Hi Artie, I have very strong views about disturbing wildlife. I have seen photographers whistle and scream to irritate the tiger and get a shot of it snarling. I dislike it and consider it unethical. I believe we should not disturb wildlife. We should always strive to showcase authentic behaviour.

As far as photographing tiger goes, it is your knowledge of tiger behaviour, ability to interpret signs and sounds made by the birds and animals, knowledge about the topography of the forest, and patience which helps. Once in a while you can be lucky in spotting a tiger, but not always. Please don't think that when I am photograhing the tiger, it is not aware of my presence. Tiger, and for that matter all wild animals have an uncanny ability to read our body language. If your movements are very slow, if you don't stare into the eyes of the tiger directly and if you wait, the tiger will slowly relax.

I have got the best shots when the tiger got accustomed to my presence. And, I have watched tiger from close quarters (as close as 10 feet) for hours togather. With every passing year, my knowledge of tiger behaviour is increasing and every year I have at least one experience where the tiger had surprised me by its intelligence.

I have a short article in my website ( I have recently uploaded my site and haven't put enough material yet) titled Spotting Wildlife: It must have been luck?? The link is as follows
http://www.indiawilds.com/blog.htm

I have learn't a lot from you, by reading your bulletins. I think in 2002 I stumbled upon your website and found your pedagogy amazing. I believe you would be having 30 or 40 years of bird knowledge. Your subject knowledge will help you in predicting how the bird will react and you will be ready to capture the shot. Whereas, another good photographer without knowledge of birds standing by your side, may miss the shot, as he won't be prepared.

I always remember the shots that I missed. Once, a tiger was walking near a mashy area. Suddenly, it jumped to cross a patch of mashy land. I had failed to anticipate it, so could not position my vehicle and missed the shot.

I used to consider myself as an expert in tiger behaviour till 2006, when the tiger (infact two tigers) demolished my ego on one moonless night. I along with my friend was sitting outside the forest rest house. It was in the middle of the jungle. Deers were grazing about 30-40 feet to my right. Infront of me was a stream. I could hear and make out that a tiger has come and is stalking the deer. The deer were coming closer to me thinking the tiger won't come near us. The tiger was moving and at times we could make out a hazy white blur moving, it was due to the white hair in the belly of the tiger. Suddenly, the tiger charged the deer towards my right. The tiger was about 25 feet away. Within 10seconds or so, I heard another charge in the opposite direction i.e. from the same spot infront of me the tiger charged to my left. Then I realised that there were two tigers instead of one. The next day morning, pugmarks confirmed that there were two tigers. And the two tigers were also calling each other from the hill behind the rest house. I feel the little bit of knowledge that I have about tiger behaviour helps me in my photography. However, Miles to go before I attain the level of excellence people like you have in photography