darter – Page 10 – Musings of a Wandering Mind

March 24, 2011 —Categories: darter, travel photography, Uncategorized, wildlife

Announcing: River Tern Tour – Photography Tour of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary

Darter Photography, a venture of me and professional wildlife photographer Shreeram, present our next photography tour. This time the focus is on wildlife and we will be travelling to the islands in the backwaters of Bhadra.

Also see more tours on our facebook page. ‘Like’ us to stay updated on a variety of photography tours and workshops.

River Tern Tour – Photography Tour of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
May 6th, 7th and 8th

Images from Bhadra

bhadra wildlife sanctuary

Come summer, a grand spectacle unfolds in the small islands of Bhadra Reservoir. As the water level recedes and exposes the submerged rocks, thousands of River Terns and Pratincoles flock here to nest. It is chaos on the rocks as the dense pack of birds struggle for space to breed and raise their young ones. Little fledglings take baby steps on the rock even as the parents fly in with little fish in their beaks for feeding.

Darter Photography presents River Tern Tour – A photography tour to Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary to showcase this spectacle… and a lot more. Join expert wildlife photographer Shreeram M V, who served as a Naturalist at Bhadra and has explored every corner of the sanctuary.

Tour Details

For the wildlife photographer, this dense gathering of River Terns and Pratincoles is an opportunity never to be missed. We approach these islands on boats to witness and capture every bit of interaction of the Terns and Pratincole with their young ones. And it doesn’t end there – we go into the heart of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, teeming with animals like tigers, leopards, wild dogs, elephants, Malabar Giant Squirrels and Monitor Lizards. Not to forget are the Marsh Crocodiles basking on the reservoir banks.

Besides pratincoles and river terns, the birdlife in the region includes Grey-headed Fish-Eagles, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Scarlet Minivets and even the elusive Malabar Trogon. Watching the huge Malabar Pied Hornbills flying across the reservoir is a treat in itself.
The islands nestled in the dense forest make a grand spectacle where colourful sunsets over the backwaters offer another great photography opportunity. We will be staying in one of these islands, a scenic location in itself.

The tour includes:

Two jeep safaris into the park and two boat safaris on Bhadra Reservoir
Session on photographing wildlife – techniques, aesthetics and ways to approach the subjects
Assistance on field in getting best images
Daily image reviews and feedback at the end of every day’s shoot
On-field assistance in identifying birds and in understanding wildlife in the park

All through the tour, constant guidance from Darter Photography Expert will help you get the best out of your trip to the wilderness.

Please note that while chances sightings are fairly high, we cannot give you any assurance.

Is this tour for you?

River Tern Tour is ideal for you if you have an interest in watching and photographing a wide range of wildlife – from mighty tigers to tiny birds. Our photography expert will get you prepared for photographing wildlife and will assist you in every step of making good photographs.

Accommodation

We will be staying in River Tern Lodge, run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

Tour Cost

The tour cost is Rs.10,500/- per person.

The cost includes

Accommodation on twin-sharing basis at River Tern Lodge
All meals during the stay (starting with lunch on check-in date and ending with breakfast on check-out date)
Jeep Safaris into the park and Boat Safaris on the reservoir
Session on wildlife photography, on-field assistance and image reviews

The cost does not include

Transport to River Tern Lodge and back (we can assist those looking for transport or interested in car pooling)
Additional food and beverages ordered at the resort
Tips and anything else that is not part of the includes list above

Book this tour

email: register@darter.in
Ph: 9880006460 (Arun) / 97400 83260 (Shreeram)

Do visit Darter’s facebook page to stay updated on our tours and workshops.

Darter Photography Expert: Shreeram M V

Shreeram is a passionate naturalist and a professional wildlife photographer, with experience of working as a naturalist at River Tern Lodge. His wildlife images are widely acclaimed have found place in glossy desktop calendars and wall hangings.

Shreeram has the experience of photographing wildlife across multiple habitats across India – from the rainforests to the high-altitude deserts to grasslands to coasts. He comes with vast expertise in bird photography, having photographed hundreds of species from places as far as mountains of Ladakh to seashores of South India. See some of his works at http://www.visualquotient.net

Having spent some time as a naturalist exploring the wilderness of Bhadra, Shreeram is your perfect wildlife guide and photographer to get introduced to the fauna of the region and come back with great images.

