“I am not a believer of luck but I am a firm believer of trust. Trust your camera, trust the weather, trust the light, trust your subject, and finally, have immense trust on yourself.” says Coimbatore-based, Varun Aditya, a recipient of the National Geographic Nature Photographer of the year 2016 contest in the Animal Portraits Category. Varun has gone places to capture the best of flora and fauna on his lens, but this award will surely remain evergreen for him.
Speaking to SimpliCity Varun takes a trip back to memory lane and shares with us his memories of the award winning photograph.
“It was shot at Amboli (western ghats of India), a hill station in Maharashtra, India on 24th July, 2016. It was monsoon in the month of July with incessant rains for almost 10 hours a day. The land is well known for its unique flora and fauna and is a paradise for amphibian and reptile lovers. I went with my wildlife buddy a photographer from Bangalore Arvind Ramamurthy.
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The main purpose of my trip was to capture the Malabar Gliding Frog which is native to the Western Ghats. On the particular day, having shot a Malabar Gliding Frog which was on a tree, I began searching the ground for its tiny fluorescent green tadpoles. It was on the ground that I spotted this Green Vine Snake on a small dead branch, just behind the walking path. When I spotted the snake, I was standing at the back of it. And then I walked to the front of the snake (facing the snake's face). That was my first encounter with a snake at such a short distance.
“Since I used the macro lens for capturing the Malabar Gliding Frog, I initially began photographing the snake with the same lens. But the beautiful habitat with the thick forest and a deep pathway sparked me to switch to the wide angle lens(16-35mm). I had to approach it very slowly by lying down on the muddy ground for the eye level and moving inch by inch. It was a young Snakelet around 10-15cms in length. As it was a very mildly venomous snake, I gathered courage to get really close and composed it using the wide angle lens. I took a series of shots and then left the place.” Varun says.
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Varun also shares with us that his admiration for nature began when he was a child. He studied in a city-based school that focused only on academics. Varun tells us that it was his parents who encouraged him and supported his passion for photography. “I developed an inferiority complex and an aversion towards studies but managed to pass my exams. My parents were the only ones who supported and motivated me to pursue my dreams. My parents worked in the Indian Bank and some of the travel benefits offered by the bank helped me travel through India and develop a taste for nature.” Varun says.
Like many Indians who go abroad for their higher education, Varun too moved to London to do his MBA. He shares with us that it was then that his journey with photography began. “I fell in love with the city and started clicking photos on the mobile and shared it with parents and friends back home. I then persuaded my parents to get me a DSLR and continued clicking photos. I tried posting pictures on Facebook which was just booming back then.”
“I would get 10 likes as Facebook just started, but those 10 likes made so much difference to me. For a person who was discouraged by teachers and the outside world, all my life, a simple like and comment felt so warm and gave me a boost. I began enjoying and clicking everything I saw in London. YouTube and Google were my teachers and I learned everything from them. As usual, I did not concentrate much on my studies and started setting self-targets and goals in photography. I started following famous photographers on 500px and Natgeo since 2012 and would get inspired by them and learn so much from it.” Varun says.
By then, photography became an addiction and a stress buster and he didn’t mind walking several miles in order to click one picture. He also shares that it was around this time that he developed an interest for action photography and also he also developed a craze to freeze anything which moves.
“Freezing things is possible only in photography, and this pushed me to visit all the parks in London to capture the flying birds. I also realized that it was so challenging to picture a bird but that is what people loved to see. So, my action photography started with the birds. In 2013, I won in a competition conducted by Natgeo, and got the chance of travelling to Costa Rica panama. I was fortunate to travel with Micheal Melford who is the landscape photographer of Natgeo for 40 years and learnt a bit of photography during the trip.” Varun says.
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One might wonder what this photography enthusiast does for a living, “I am well versed in share trading strategies with technical analysis being a business student. This is why I have chosen share trading as my earning source.”
“I am driven by my passion for photography which gives me all the kick and I believe that a strong passion will never let you set idle. I have come to realize that encouragement and motivation works wonders. It gives me happiness and the drive to move forward and never stop working. I wish everyone gets the encouragement like I got from my parents and friends.”
“This victory after all the hardships, tastes very good. I thank my parents for all the support they have given me and I sincerely thank Google and YouTube. This is one of the best motivations and a milestone in my career! I consider this a stepping stone to achieve lot more and definitely do India proud.” Varun signs off.
