Paarwali - Tigress queen of Fulaichaur

[Debasis Bose]

This image was taken at wider angle to cover the panoramic view and give the feel of terrai and bhabbar landscape. Here the tigress is leaping a tributary of Ramganga with Dhikala abandoned water tank in background. The shot was taken from at least 100 to 120 m away

I have the entire jump sequence recorded with Nikor 300 mm f 2.8 lens as well as the video.

Nikon, Nikor 70-200 F2.8, shot at 200mm, f/8, ISO 250, 1/320s

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

As if escaping out of range of Corbett's rifle.....can surely form a page of 'Temple tiger and more man-eaters of Kumaon'. Mesmerising. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

[Debasis Bose]

Dear Saktida, It never came to my mind, you have very aptly pointed the image could be referred to the writings of Corbett.

Just for information, to get this image my family and I had stalked the tiger since 6.50 am IST and shot at least 250 images, in those 250 images she gave few uncommon posture shot while she climbed a fallen tree. Finally about 9.37 am IST, she broke her cover out of the ravine amid occasional chital call and jungle sound and came on the banks of Ramganga. We were infact completely geared up for this event to unfold. Regards Debasis

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Lovely photo and an entralling narration of the sequence. Glad your had work of tracking paid off.

Simply loved Sakthipada's creative imagination of linking the leap to the rifle range . . . . truly innovative thoughts.

On the image, maybe bumping up the ISO may have given you a little more shutter speed. There is small tilt of the horizon which can be corrected on PP. Otherwise, a lovely image which captures the setting and enviromnent very well.

thanks for sharing

Rajan

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The wide angle images always shows us the true beauty of the place. This shot is much better than the shots of closeups of tiger on the road. Image of an animal engaged in its natural behaviour is far more important and exciting for the viewer.

A slight off centre composition with more space on the left would have been nice. The water tank is actually a kill joy. Unfortunately that is the stark reminder of the "hand of man". Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Beautiful landscape. Photographing a tigress crossing Ramganga river in Corbett is surely is the best thing. Look forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

[Debasis Bose]

Thank you all for the lovely comments.

Dear Mrudul Madame, Corbett is the park, where general tourists misses tiger sighting very often than not, also tiger sightings are not that frequent in Corbett. But with the skills that I have learned over the years, most of the time in Corbett I find that the tiger and I are all by ourselves (obviously the gypsy driver, guide and my family are there) and almost every safari and if not every safari at least every day we had encountered a tiger in Corbett. During the sightings, when we are by ourselves, most of the time the tiger keeps posing for the camera. If my maths is not wrong, I have now seen more than 70 to 80 different tigers in the wild over last 25 years (of which have photo records of almost about 40 to 50 different tigers), still during sightings cannot control my excitement whenever the majestic beauty with attitude breaks his / her cover in the forest. In most cases keep forgetting to look at the settings of the camera while clicking, and when the sightings are coupled with alarm calls of Langurs, Sambar, followed by myraid calls of chital herd dispersing, sometimes with growls or roars of the supreme predator, I forget everything and just enjoy the nature unfold its mystery. That's the reason, we keep visiting corbett year after year, to this day my last count is almost 210 plus nights spent in corbett from the time can recall. Regards

[Subhash Shrivastava]

An excellent documentation of the fast vanishing terai landscape. A abandoned water tank gives the illusionary hope that nature is winning and increases the pathos. Thanks for sharing.