‘Timeline’: Exhibition Guide

I’m a Mumbai-based cancer surgeon by profession.

By the time you read this that opening sentence will have  to be read in the past tense! After 46 years in healthcare, two thirds of which were dedicated to cancer, I have decided to hang up my boots as a surgeon. I now look forward to exploring my other passions that include photography, wildlife,  angling and travel.

TIMELINE, my very first solo exhibition, is a celebration of this new phase in my life. It traces my journey as an amateur photographer over the past 5 decades resulting in hundreds of photographs and thousands of digital images distributed over several hard drives. 

Below is a rough sketch of Gallery No 2 at the Bombay Art Society in Bandra. Please note that it is not to scale. The number denote the panels in which the exhibits are arranged.

PANEL 1

Introductory banner

PANEL 2

Gadbad (30”x18”, gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400gsm)

This is one of my favourite desserts. We first sampled it in a small hole-in-the-wall eatery in Mapuca, Goa. I am told that it originated in Mangalore. ‘Gadbad’ is a hotchpotch of nuts, fruit, jelly cubes and ice cream. In my version I added a dash of blue Curacao that not only elevated the colour but also helped contribute a little extra something towards ‘lifting’ the spirit!

PANEL 3

Ancestrally I hail from Goa. The abundance of bird-life at my Calangute farmhouse is what induced me to take bird photography to another level – from being a ‘casual amateur’ to what some may refer to as a ‘serious enthusiast’! 

My transition from being a general photographer to this more niche genre was a gradual one. If however, I had to choose two images to pinpoint the move then the next two images would definitely be close to the top of that list.

Black kite (Powai, Mumbai. January 2013). (24”x 13”. Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper)

Residing on the 21st floor of a Mumbai apartment allows one to get a very different perspective of the ever circling black kites is the area. I got this particular one carrying nesting material.

White-cheeked barbet(Calangute, Goa, April 2013) (24”x 13”. Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper)

The white-cheeked barbet is one of the initial ‘keepers’ taken with  my  very first birding camera, the Canon EOS 7D coupled with a Sigma 150-500mm OS lens.  I did get a fair number of decent images with this setup. All things considered, at that time it was a good buy for one sampling the waters of wildlife photography. With the exception of the black kite, the rest of the images on this panel were taken in and around Goa. If I may continue the analogy, it was the irresistable pull of this location that swept me into the deep end of bird photography. Once hooked I must admit I did go a bit overboard with my acquisition of camera equipment!  

Jerdon’s leaf bird (My farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. October 2014) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

Leafbirds are beautiful little birds that blend so well with the leaves of the trees in which they feed that they are very difficult to spot. The best way to find them is to watch for movement as they are constantly on the move when feeding. There are several species of leafbird. The two that I have photographed at my farmhouse are the Jerdon’s leafbird and the Gold-fronted leafbird.

Gold-fronted leafbird (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. January 2020) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

Bulbuls at a bird bath (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. January 2020)(12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

Bulbuls are a common sight in most parts of India. Two of the several species of bulbuls found in Goa are seen in this image. On the right is the extremely common (hence often ignored) red-whiskered bulbul. On the left is the grey-headed bulbul. This one is much sought after by birders. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and is listed as a ‘near-threatened’ species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. To see both these species peacefully sharing the same bird bath certainly sends a powerful message to the ‘most evolved’ species on the planet. Don’t you think?!

White-throated kingfisher with mouse (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. January 2018) (30″x20″, gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

I was sitting on my front porch at the farmhouse with the camera on a tripod next to me when this kingfisher flew onto a branch of the silk cotton tree (ceiba bombax) about 20 metres away. By the time I reached the camera the bird flew off only to fly back with this hapless mouse in it beak and went on to knock its head against the branch three to four times in an obvious attempt to stun it. The next few moments were magical as the bird stared directly at me and I can almost swear that it was showing off its catch before proceeding to swallow it whole head first!

Crested hawk-eagle (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa, India. April, 2017)(12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

The crested hawk-eagle is one of several magnificent raptors that can be sighted circling the skies above the farmhouse. The elevated location give the illusion of being at eye-level.

Indian white-eye (Ganeshguddi, Karnataka India. January 2018)(12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

The Indian white-eye was shot on at Old Magazine House in Karnataka, India. It is situated just over the Goa border and is the ideal location for those who prefer the birds to come to them as opposed to going in search for them! These hyperactive little birds are usually seen in groups and, thanks to their beautiful colour and spectacular white eye ring, they are one of the easier species to identify.

