During our recent visit to Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary in India, as I mentioned in the previous blog below I was challenged to make natural looking images of bears. Second day I stayed off the usual place which photographers use to make images of bears from a vehicle hide. I thought of setting up a remote trigger at some place to try something different. So I set up a remote trigger at a place where there are good chances of seeing bears. Set up everything and at around 1pm I sat in my camouflage cloth covered car far away just waiting to see bears. Around 1:30pm it started getting very cloudy and there were very heavy thunder storms. I had setup my Nikon D200 with 50mm f1.8mm lens mounted and buried in ground and just covered the whole setup with a cotton camouflage cloth. I was sure my camera will get totally soaked in water with cotton camouflage cloth nicely adding to collect more water - yet I decided leave it there and take a chance. I was ready to foot repair bills for just one memorable image.
Sure, it continuously rained for next few hours. My whole setup took nice multiple showers for about next 4-5 hours. I just sat in my car thinking about my camera and lens. No bears showed up may be due to heavy rain. At around 5:30pm a few bears started coming down. I was just hoping to see them on the path where I set up the trigger. No, they did not show up there but went some where else. It is nature and luck. Can I expect to be successful with one day of experiment ? I realized I was dreaming.
At around 6pm it is time to return. I slowly drove down near my set up. Just out of curiosity pressed release button on my remote trigger. I could hear D200’s shutter releases !! Everything was working just fine even after getting soaked in water for 4-5 hours on the ground. I had all appreciations for the Nikon’s construction quality of both the camera and the lens. Though I came empty handed, my camera and lens were in the same state as it was before - may be better since it took a nice bath -:)
If successful I was hoping to get a view something like below (image credit - Shivakumar L. Thanks Shiv!). Instead of seeing yours truly there you would have seen a bear !!
I really cherish those moments of waiting in rain now even if I could not make any image. Sure I got some very valuable learnings from this experiment. It is not only the images which count but the experiences of making them are invaluable too - more so when we are doing something out of just passion.
Very nice attempt Ganesh! Its true that we learn more when we fail than when we win. I am sure you will win next time when you attempt this.
A very nice post. I enjoyed a lot…
- Ashwin
Comment by Ashwini Kumar Bhat — April 7, 2008 @ 3:13 am
It was indeed a good learning experience seeing you trying out different things. The amount of effort and planning that is involved in getting that “different image” is something you cant explain in words.
All the best for next time.
[ 3 Cheers to Nikon :o) ]
-Shivakumar
Comment by Shivakumar — April 7, 2008 @ 4:23 am
First of all, I am loving “your’s truely” image here :)).
That apart as Shiva said, the amount of effort you put in setting up the apparatus was something mind boggling for me. Though the experiment wasn’t completely successful, the information and learning that you pass on to the youngsters like us and the lessons that we learn watching you is phenomenally priceless. Thanks for sharing it all with us. Wish you good luck for the next attempt. Am sure you will make it!
Comment by Pramod Viswanath — April 7, 2008 @ 5:27 am
Ganesh-master,
Thinking differently again. But, I feel you must really have been crazy. Probably that is what passion is all about. I can not imagine leaving D200 in the rains. At the same time I appreciate the built of the camera. Did water get inside the camera?
Wish you make one of the best Bear images in the near future.
Madhukar
http://gpitta.blogspot.com
Comment by Madhukar B V — April 7, 2008 @ 5:46 am
Madhukar, I don’t think water got inside my D200. These professional/semi-professional bodies are constructed like a rock.
Comment by ganesh — April 7, 2008 @ 6:47 am
A Small behind the scene image from my end
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2413/2394661061_088097733f_o.jpg
-Shivakumar
Comment by Shivakumar — April 7, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Fantastic…One day when our roads cross I will have a lot more to talk. Thinking differently again and there you have tried pushing the equipments to the maximum stress they can bear.
Shiva - TFS those images.
Comment by Alwan.S — April 7, 2008 @ 10:26 am
Hi Ganesh, The moment i read this article it reminded me of the the image by nick nichols http://michaelnicknichols.com/gallery/cameratraps/4/
and the article itself
http://michaelnicknichols.com/article/camera_traps/
Guess this is the kind of effort that goes in to making memorable images. All the best Ganesh for your future efforts in this direction.
-Mahesh
Comment by Mahesh Devarajan — April 8, 2008 @ 10:55 am
Mahesh, Yes, I did visits Nick’s site some time back and seen some of his creations. During my last trip to Kaziranga, it was my privilege to meet Steve Winter, a National Geographic Photographer who spent more 5 years photographing snow leopards in Himalayan region. He was kind enough to show us his images - some of those are bench mark images for me (unfortunately none of those images are available on his site - may be owned by National Geographic). Each image of that kind needs very detailed study of the subject and its behaviors and lots of precise efforts with camera traps. May be a few tens or hundred failures one need to experience before a memorable one comes out from such experiments.
Comment by Ganesh H Shankar — April 8, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
Thanks Ganesh for a very insightful article. To me it is a great example of what passion is all about.
Comment by adnan — April 9, 2008 @ 1:46 pm