Prince of Bandipur#1

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Due to heavy rains at Bandipur, there have been no sightings for past almost 2 weeks. I was told by many drives/naturalist and some close associates at Bandipur to plan visit later in August. However I was somehow keen to travel since it had been almost 3 months that I sighted a Tiger at Bandipur. Last few visits for me have been completely dominated by Leopard sightings. This time the Tiger luck was with me & I managed to break the jinx of no cat sightings at Bandipur.

We sighted this handsome & bold male on 30th July'11 @ 7:40am, the sighting lasted for about 10-15 mins but during this time the handsome posed for us, scented marked and finally crossed right in front our jeep. I shot this image at 100mm, gives you have an idea how close he was. Later in the evening we were lucky again to spot him. No matter you see a tiger so many times the excitement only increases and this time around I even messed up few images:(

Thanks to Pradeep of JLR, without his tracking expertise this sighting and images weren't possible.

I wish I had set a lower ISO or used f7.1 or a 8, however since the tiger was on the move and I was managing two equipments it wasn't possible to change the settings & of course excitement;)

Camera - Canon EOS 40D, 100-400mm lens
Av 4.5
Tv 1/800
ISO 800
Focal length 100mm
Handheld
Date & Time : 30th July'11 @ 7:40am

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Very nice. Only wish you had lowered the ISO, as you have already mentioned. The greens and the wet look always look pleasing :). Some head turn and eye contact would have made this image even better.
You have proved time and again that you have a phenomenal amount of luck with big cat sightings :D. Keep it up, look forward to more. TFS

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice Image of the Male in Natural colours,beautiful greenery all around,photographed in a difficult season,majestically walking oblivious of the presence of vehicle and humans.What more we want?SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely image. The left forepaw in the air looks good. I had clicked this male tiger last year in the rains. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Atul Sinai]

Very nice image Praveen, it's always great to watch tigers. Liked the front left paw in the air.

TFS ... Looking forward for more tiger pics.

Regards,
Atul

[Bhargava Srivari]

Congras for breaking the jinx Praveen sir:) I should get some credit too for wishing you good luck this time! :D

Lovely image..agree with comments made.

Tfs

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Excellent opening image to the series ( i guess it will be a series frm your write up) praveen.Handsome indeed.

TFS
Roopak

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Thanks guys for comments

Sabyasachi I remember the image you had clicked, it is not the same Tiger. The one you clicked too was a male and his ground clearance is very low. Pl check and let me know.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Praveen,

I will check the images in the evening. However, I am sure I clearly remember the face markings as it had moved from my right to left, especially the mark which is curved and goes all the way to the top of the head. I will however check later.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Thyloor Mayigowda Devaraju]

The majesty of the tiger is clearly exhibited in your photograph. Lucky enough to encounter it through ur camera. Thanks for sharing.