Osprey (Kumbarja Canal, River Zuari, Cortalim, Goa, India. December 2014)(12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

There is this delightful river safari that involves a slow boat tour among the mangroves of the Kumbarja Canal that forms the backwaters of the Zuari river. It goes by the name of ‘Crocodile Safari’ based on the inevitable sighting of the marsh crocodile. The late Mr. Balachandra Kamat’s chant “No crocodile, no money” still rings nostalgically in my ears. Apart from several species of kingfishers, one of the target sightings is the osprey. These magnificent raptors, often seen with a fish in their powerful talons, provide an unforgettable, adrenaline rushing experience.

Asian koel (female) (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa, India. April 2018) (24”x 13”. Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper)

Koels are more often heard than seen. I do see them quite often at the farmhouse especially in the month of March/ April where they make a pretty picture feeding on the greenish yellow wild figs that grows on the property. The female is brownish and spotted while the male is a blue black. The one similarity between the sexes are their ruby red eyes.

Vigor’s sunbird (male) (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. May 2018) (24”x 13”. Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper)

Vigor’s sunbird is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and is distributed mainly in the Northern parts of the region. During the breeding season the male has a spectacular colouration. The non breeding male is much duller with a reddish tinge on the neck and chest. The female is a dull green and grey. This is the image I chose to use in my logo when I launched my store – Driandsouza’s Images & Beyond.

PANEL 4

Asian pied starlings at sunset (Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. December 2016) (18″x12″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

The ‘sunset shot’ in wildlife photography is equivalent I guess, to the wedding photographer’s bridal couple freeze at the alter! This was taken on a trip to Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Rajasthan to celebrate my 60th birthday. Our guide insisted on spending a good half an hour every evening to take sunset images. This was one of them. A pair of Asian pied starlings on a bare tree silhouetted against the setting sun.

Rufous treepie (Farmhouse, Calangute Goa, India. September 2017) (18″x12″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

Belonging to the crow family this is a commonly seen largish bird with a screeching musical call and hence very hard to miss! This image was taken at the far end of my backyard and the palm leaves in the background help to make it one of my favourite images. I had done an acrylic on canvas painting of this during the lockdown years and you should be able to view it in panel 16 (if I don’t run out of space, that is!)

PANEL 5

This panel includes a small selection of birds that I have taken from other parts of India and abroad.

Brown pelican. (Santa Barbara, California, USA. May, 2022) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

This was not a dedicated birding trip and I was relatively ‘light’ on the camera equipment. This image was taken with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens + 2x Teleconverter. The 45 megapixels mirrorless R5 body compensated for the lack of reach. There was a small pool of water at Stern’s Wharf that had a large number of water birds including brown pelicans, black skimmers, western gulls, whimbrels and a pair of red-breasted mergansers. I spent many a happy hour sitting quietly at the edge of the pool. Once the birds realised I was not a threat they got pretty close and allowed me to take some nice images!

Black-breasted parrotbill. (Manas National Park, Assam, India. February 2019) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

These hyperactive, cheeky-looking birds just don’t stay still and are a pain to photograph! Once distributed all over the Indian subcontinent their numbers have dwindled alarmingly. They are now listed by the IUCN as a ‘threatened’ species and of late have only be spotted in three locations. One in Arunachal Pradesh and the other two in Assam including Manas NP where this image was taken. This was elephant country and we spotted a group of these birds in the tall elephant grass on either side of the road. The excitement of trying to get the shot was mixed in equal parts with the fear of being faced with an elephant charging out of the grass!

Andaman cuckoo-dove. (Andaman Islands, India. March 2017) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

These long-tailed beautiful birds are endemic to the Andamans and are becoming increasingly rare due to habitat loss. This particular image was taken at Shoal Bay. The forests around Shoal bay is rich in bird life. This guy was so intent of feeding that he was least bothered with the noise of our cameras rattling away in motor drive!

