Tiger Cub/Bandipur

[Praveen Siddannavar]

We were following the tiger cub pug marks for a while and all of sudden spotted this female cub on the middle of the game track. She was at a distance, I asked our driver Pradeep of JLR to stop and chose to shoot from a distance.

Having seen these (Gowri's) cubs on several occasions now, I understand their behavior quite well, they still seem to be quite shy. It is advisable to watch & photograph them from a distance.

Knowing that she will disappear in the bushes I chose not to change the settings.

Camera - Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, 500mm

Av 4
Tv 1/1600
ISO 640
EC - 0.3 step
Focal length 500mm
Bean Bag Support
Date and Time : 25th Dec'11 @ 4:51pm

[Bhargava Srivari]

I think the lighting was a little tricky. The composition seems fine. Seeing tiger cubs always feels special.

tfs

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice image with habitat.That the cub is seen in light and shade has added beauty to the image.The depth of the field has shown jungle panorama.Stripes are remarkably good.Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[V S Sankar]

Another nice one sir.During the Christmas trip I was able to have a good time everywhere(Tholpetty,Rajiv Gandhi WLS,Mudumalai,Mule Hole,Muthanga....)except Bandipur!Safari lodge Bandipur was overflowing and I had to retreat to Gudalur.No Bandipur safari as well.Tigers are still elusive to me.

Good work.

Regards

[Mrudul Godbole]

The vertical composition looks nice. Good head turn and eye contact. Some more details in the cub would look good. Thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Hi praveen,

Nice compo, tricky light. Observing behaviour traits can be very intresting to people who take an intrest in it. Keeping a small record of these observations will help document them and many intresting facts and behaviour patterns will come out of these. One will be amazed at the details and correlations on revists at later dates.

It will be nice if you can make a small record of your observations (if you have not already started) of these cats at bandipur and share it with us periodically.

TFS
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Each individual cub has got different traits and those get accentuated or modified with the passage of time. Unfortunately with the present nature of Safari's, the amount of time one actually gets to see a tiger becomes pretty limited.

There was a time when I used to think that I had good knowledge about tigers. One night, that ego got crushed. Initially I felt ashamed, but wrote down that humbling experience. It changed my attitude as well. You can read it here: Tigers in the Dark (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/tigers-in-the-dark/)

It is always a pleasure to watch the striped predator. The dappled sunlight and shadows often results in interesting compositions. May these cubs grow and establish their territories.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Anand Madabhushi]

very good dramatic presentation