Rhododendron in shola forest

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This is more of a record shot. You will find rhododendrons on the outer periphery of the shola forests. It is seen that the trees that are more resistant to fires comprise the outer periphery of the Shola forests. Its an intricate design by the Creator.

It was raining when I clicked.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 24-105 F4 L IS USM at 35mm, f6.3, 1/400, ISO 800, EV: +2/3, hand held. Full frame image.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Nice. Thanks for the interesting info. I was not aware that Rhododendrons are found in the south as well, always used to think of them as Himalayan trees. Wondering whether a lower positive EC (+1/3) would have worked good enough?
TFS

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

IT is a Learning for me.Just like the Sloth Bear defeating a Tiger couple in Ranthambhore a few months back!Thanks for sharing.SaktiWid

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Abhishek,
The reason for +2/3 rd exposure was because of the mist. +1/3 EV would have resulted in underexposure. In a misty scene, the effort is to get the exposure right on the subject, even though the misty background loses details. Hardly anything was visible. I could have increased the contrast, however, that would have resulted in losing details in the rhododendron itself. I could have done the contrast during processing slightly more but choose to go with this.

You will find lot of similarities in vegetation and even fauna between the himalayan regions and the shola forests - for eg bharal (blue sheep) and nilgiri tahr.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Lakshminarayanan Nataraja]

North East Himalayan region is home to over 60 species of Rhododendrons. Rhododendrons, Nilgiri Tahrs etc support the hypothesis that there were free movement between Oriental region of India where the Western Ghats is located and the Himalaya. Mesua Ferrea, an handsome evergreen tree is found in both Himalaya and W.Ghats. Several other species occur in both the regions.

Rhododendrons are very gorgeous when in flower and several species occur in S.W.Ghats and Nilgiris. In the mosaic of vast Shola-grasslands, these Rhododendrons are few shrubs that endure wind and frost.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice one sir and a very intresting subject prompted here.although i had read on this bfore your and laxmi saab post made me check on the subject and quite a few surprises....So much to learn and soo little time

TFS
Roopak