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Greater Nicobar Island, India. March 2021) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

This bird, in my opinion, is the most beautiful of all the 12 kingfishers found in India. It is one of the smallest of all the kingfishers and and though not rare it is not commonly seen and birders will travel many a mile to catch a sighting or, better still, get a good image. It was another birding group that gave us the location of this bird. On reaching the site we had to walk a short distance into the forest and across a dry stream. This little guy knew no fear and allowed us to get quite close. It was however one of two instances that I got caught in a peculiar shrub whose long thorns pointed backwards. Once hooked one had to reverse one’s direction to disentangle. Easier said than done, I say, when one is caught up in the excitement of shooting a spectacular bird!

Yellow-eyed penguin (Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand. November 2017) (30″x20″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

The yellow-eyed penguin is endemic to New Zealand. It is an endangered species and considered to be the rarest penguin on the planet. Even on guided tours sightings are not a given. We were extremely fortunate that a couple of these beautiful birds very graciously decided to waddle upto within 15 meters of our hide giving us the opportunity of observing them up close and me the chance of getting a bunch of once-in-a-lifetime images!

Black Swan. (Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy, South Island, New Zealand ) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

This image was shot at Glenorchy on the banks of Lake Wakatipu. The entire New Zealand South Island is spectacular but Glenorchy in my opinion was extra special. A fitting location to shoot this beautiful bird. Black swans are native to Australia but have been introduced to other parts of the world as ornamental birds were they have escaped and gone on to form stable populations in the wild. This is probably the case in New Zealand as well although there are many who feel that the birds naturally flew here which then give them a ‘native’ as opposed to ‘exotic’ status.

Kookaburra (Centinnel Park, Sydney, Australia. October 2017) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

Kookaburras are part of the kingfisher family. They are terrestrial birds and, unlike many other kingfishers, are not closely associated with water. They are native to Australia and New Guinea and their peculiar call resemble human laughter and hence are often referred to laughing kookaburras. Reminds me of a song we learnt in school that was written in 1934 by Marion Sinclair that included the word ‘gay’ which at that time meant carefree and happy. Many of the more recent versions have replaced the word because of its association with homosexuality. Yet another reason, in my opinion, to question the assumption that we are the ‘most evolved’ species on the planet!

Emerald dove (Old Magazine House, Ganeshguddi, Karnataka, India. January 2018) (12″x18″, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

My first sighting of this beautiful dove was on my first guided birding trip in Soccoro Plateau in North Goa which involved a flash of green that flew across the road. I saw it again at Mount Harriet in the Andamans a year later feeding on the road but was too shy to give any of us a clean shot. Old Magazine House in Ganeshguddi was an anticlimax of an experience. Here birders sit comfortably in chairs in the shade of a large tree behind a screen and takes their pick of well over a hundred species of birds that come in droves to feed at water baths barely 30 yards away!

Seychelles blue pigeon (Praslin Island, Seychelles. October 2019)

This unusual looking bird is endemic to the Seychelles archipelago. Although its numbers are dwindling due to habitat loss it is not yet on the threatened or endangered list. The image was taken at our resort grounds on Praslin Island. We had just stepped out of our cottage when I spotted it feeding on one of the lower branches of a fruiting tree. I rushed back in to fetch the camera and was responsible for pushing back the day’s schedule by a good half hour. Naturally!

PANEL 6

These are the first three 20″x30″ images that I had printed and framed. Two of them are the orignal ones that I have hanging at home. I’ve had the other redone on archival paper (the one at home is on cheaper media).

Yellow-footed green pigeons (Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India. December 2016) (20″x30″ Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

Green pigeons are beautiful birds! The yellow-footed green pigeon is just one of thirty species of the genus that are distributed across Asia and Africa. Incidentally it is also the state bird of Maharastra. This was taken on a rare birding trip with the family. It materialised in response to my wife’s query: How do you want to celebrate you 60th birthday?! Wife and daughter grudgingly agreed… their only stipulation was that they choose the hotel! Cars are not allowed within the 29 sq. km. sanctuary and the birding experience is unique, in as much as it is done on cycle rickshaws with the driver doubling as the birding guide.

Crab-eating macaque (Chidyatapu, Andaman Islands, India. March 2017) (30″x20″)

Crab-eating macaque are native to South East Asia and are listed as an ‘Endangered Species’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. I have photographed them in the wild in Greater Nicobar (in fact I have used one of those images for the cover of my coffee table book on my birding trips to the region). This particular image was taken at the Biological Park in Chidyatapu on the Andaman Mainland. We were after a juvenile Andaman crested serpent eagle who happened to be perched on a tree within a huge open air enclosure for the macaques. I am not particularly fond of taking images of animals in captivity (however comfortable the enclosure might be) but this particular shot was irresistible!

