morning, twelve summers ago in bandhavgarh, we were following the pugmarks of B1. For some reason, B1 decided to turn back and walk straight towards our jeep. I had a garrulous photographer in my jeep. He used to speak non stop. When the tiger appeared infront of us about 40 yards away and then started to walk directly towards us, there was pin drop silence. The jeep engine was switched off. B1 decided to pass by our side hardly 5 feet or so without any hesitation. When he was by the side of our jeep, I clicked one head shot at around 55mm. Only after B1 crossed us, then the jeep driver reminded our photographer to shoot. He was too stunned to photograph. He said in hindi "hum tiger itna close dekh ke saans lena bhul gaya. Photo kaise leta" means "watching the tiger so close, I even forgot to breathe. How could I take photos?"

Just take a deep breath. Calm yourself and then click. Move slowly so that you don't scare away the bird.