Lady of the Lake

[Div Puri]

Spotted this tigress in Ranthambhore NP, zone 4. It was around 4 in the afternoon and quite hot. She stayed in the pool for around 25 mins and then got up and walked straight up the rocks. I was hoping that she would change her position facing me before she left but did not happen. The pool was crowded with a few Gypsy's and a couple of canters and was difficult for me to change my position. I guess next time I will be more lucky.

Canon 5D, Canon 100-400, F5.6, 1/80 , ISO 100, bean bag.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Tiger in water is always a good sight to see. Its good the light is on the tiger, wish it was a bit more on the face too. I think increasing the ISO for a narrower aperture and higher shutter speed would have been good. You have photographed it nicely in the given situation. Thanks for sharing.

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Lovely image Div, this is Machli - the lady of the lake. I beleive she is 15 years old and her territory is Zone 4. We were in Zone 4 twice but did not see Machli. However we got good sighting of a huge male tiger. When did you visit Ranthambore? I was there from 14th March to 18th March'10.

[Div Puri]

Here is another one of the same tigress looking in the opposite direction to the sun and we can see more of the face. However in this I feel the OOF leaves close the frame and the sense of space is lost but I thought I'll share this as well as it has more even light on the face.

[Div Puri]

Hi Praveen,
Thanks for your comment. I was there from 21st till 24th March. This is indeed Machli :)

[Bibhav Behera]

Nice environment shown. The rump is in the light so that demands more attention from the viewer than the eye of the tiger. I agree that it becomes so difficult to shoot when there are so many vehicles bumper to bumper. I remember seeing 40 odd vehicles lined to see a leopard some 1/2 km away on a cliff in Ranthambhore. Thanks for sharing. I like the second image as the eyes are better visible.

[Nikhilesh Mahakur]

The 2nd image is nice, good to see the Tigress in water.
Looking forward to see them soon :)