Common wanderer butterfly (female) on a hibiscus (Farmhouse, Calangute, November 2016) (20″x30″)

Common wanderers are one of the commoner butterflies I see at my farmhouse. They are very similar in appearance to the blue tiger butterfly that is toxic and unpalatable to predators. In Nature this is known as ‘mimicry’ where a defenceless species will mimic the appearance of a foul-tasting/ poisonous one to deter would be predators.

PANEL 7

A collection of 12″x12″ gallery wrapped canvas prints of 9 of the 12 kingfishers found in India the form the backdrop to my bar at home. From left to right: Top row: black-capped kingfisher (Zuari river, Goa), Brown-winged kingfisher (Bhitarkanika, Odisha), Common kingfisher (Zuari River, Goa); Middle row: ruddy kingfisher (Shoal Bay, Andamans), white-throated kingfisher (Calangute Goa), oriental dwarf kingfisher (Bhagwan Mahavir Sanctuary, Goa); Bottom row: stork billed kingfisher (Zuari River, Goa), pied kingfisher (Bharatpur, Rajasthan), collared kingfisher (Bhitarkanika Odisha).

Collection of sunbirds 12″x12″ each gallery wrapped Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm

Top row L>R: Vigor’s sunbird male (farmhouse, Calangute, Goa), olive-backed sunbird (Greater Nicobar), purple-rumped sunbird male (farmhouse, Calangute, Goa); Middle row L>R: purple sunbird breeding male (farmhouse, Calangute, Goa), crimson sunbird male (Greater Nicobar), purple sunbird eclipse form (farmhouse, Calangute, Goa); Bottom row L>R: green-tailed sunbird (Mishmi, Arunachal Pradesh), Loten’s sunbird male (farmhouse, Calangute, Goa), Vigor’s sunbird non-breeding male (farmhouse, Calangute Goa)

PANEL 8

Masked lady (September 2013) (24″x16″, gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

Hanging on a wall in our living room is a ceramic mask of a mysterious looking lady wrapped in a multi-coloured leather scarf. She was an ideal subject to put a recently acquired macro lens through its paces. An 18″x12″ gallery wrapped canvas of the image is already part of my collection at home. Unfortunately it is a bit marked and needs replacing… so, if nobody picks her up I won’t be terribly disappointed!

Temple lady (Buddhist temple, somewhere in the North East of India. November 2012) (24″X17″, gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

In 2012 we toured the North East of India and Bhutan. This image was taken in a Buddhist temples in one of the cities we visited, (for the life of me I can’t remember which one!). This elderly lady moved slowly along the row of prayer wheels that  lined the compound wall of the premises, gently rotating each one as she passed.   

PANEL 9

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai, June 2016) (36″x20″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

When passing through this location the focus of most Mumbaikars is on negotiating the huge crowds and/ or the crazy traffic. Very few pause to admire the beautiful structure of CST station or, as it more commonly referred to as, VT Station. For decades I too was no exception. Up until this one afternoon in June 2016.

PANEL 10

On many of my trips to the Goa farmhouse images of butterflies far outnumber the birds and one of my big regrets in this exhibition is that I could not include more photographs from the huge collection of butterflies I have. Even on this panel I was tempted to do a collage like the kingfishers and sunbirds in Panel 7. However the three images you see here are ones from my home collection and so, to save cost, I decided to go with them instead. (Although there do suffer from a bit of wear and tear, the result of an over exuberant cleaning maid.)

Blue Oakleaf butterfly wings closed (Ovelakar’s butterfly park, Thane, Mumbai. October 2016) (20″x20″)

The blue oakleaf is a large, spectacular butterfly. When its wings are closed it is well camouflaged and resemble a leaf. When it opens its wings the beautiful, predominantly blue colouration of the upper wing, is revealed. These are also know as Sayadhari Oakleafs as they are found in the Western Ghats south of Mumbai.

