Hi everyone! It’s been way too long since my last post. I am finally back at home after a wild trip. For the last two weeks I have been glued to my chair in front of my computer editing all the images from the trip. This is giving me an opportunity to look back on this experience and analyze how it all came about. Learning from the shoot is one of the lessons we bring back with us.

I’m glad that I had such incredible luck in Kaziranga—and that the local tigers, elephants and rhinos were so enamored of my camera traps. I have become very passionate about this incredible place, and know that I’m on the right track with the story. What a privilege to spend time in that singular landscape, and to have the opportunity to capture and share images of Kaziranga and of my wildlife encounters with you all.

Every time we as photographers or writers walk out the door for National Geographic magazine we embark on a new adventure. But these incredible experiences carry a hefty responsibility—to the readers, to us and to the magazine’s Editor in Chief, Chris Johns, who gave us his trust that we will bring back National Geographic-quality images, regardless of the challenges we face in the field. But it always makes me a bit nervous—I’m always both excited and a bit apprehensive at the start of every story.

When I first arrived in Kaziranga, quite a few people involved in park administration asked me, “Why are you here now—after the big monsoon, when so many roads are closed from flooding, and when the park is officially closed?” I then asked if any tourists or reporters were in the park.  The answer was “no,” so I responded, “That is exactly why I’m here!” I was able to gain access to the park during the part of the year when the animals within the park are least disturbed by humans, and when mucky mud makes it easy to track wildlife movements.

To prepare for a story, I spend a great deal of time doing research to get a good outline of what I should cover. Part of that process includes tracking down scientists, researchers, biologists, or others that are experts on the topic. Sometimes I join them in the field and they help me understand wildlife behavior and how best to capture it. When researching this story, I saw big holes in the visual research: certain issues that are crucial issues were not documented, even in the local press. For example, when elephants leave the park and trample crop fields or wander through settlements, both people and pachyderms may be in danger. During an intense monsoon, heavy flooding of the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries displace both animals and people. That was the case this year, and I was able to photograph animals in close proximity to villages.

Flooding also helped me figure out where to place my remote cameras because animals had a limited amount of dry land to travel through, which pushed the probability of getting different images in my favor. When I started looking with Konwar and the park guards in small forest patches and noticed all the tracks of animals walking through them, the patches were where we decided to place the remote cameras. At first they did not want me to put cameras in these locations, as your line of sight is short since it is forested —and very dangerous—we depended on the alarm calls of animals to alert us of danger! Like a deer will call a certain way when a tiger is close—we heard this for five hours when we were putting up our first camera. At the end of the day we found tiger pug marks from a cat that had come within 100 feet of us and turned around and left. So with the remotes up and working we could concentrate on other parts of the story. Once you start getting good images, then you can relax a bit and start brainstorming other unique things to do.

It makes all the difference in the world to have good people to work with. I have always depended heavily on the knowledge and expertise of local people to produce my stories. Whether they are a field biologist, a guide, a driver, whatever—they know their home far better than anyone I could bring along with me—so they get the job. Konwar (the incredible!) was exactly that—incredible. He’s a wildlife guide who has worked with media people a number of times—and really knows how and where to look for animals and the best opportunities for images in Kaziranga. When we first started working together, he helped me find some good photo situations. After I kept my cool and got good images, he decided to trust me, which he later admitted to me. I never had to pass muster like that before! The reason he tested me was because the situations he was putting us in were extremely dangerous, and if we came out with nothing then it wasn’t worth the risk for him.   

So, you may ask, what now? Right now I have been glued to my chair in front of the computer editing all the images that I shot for Kaziranga Part 1. When I finish in a few days, I will send a hard drive to my editor, Gail Fisher at National Geographic, which will include both my edit and all the RAW files from the shoot. Then I will head to the office during the first week of January to work with Gail. Together we will edit down to 40 to 50 images, which we will first show to the Director of Photography, David Griffin, and one of the Executive Editors, Dennis Dimick, and then the final show to the Editor in Chief, Chris Johns, and all the other top editors. At that time, we’ll discuss what images are needed to finish the story, I’ll outline what I plan to accomplish on my second (and final) trip to Kaziranga early in 2008—and together, we’ll formulate a plan.

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