I’m a dude who gets up at 5 in the morning every day, not because I’m into routines, but because I wanna hang out more with my dog. (In case you didn’t know) I’m a proud parent to a super chill Labrador retriever named Alex. When the whole COVID-19 thing calmed down and everyone started heading back to the office, finding time to be with Alex became a real challenge. Most of my day was taken up by commuting and working regular hours, which meant I was hardly ever home, unlike when we were all working from home. So, to make sure my fur baby gets plenty of my time, I switched up my daily routine and learned to rise and shine early so we could spend more time together (we go on 2-hour walks every morning).
One sunny morning, me and Alex were strolling down our usual route when we bumped into Dipto (that’s what we call him), a neighbor and a good buddy from my condo. He’s also a proud parent to a big Afghan Hound named Argos. Dipto is in his 50s and recently retired after working in corporate sales and marketing for over 30 years, with his last gig being Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at a well-known company. We both share a ton of interests like talking shop about business strategies, chowing down on non-veg delights, exploring different cultures, traveling, and of course, photography.
So anyway, Dipto and I gave each other the usual “Good Morning!” and continued our walk with Alex and Argos. We got to chatting about Dipto’s upcoming trip to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. I’ve never really been into wildlife, safaris, or animals in general, but as we talked, Dipto shared his plans and showed me some incredible photos from his past adventures on his Instagram. I was blown away by the detail in his photos and asked him how he managed to capture such amazing shots. That’s when he started talking about his collection of cameras and lenses and how they help him capture those moments. Despite not owning a camera myself, I found myself eager to learn more about wildlife, cameras, and lenses, and how they can be used to capture awesome shots.
Fast forward two weeks, and Dipto was back from his Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve trip. I was absolutely floored by the photos he showed me. He also talked me through his camera setup and how he framed those shots. It got me thinking that I might actually be into this whole photography thing.
Dipto and I made plans to go on a trip the following weekend to a nearby national park called Sultanpur National Park, as well as check out some nearby places like Chandu village and Jhajjar fields. He mentioned that Black Bucks were known to hang out near the Jhajjar fields, and I got really excited at the thought of capturing my first-ever wildlife photos of Black Bucks. I went home, talked to my brother, and borrowed his Nikon D5600 camera with a Nikor 200-500mm lens. I let Dipto know about my temporary setup, and he mentioned that the 200-500mm lens is a great choice for bird and wildlife photography. That made me feel way more confident about our upcoming trip. We sorted out all the details – transportation (we drove to the spots in my car), lunch options, and the most important part – finding a naturalist to guide us during our trip. Dipto got in touch with his contact Sachin from Chandu village, who agreed to join us as our experienced naturalist and animal tracker.
We picked up Sachin on the way to the National Park, and that’s when our first adventure began. I took so many photos (I’ll be writing a separate blog post about that). After spending the whole day in the forests of Jhajjar, spotting loads of birds and animals, I realized that this could be my new passion, and I definitely want to pursue it.
I will be posting details of our visit to Chandu village, forest fields of Jhajjar and Sultanpur National Park in my next post. So stay tuned for updates.
Thank you
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