Page 73 - ranthambore
P. 73
Weather
Temperatures in Indian forest can be as low as 3-4 deg Celsius in peak winters to unbearable
45-47 deg Celsius in peak summers so kit yourself accordingly as per the season you are vis-
iting Ranthambore.
Duration of your visit
It is advisable to spend at least 4 to 5 days here to give yourself a good chance of spotting a
tiger. Book at least 8 to 10 safaris if you want your photography sessions to be satisfactory.
Equipment you would need
When out on a wildlife safari at Ranthambore you may like to photograph the landscape, the
fort, the people who are so colourful and vibrant and off course the tiger and other creatures
and birds in the forest. Therefore, apart from a good camera you will need a wide angle lens,
medium to far distance zoom lens and may be a long telephoto lens if the birds interest you.
However, while planning as to what to carry, you must be aware of the weight you can carry
specially if you are flying.
Camera bodies – Carry at least two camera bodies for each format that you shoot in. I per-
sonally use a digital SLR (Canon 70D) and an Olympus OMD EM 5 MK II (micro 4/3). This is
to ensure that I do not have to change the lens when action is really happening. Apart from
this it is also advisable to carry a good compact which can shoot in RAW. I carry a Sony DSC
RX100 which gives me excellent results specially when it comes to landscapes. In fact, if you
have one of these, you may not need a wide angle lens. I prefer cropped sensor cameras to full
frame cameras for wildlife photography because they give me more reach with the same lens.
You don’t have to break a bank to get good photographs of wildlife.
Lenses – You may like to carry a wide angle in the range of 18 – 35 mm. A 100mm macro. A
tele zoom which gives you a range of 70 to 300 mm and a long telephoto lens in the range of
500 to 600 mm if you are into bird photography. I carry an 18 – 35mm f 1.8 sigma and a 100 mm
macro for my Canon 70D and a 40 – 150mm zoom and a 300 mm f4 pro lens for my Olympus.
Combined with 1.4 extender the 300 mm lens gives me a reach of 820 mm which is great. I
prefer micro 4/3rd cameras and their tele lenses because I get as much reach carrying 1/3rd
of the weight.
Memory Cards, Hard drives and Laptops – carry spare memory cards. It is also advisable to
carry laptops and portable hard drives to back up your shoots.
Tripod / Monopod / Beanbags – You will not be able to use tripods and monopods during a
safari so it is futile to carry them, use bean bags instead if you must. I personally like to shoot
hand held. That is why I prefer Olympus micro 4/3rd cameras. The cameras and lenses are
comparatively much lighter to DSLR and the 5 axis in body stabilisation gives near shake free
results.