Just got back from an interesting trip to Pangot, Sattal & Corbett and thought that I would share the story behind some memorable moments of the trip. This picture from Dhikala, Corbett  has some very interesting memories.

This one was shot on our last evening at Dhikala. Our plan was to spend some time in the grasslands before heading out towards Ghairal Forest Resthouse. And I had packed only the 600mm f/4 on the D7100. Which essentially meant that all I could get would be pics of only parts of the elephants. So I decided to just focus on the smallest one in the herd and try and isolate him to get an nice vertical image. For the initial 10-15 mins, he was fast asleep and 2-3 elders were just happy hanging around and foraging in the vicinity – but never leaving him out of their shadows. Literally. They ensured that he was always in their shadows – as the sun was quite sharp at this time.

After sometime, he woke up rather groggily and was so disoriented that he actually ran a few meters away from the elders & the herd – the opportunity that I was waiting for. But missed. What I did catch is the li’l one recovering his spacial orientation quickly and dashing back to safety to the nearest maternal shadow. I just managed 27 frames during the hour spent with the herd – each of them with this little one. And this is one of a handful where there is some daylight around him. These creatures are extremely protective of their li’l ones and literally do not let them out of their shadows.

Nikon D7100 | 600 f/4 | ISO 200 | EV -2/3 | f/11 | 1/250