CAPTURING THE UNTAMED

Wildlife photography is like an art adventure. It takes photographers deep into wild places where they use their cameras to tell amazing stories. But it's not easy. Wildlife can be unpredictable, and photographers have to deal with tough conditions. In this interview, we talk to Sudhir Shivaram, a famous wildlife photographer. He's known for his patience, skill, and love for nature, which are the secrets to his success. Sudhir is an inspiration for many people who want to follow their passions in this challenging field

- SANCHIT MISHRA

Can you share the story of how your journey into wildlife photography began, and what motivated you to pursue this career path? 

I did my engineering at Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan (1994 batch) and that’s where my passion for photography started. Love for nature grew as I regularly went for trekking to Kumaraparvatha near Subramanya from our college. Later, once I moved to Bangalore for work, I frequented the forests of Kabini, Bandipur, BR Hills with like-minded folks and hence my love for Wildlife photography started. I worked as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and my interest in wildlife photography grew and started travelling more frequently to the jungles of South India.

During this times I also developed a passion for teaching photography since I learned the hard way without anyone available to teach me, nor had access to good online materials as content for learning photography on the internet way back in last 90’s was very limited. My interest in teaching photography grew and so did my corporate life. I reached a point in life where I was not doing justice to my corporate life (was a director of MNC by 2013) nor to my photography life. So finally decided to quit my corporate job in Oct 2013 and persuaded full time into wildlife photography and teaching.

Wildlife photography is known for its challenges, such as unpredictable animal behaviour and extreme environmental conditions. What inspired you to persevere through these challenges, and what challenges did you face to shape your career?