Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/05/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I was at Kanha National Park in Central India for a week in April. We had funny weather - 15C in the mornings, rising to 41C by the afternoon. It was my first wildlife outing in two years, and to say I enjoyed it would be an understatement. Kanha was the first park where "Project Tiger" was launched in the 1970s, and continues to be one of the prime gems among India's wildlife reserves. It consists of evergreen Sal trees, a hardwood which grows straight and tall (so you always have the feeling that you are driving through a cathedral), punctuated by huge open grasslands, where villages once stood, till they were relocated outside the park. As an experiment towards carrying lighter gear for wildlife trips, I used the latest iteration of the Nikon 300mm f4 paired with the appropriate 1.4x teleconverter, making a 420mm f5.6 lens, on the Nikon D4, during this trip. I was very satisfied with the combo, being light and fast, and easily handheld. With the D4, of course, I could shoot at higher ISOs, to compensate for perpetually being at 1/1200 @ f8, without sacrificing any quality. These photographs below have all been taken with that combination: Bade Ma (Big Mother): http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha2016-1761.jpg.html Bade Ma with 3 month old Cub: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha2016-1906.jpg.html Licking Her Chops: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-1912.jpg.html Neelam: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-2454.jpg.html Madonna of the Forest: - In Colour: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-1329.jpg.html - In B&W: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-1328c.jpg.html Please see LARGE. Comments and criticism, as always, very welcome! Cheers Jayanand