Image Showcase: Nilgai under the canopy

Across my four trips to Keoladeo National Park, one of my main goals was to seek out scenes that felt a little more overlooked. Bharatpur is a land of incredible photographic opportunity, and the variety of unique perspectives waiting to be discovered is boundless. 

That said, this is an image I’ve been hesitant to share because it’s one I feel is slightly overdone in the context of the park. Bharatpur is renowned for its lush canopies and clean, earthy pathways, creating beautiful natural tunnels through which wildlife can be photographed. However, while they’re certainly picturesque, they can also be a bit of a creative nightmare. These studio-like pockets tend to be double-edged in that they can be quite restrictive in terms of the compositions available – think high floor, low ceiling in terms of creative expression.

I’ve kept this image on the back burner for nearly a year and a half, and over that period, it’s gradually grown on me. Perhaps nostalgia has a part to play, but I’ve come around to enjoying this shot for what it is. The conditions were quite amazing, with the fog providing a sense of depth that the scene desperately needed while subduing the colors of the surrounding vegetation. The adult male Nilgai just helped tie everything together.