Blue oakleaf wings open (Ovelekar’s butterfly park, Thane, Mumbai, October 2016) (20″x20″)

Common silver line butterfly (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. November 2013.) (20″x20″)

This image was shot with the 100mm macro lens. It was taken in the afternoon in early November. Being hot and humid I distinctly remember being very reluctant to  get  flat on the ground and take a closer look at what appeared to be a small, innocuous-looking butterfly. The images that leapt out of my camera’s viewfinder took me completely by surprise! Twitching, white-tipped black tails emerged from light brown wings with beautiful broad orange and black bands across them. Silver overlay on the orange bands completed the stunning transformation! 

PANEL 11

Crimson rose butterfly (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. November 2020) (36″x20″)

The detail one gets with a macro lens is amazing. On the flip side, especially in the field, the necessity to fill the frame makes it mandatory to get as close to the subject as possible. This often means having to assume yogic positions in order to get the shot. With advancing age  I find myself succumbing to the comfort of shooting these beauties from a distance with my tele lens! A Crimson rose butterfly feasts  on  a spray of orange stachytarpheta flowers taken at my farmhouse in Calangute, Goa with a EOS 1DX2, 500mm F4 lens + 1.4x teleconverter!

PANEL 12

Black and white photography is a extremely interesting genre of photography. Removing all the colour and restricting the image to varing degrees of grey clears the distraction of colour and redirects the viewer to focus on other aspects like composition, contrast, detail, textures, lines and patterns.

Goa church wedding (Chicalim, Goa December 2017) (30″x19″ Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

Goa is full of old churches many of which were built by the Portuguese several hundred years ago. The St. Francis Xavier Church, Chicalim, Goa was originally known as ‘Igreja de São Francisco Xavier em Chicalim, Goa’ in Portuguese, or simply ‘Chickle Igorje’. Founded in 1625 and rebuilt in 1747, the Chicalim Church was initially dedicated to St Bartholomew, but later re-dedicated to St Francis Xavier. The image was taken in December 2017 while attending the wedding of a friend’s daughter. 

Corridor (Bharatpur, Rajasthan. December 2016) (30″x19″ Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

In December 2016, as part of my 60th birthday celebrations my wife and daughter agreed to a trip to Keoladeo National Park and Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Their only request was that they choose the hotel. This was taken at the Laxmi Vilas Palace Hotel that was originally the Palace of the Maharaja of Bharatpur. The image is of my wife and daughter in one of the several corridors within the hotel.

Kitten (Vijaydurg, Maharastra. February 2014) (30″x19″ Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

I was on an angling trip at Vijaydurg on the west cost of India. We were between sessions of fishing when this little kitten happily posed for me while we waited for lunch to be served.

PANEL 13

There are many who feel that ‘post-processing’ an image is tantamount to cheating. For the record, every single image necessarily undergoes varying  amounts of ‘processing’ in terms of white balance, colour saturation, contrast, sharpening etc. When shooting an image on your phone for instance this is done automatically in-camera. More advanced photographers prefer to have complete control on their post processing by doing it manually on the computer.

Arranging marigolds (24″x24″, gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

There is however a very fine line between the production of an ‘interesting’ image  to one that is downright bizarre! In this image my wife Vanessa arranges floating marigolds in an ancestral copper vessel. There were three aspects that I liked in this image… the colour of the flowers and copper, the pattern of the tiles and the overall ‘mood’ of the images. In selectively retaining only the colour in the flowers and the copper I was hoping to address all three. Was I being too greedy?! What do you think?!

Blind idealism is… (High line Park, New York June 2016) (48″x36″ Gallery wrapped canvas)

The ‘High Line’ park is a mile and a half long elevated park constructed from an old railroad and situated on the city’s West Side. There was this thought-provoking message painted in large block letters on a massive wall. I got Vanessa to sit on a bench on the bottom right to provide a frame of reference.

Panel 14

The equipment required for landscapes is dimetrically opposite to that suitable for birds. And so, to keep within airline luggage restrictions, on birding trips I tend to use my phone to take wide angle shots. 

On family holidays however, birding takes a back seat and that’s when I get to  polish my skills at this genre of photography. Landscapes can be as simple as pointing your phone at a beautiful scene and clicking.

On the other hand, planning an image way before a trip is even made, mastering the use of equipment like ND filters and polarising filters, understanding and implementing concepts like ‘hyper focal distance, and finally attempting to get it just right in post-processing at home, are a but a few aspects that make landscape photography surprisingly demanding, incredibly frustrating and highly gratifying all rolled in one!  

