Actor Raveena Tandon is owning the screen in Welcome to the Jungle. But her connection with jungles goes behind the lens, too. She is an avid wildlife photographer who captures (see left) tigers, leopards, peacocks and more on safaris.
On Camera Day today, she tells us, “The difficulty of wildlife photography is that there’s nothing to pull off. You can’t tell the tiger what to do! The jungle doesn’t owe you anything and you have to earn every single shot.”
She recalls waiting for “the golden opportunity” during a safari in Satpura Tiger Reserve: “I was sitting in a hot, still jeep, barely breathing. When the sun set, our guides started to hurry us, but I was not ready to leave yet. Fortunately, a tigress came out, walking straight towards us. There were only three seconds, but I was able to take the photo. What nerves I had, shook the frame.”
Now, her daughter, actor Rasha Thadani is often a travel companion and frequent muse: “Since she was little, she has been coming on safaris with me, and now she is the one in front of the lens.”
For the actor photography is “a way to preserve something that it is going to be lost with time”. Having exhibited her works with 76 other photographers, the 53-year-old feels that the best compliments are those about the emotional aspect rather than the technical details. She explains, “One viewer said, ‘I’ve seen a thousand photos of tigers, but I’ve never actually looked into their eyes and felt their intelligence like this.’ If my work inspired even one individual to make a positive change, then the exhibition was worth it.”
While she can always be spotted with her trusty camera, several amateurs now rely on their phones to double up as a lens. While Raveena appreciates how accessible the devices have made photography, she believes that “capturing a photo quickly” is not the same as Nature or wildlife photography.
“Real nature photography involves slowing down. Understanding how the magic hour will entirely change your landscape or how light will move through the canopy or out into an open plain is essential. Understanding animal behaviour to know what signals they’re giving or predict exactly where they will go is essential,” she shares.
Her message for newbies is simple: “Patience is key because it is something we rarely see these days. Excellent wildlife photographs are never an accident; rather, they are a product of countless attempts, waiting, and respect for the animal.”