Photos from Bharatpur captured by several photographers have amazed me for years. The kind of light and studio like setup with a multitude of birds have always been brilliant to watch. I recently had an opportunity to visit Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur. My wish came true when Birdwing Travel And Photography trip to Bharatpur and Chambal was announced.
Once we were there, the light was ideal as it is and I had also hoped to see thousands of birds- a very normal expectation from Bharatpur considering the area's abundance in birds. However, I was told that unlike previous years, this year the number of birds had reduced in great numbers. I was quite surprised to see just a few Painted storks and not a single Pelican! So the ideal studio setup I was anticipating was incomplete without the flying beauties. The landscape however remained stunning as ever, so I did manage to get a few images of the activity in the park and also tried to unravel the beauty of the park through photographs.
SUNRISE AND SUNSET IN THE PARK
These two spectacular events of the day can be captured beautifully in this park, thanks to a number of subjects, their silhouettes and the vast landscape.
LANDSCAPE OF THE PARK
The landscape is five fold more beautiful when the air has mist, as the mist diffuses the incoming sun rays, everything comes alive.
MORNING LIGHT
The soft light in the early hours after sunrise adds unique perspective and highlights the subjects brilliantly.
SARUS CRANE
We had one good encounter with the Saras Crane. We were lucky to see the call display of a pair of them and it was amazing to watch their behaviour. The birds gave us more than 20 minutes to watch and shoot from a distance. Hence, we succeeded in making a few good photographs of the cranes.
JACKAL IN DIFFERENT LIGHTING
Had some very good sightings of Jackals. Jackals can be sighted here in large numbers and in a good day you can see more than ten! If you are lucky, you can see them in ideal locations for photography, close to the water body with good light or with a nice reflection of itself in the water.
This was my first experience with the Keoladeo National Park of Bharatpur and it has been fascinating. I am hoping to visit again next year and capture every sight, for all of them are spectacular.