Praslin Island Seychelles. October 2019. (24″x13″ gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

We holidayed in Seychelles with a small group of non-birding friends in 2019. Although I did take a tele lens and got some nice bird images, my main focus was to try and capture the beautiful landscapes that the archipelago is famous for. Early each morning and at sunset I’d take the camera, tripod and filters to the beach just outside our resort. On this occasion the two fishermen and the log of driftwood added considerably to the spectacular setting.

Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand November 2017. (24″x13″ gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

On a trip to Australia for a family wedding in Sydney we decided to do New Zealand as well. Both countries being completely water locked have incredible birds that are not found anywhere else on the planet. They also boast of fabulous opportunities for landscape photographers. And so on this trip I was torn between which one to concentrate on! Looking back I do think I get to sample the best of both worlds. This image was taken outside our resort on the banks of the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu.

Lake Morraine, Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies. July 2016. (24″x13″ gallery wrapped, Hahnemuhle Daguerre Canvas 400 gsm)

If ever there was a place where you actually begin to tire of spectacular landscapes then Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies comes pretty close! We spent a few days driving through and were bombarded – (trust me I thought long and hard before choosing the word) – by scene after scene of spectacular natural beauty. This image was taken at Morraine Lake, one of the many water bodies in the area. It was here that I took a ducking in the freezing cold water when trying to negotiate my way across the floating logs seen in the foreground. Fortunately the water was only waist deep. Being a true photographer my only concern was keeping my camera out of the water!

PANEL 15

Cairns birdwing (Kuranda, Queensland, Australia. October 2017) (24″x16″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

This was taken at a butterfly park in Kuranda. There are around 36 species of birdwing butterflies around the globe and they are amongst the largest and most spectacular. The Cairns birdwing is no exception. It is endemic to Queensland and is the largest endemic butterfly in Australia.

Southern birdwing (female) (Farmhouse, Calangute, Goa. August, 2021) (24″x16″, Hahnemuhle German Etching Fine Art Paper 310gsm)

The southern Birdwing has a wingspan reaching 190mm and is endemic to South India. Till recently it was considered to be the largest of all Indian butterflies. This was a record it held for 88 years till a few years ago someone found a Himalayan butterfly, the golden birdwing, that was about 4mm larger! These are high on the target list of butterfly tours in the region as they are not very common and I was thrilled to get this shot in my Calangute backyard.

PANEL 16

My last panel and yet so much more that I want to exhibit! I have decided to dedicate this one to my activities during the pandemic.

Tigress and cub. (Tadoba, Maharastra January 2022) (30″x17″ Epson Enhanced Matt Paper)

This was taken on a family trip to Tadoba Andhari Tiger reserve. We had a wonderful experience with tigress Maya and her two cubs as they slowly made their way to a kill. As you can imagine I have several images but this one of mother and cub in the tall grass looking into the distance is my favourite.

Bhraminy Kite (Incomplete!) (24″x24″, Acrylic on canvas)

To combat the bordom of the lockdown I took to painting birds and churned out a number acrylic on canvas paintings. These include a Tickell’s blue flycatcher (8”x6”), a Coppersmith barbet (20”x20”) a Bhraminy kite (24”x24”). I started painting the kite over a year ago but due to the lifting of the lockdown could not complete it.

Coppersmith barbet (20″x20″ Acrylic on canvas)

Peace on Earth (36″x36″ Acrylic on canvas)

Shortly after the terrorist attack on  the World Trade Towers in September 2001, I made a computer graphic depicting the major religions of the world superimposed on the peace symbol. After printing  it on an A3-sized card paper we used it as the background for our nameplate outside the front door. 

Two decades later it had faded beyond recognition. At my wife’s insistence that I make a new one, I came up with this  acrylic on canvas in 2020.

These are a few other acrylic on canvases that helped me pass the time during the lockdown…!

Gold-fronted leafbird (16”x12”, Acrylic on canvas)

Grey-fronted green pigeon (12”x12”, Acrylic on canvas)

Vigor’s sunbird (male) (24””x18”, Acrylic on canvas)

Vigor’s sunbird (non-breeding male) (12”x10”, Acrylic on canvas)

Chestnut-tailed starling (8”x8”, Acrylic on canvas)

Rufous treepie (16”x12”, Acrylic on canvas)

Tickell’s blue flycatcher (Acrylic on canvas, 6″x4″)