Ananthagiri Hills Forest “The Bird Photography”

A beautiful quote “I wish we had all been birds instead“, explains the eagerness for a person to fly higher and higher with as much freedom as possible. There is no limit to freedom. To gain access to such an experience this Sunday, I and Sreedhar sir planned to visit with a Hyderabad Birding Pals group to Ananthagiri Hills forest which is one of the best Bird Photowalk places near Hyderabad and that was organized by a very well-known Wildlife photography group “Hyderabad Birding Pals“

As per instructions given on the Facebook page of Hyderabad Birding Pals, the meeting time was 6:30 am at Shiva Temple. So Myself and Sreedhar sir started from Hyderabad at 4:30 am in the morning. It was pitch dark in the early morning and we were riding on the silent roads towards Ananthagiri.

In the middle, we stopped at a location to have some tea so that the sleeping hangover can be cleared from our minds. After that around 6 am we reached the Anathgiri meeting location.

At initial view the place was empty, so we thought of waiting for more time, as we were already early. So we waited and waited and waited, but no one arrived. The typical reason for this is that we live in India, and this is sometimes our common psychology.

So Sreedhar sir also getting bored, so he came out of the car and started exploring the nearby locations. To accompany him, I also left out of the car and started understanding the photographic viewpoint of his eyes.

Soon after wandering here and there, we saw a person and his son with a camera, so we wished them a pleasant morning. They are also for the same bird photo walk.

So we started descending the stairs from where we will join the professional hobbyist with large equipment on the midway who are watching something from their huge camera lens. I can say it’s patience that makes a photographer. As they are able to see birds which an amateur photographer like me has never been able to see.

I was stunned to see the lenses, costing lacs in their hands. I was dreaming of these lenses after I saw them in their hands.

Soon we gathered at one place and the organized Mr. Phani Krishna started briefing us and provided us the info of do’s and don’ts so that while our photo walk will not hamper any of the natural habitats. So after 10 minutes of briefing, we were asked to move in groups, so we did. From here our Photowalk begins.

For newbies like me, Photowalk means an event in which we walk, discuss about photography and capture it and practice it. Photowalk is a very nice event in which photographers get the opportunity to get to know other photographers and enjoy learning.

At the start, everyone started gathering around a single sport and clicking something, me and Sreedhar sir also very anxious to know what is happening. As we reached closer, we saw a well-maintained Spider web with a spider at its center. The sunlight is just illuminating each and every string of this spider web which is not only pleasing to naked eyes but also gives good photography shots. As usual, we will never be going to miss this type of opportunity to capture ready-made shots for our collection.

Further, we started moving deep into the jungle, and the gap between individual groups increased, as it all depends on at which location a photographer is interested in waiting and capturing or waiting until he captures something.

By the way, a forest is a place where different types of natural architectural structures are found which currently in recent world are the inspiration for many designers and architects. So sometimes they also travel to this type of location so that something new can be created and showcased in the urban world.

After walking sometimes in the forest now we are moving towards the open, which is the grassland of Ananthagiri Forest, which is already starting making us all love to click, spectate and stay there for a long time.

And now it’s the time for photographers to act, so everyone has loaded their camera magazine to its fullest and started hovering here and there to capture.

The view was so beautiful, that for a starting instance I was just looking at the horizons which is a beautiful combination of the light brown grass, green vegetation far far away, and the blue sky, a combination best for any photo foreground and background.

Here I also got the opportunity to meet many peoples, with a passion within them that also drives them to leave their comfortable life and come over here in the morning to capture and cuddle with nature.

Many of them were on jobs with directorial positions and many be business holders, few were totally adventurous, and one myself, do not know what he is doing in this forest, so I stopped bird photography and started photography for bird photographers and their behaviors.

Here neither age nor gender nor any profession matters, here all is just photographers and nothing else. They are going inside the grass, staying at some positions with a view on the viewfinder to wait for the sharpest click or best moment.

I can say that bird photography is not planned, but by studying the behavior of birds you can plan your position to match up and imagine the plan of what birds are going to be doing in the next moment.

Maybe sometimes we were right, but most of the time it’s not. It’s like randomness for which the human brain is not that calculative enough. But there are some professionals in our group who are doing it for years, and they learn the behaviors of birds and are able to imagine more about their next move, which reflects in their shots by their camera.

Sreedhar sir is also a good bird photographer, for which his quality I always appreciate, as before joining his team I researched on social media about his work, which a having a class of quality.

And the best part is the passion for photography he is having allows him to get time for this activity after working tremendous hours in the office. If I was in his place of him, I might have left this passion and thought of starting something else.

By looking at the working way of all, I also got some eager to click, but most of the time I failed due to less zoom capability.

Maybe I am wrong, but people with much cheaper lenses and less zoom also do this photographic activity nicely. So it’s just a thought of mine about myself.

Soon after some clicking and gossiping with each other, it’s time for me and Sreedhar Sir to move back. Else others were still there and waiting to get the best shot which they can conserve for themselves as a token of satisfaction.

Obviously no one was interested to move away from this grassland but is all about time that needs to permit, today it’s not for us.

At the path to return, we found some land-based spider webs which is again a type of unique design and this design has a unique type of capability for capturing its prey. I hope we are not his prey at this point in time.

When we were returning back we find some photographers at the starting point for the search for an Owl, specific to this particular area. and they were still here for 2 hours continuously. And this is the best example of patience.

In the concluding end, I can say two things that I learned from this photo walk. One is patience, as birds will not pose for us, we have to be available at the particular instance with a particular lens, and with perfect timing. The second is a study the resources before you are about to capture them so that sync between you and the birds can be established.