Let me show you some ancient architecture from Ranthambhore national park on #WorldPhotographyDay
This building, same as the one in the previous picture, is known as the Choti (or small) Chattri, so called because there is a larger one nearby called (not very creatively) Badi (or big) chattri. It’s basically a elevated, dome-shaped pavilion with a Shivling under it
Then there is this one very close to Choti Chattri. The platform is still there but not the rest.
There is this cool step well called Khemcha Kund. It’s location is such that it’s not easy to photograph unless one gets off the vehicle. Since we are not ‘allowed’ to do that I can’t really share better pictures of this Kund publicly. All I can is the roof of one end of the Kund
Then there is this building called Dharamshala - a place for travellers to rest. There are no doors so technically this is a rest stop only for the brave. Long ago I have spent a night here during the census. Of course there was no sleep
This area has a history of supporting rebels from all religious backgrounds. We have temples and we have mosques like this small one that is at the very edge of the Padam Talao lake
You noticed the mosque but I bet most of you missed an over 4 square km fort in the background - a World Heritage site that the national park is named after
There is a bigger mosque close to the Padam talao lake. This is definitely one of my favourite monuments of Ranthambhore. What a beauty
Then there is this gate - called (again not so creatively) Bada or big gate, just because there is a smaller gate nearby. A long time ago this ‘protected monument’ was the main entrance to the national park.
Yes this gate - amazing isn’t it
Then there is Rajbagh - the palace of the kings. It’s a big palace with a lake nearly surrounding it all. The entrance shown in this picture is a bit shabby due to weathering but the other side of this same palace….
….is absolutely MIND BLOWING
I hoped you liked the monuments and pardon the stripy cat that keeps photo bombing my pictures. The best thing about all these monuments is that they are less than 10 km away from home
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Been on safaris in Ranthambhore for two weeks now. When I started it was hot & the forest was dry. Hardly an colours except in the few evergreen groves along permanent water sources. Pictures had a brown background
Two days later it rained for a few hours which is a lot for us here. That totally transformed the forest. Water became available all over so the animals scattered across the forest. They now didn’t need to stay close to water holes. Water is everywhere
Once the predominant tree here - Anogeissus pendula or Dhonk as we call it locally - turns green, the number of animals that one sees in the lower reaches goes down drastically but the background becomes very interestingly green.
Had a fun morning with Rose ringed Parakeets at home. One female sat at the edge of this rubble stone stair well and then dived down to disappear out of my frame.
She immediately took a U turn and I found her back in my frame. Looked as if she was admiring the wall
Slowly heading to the only hole in the wall to chew on the rubble stone edges for minerals
Tigers love water. They need to drink lots of it in hot Indian forests and since they drink slowly they spend a long time getting their fill of water. One of the easier pictures to get of tigers are when they are drinking. This one is of Ranthambhore’s best known tiger - Machali
Here are some more pictures of tigers drinking from tightly framed head to half the body to the full body in the frame.
In a place like Ranthambhore they avoid drinking from the big lakes and prefer smaller waterholes. But IMHO some of the best pictures are of them drinking from one of the big lakes, like these two pictures
Just a random thread on photographing tigers in the wild. Rule number one - photographs are all & only about light. There are no other rules rules as such.
Don’t do this ever - try to stay low that all my fight is about. Why would I stand up 🤦🏽♂️ Stay as low as possible generally speaking. That means parking the vehicle accordingly as you can’t get lower than the floor of your vehicle
Eye contact is cool, approaching the camera is cool. Wait for one of the leg to move ahead - step out. Don’t ever rely on the cameras motor drive to ‘get it all’ as it can’t possibly do that. Timing is very important