What our guests say

“Thanks for the patience of Arun and Shreeram has, they were able to extract quality pictures from us.” – Darshan (Bangalore)

“I guess this was the best learning I ever had.” – Madhu Chandan (Bangalore)

March 17, 2011 —Categories: bangalore, darter, heritage, karnataka, photo essay

Images – Monuments of Hampi

Here is a compilation of images of heritage sites in Hampi, made during my two visits to the place this year. In these visits, I attempted to go beyond merely documenting the temples, but tried looking for new angles and perspectives to capture them. I must admit that the time I spent at each monument is far less than I would have liked to, to be able to do justice to their beauty. I believe that good pictures are made by continuous and patient observation, taking time to immerse oneself in the surroundings. There will be many more visits to Hampi in the coming years, where I hope to spend time finding more perspectives and unseen beauty of these monuments.

Also see my images of birds of Hampi.

Virupaksha Templs’s tower is the tallest and among the most prominent structures in Hampi. While the deities in all other temples in Hampi were desecrated at some point in time, Virupaksha Temple remained intact. This is the only places among the old temple where the lord is still worshiped. Also read the debate on why Virupaksha Temple was not desecrated, on Anu’s blog.

Hampi

The insides of Virupaksha Temple.

hampi

More views of Virupaksha Temple, taken from nearby Hemakuta Hill.

hampi

And here is how Hemakuta Hill looks from the courtyard of Virupaksha Temple. People arrive at the Hemakuta Hill in the evening hours to see the beautiful vistas of a boulder-strewn landscape and to watch the sunset. This picture was taken about thirty minutes before the hour of sunset.

hampi

Here is a mendicant on one of the mantapas on Hemakuta Hill.

hampi

A long avenue, called Hampi Bazaar, located in front of Virupaksha Temple is said to be the place that symbolized the past riches of Hampi. This is where gold and diamonds were sold by the street side in the heydays of Vijayanagar Kingdom. Even today, a long shelter with hundreds of pillars has remained on both sides of the avenue, which once served as shops selling the riches. To the other end of the avenue is Matanga Parvata, said to be the highest point in Hampi. This mantapa is at the base of Matanga Parvata about a kilometer away from Virupaksha Temple at the other end of the avenue.

hampi

To the other side of Matanga Hill Achutaraya Temple, seen in the picture below.

Similar to the bazaar in front of Virupaksha Temple, Achutaraya Temple also boasts of a wide and long avenue which once had shops lined on both sides. This Kalyani is at the other end of Achutaraya Bazaar.

hampi

River Tungabhadra flows through Hampi, flowing close to Virupaksha Temple and the kalyani in front of Achutaraya Temple. Further, about a kilometer downstream on the bank of the river is Vijaya Vithala Temple, one of the major monuments of Hampi. It is most known for its musical pillars and a stone chariot in the temple courtyard. My personal favourite is this frangipani tree that adds a great charm to the temple premises. Thankfully, it was flowering during my last visit in February.

hampi

Lotus Mahal is another well-known monument in Hampi, located along with a series of sites that one can visit along with this. During my visit to the Mahal in January, we reached here just before sunset to catch the last golden rays of sun falling on the monument.

hampi

A closer look at Lotus Mahal.

hampi

Near Lotus Mahal is a large enclosure where the royal family lived. The palace and other buildings in the enclosure do not exist any more. A large elevated platform from which the king addressed his subjects, and a series of tanks and aqueducts form the highlight of the royal enclosures. Here is a small section of a step well in the royal enclosure.

hampi

Not far from royal enclosure is the queen’s bath – a modest building with a tank in the center of it. Here is an image of the passage around the tank.

hampi

Prints of the image available. Request for prints

March 14, 2011 —Categories: birds, darter, karnataka, photo essay, wildlife

Birds of Hampi

Hampi is well known for its heritage sites and the ruins of Vijayanagar Kingdom. But very few people go past these structures to discover the riches of Hampi. When we announced ‘Darter Many Worlds of Hampi’ Photography Tour, one of the intents was to introduce the facets of Hampi that is relatively less known to travelers. One such face of Hampi is its precious wildlife. In the two tours that we did to Hampi, we managed to capture a variety of birds – some commonly found and some very endemic to Hampi and not easily seen in other places. Here is a compilation of images of birds that I captured in Hampi during my visits in the months of January and February. Coming up in next post is images of heritage sites of Hampi.

More Information

Many Worlds of Hampi is a photography tour from Darter Photography Tours, a venture created by me and wildlife photographer Shreeram MV. We recently concluded two highly successful tours to Hampi. Our upcoming tours and workshop include

Photography workshop in Bangalore on March 26th and 27th

Mountains and Monasteries, a Photography Tour of Ladakh

Join our facebook page to stay updated on upcoming tours and workshops.

Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark