Kaziranga Tiger Reserve

Experience Kaziranga, a UNESCO world heritage site and its amazing BIG FIVE wildlife together with your photography mentor Sudhir Shivaram.

Home to the iconic Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Kaziranga is considered to be one of the most beautiful forests in India. Its landscape is a mosaic of moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests interspersed with grasslands.

Tall and short grasses, open jungles and swamps and numerous water bodies offer an environment that supports substantial breeding populations of close to 35 mammalian species. These include large herbivores, small herbivores, and large cats such as tigers and leopards. A great number of avian species add to make this striking habitat the ideal place for photography learning.

Why do this photography learning tour with SSP?

On field guidance from Sudhir during the field outing to help you get the best images.
On field review of images and feedback.
Get the best drivers and guides/naturalists trained to position the vehicles from a photographers point of view.
Healthy photography competition among participants where you will be the judge. You will learn the parameters used to judge images and will understand what it takes to participate in a real world competition.
We choose the best season to maximise the photography opportunities.
Whatsapp group of the participants will be formed 1 month prior to the workshop dates so that your learning starts much in advance and you are well prepared for the tour.
Only 2 participants per Jeep with centre seat removed for professional shooting.

Who should attend this tour?

Quite simply, this tour is for anyone who wants to be an awesome wildlife photographer.
You can be a rank beginner or have some experience wielding the camera, either way, SSP’s photography learning tour is bound to enhance your skill and knowledge.
This is the ideal tour if you are looking to move to next level in wildlife photography, as we always plan Kaziranga to make the best use of the opportunities available.

What can you expect from this tour?

Practical on-field learning from Sudhir.
Understand the various challenges of wildlife/bird photography and learn how to arrive at the correct camera setting for a particular situation.
Understanding the advanced focusing features of different AF area modes, AF cases (in Canon) and learning when to use what.
Pre-visualising your images in the field and how to arrive at the camera setting for that.
Discussions back in the camp as well to ensure all doubts are cleared for your next field session.
At the end of this tour, gain enough practice and confidence to put your camera to optimal use – with respect to basic and certain advanced camera settings.
Move away from taking images to making images.

Beyond Learning

While we are extremely serious about our photography, we never play down the importance of some good old-fashioned fun. And great food. Dinnertime is our designated “huddle time” where we share safari stories that continue well past bedtime. Last night of the workshop is official party night where we match steps with the local tribal folk over a celebratory dinner. So, what do we celebrate? Good times, great food, awesome friends. And of course, photography!!

AIRPORT/RAILHEAD

Guwahati is the nearest airport, around 5.5-hr drive.

IDEAL FLIGHT TIMINGS

Preferable to take the first flight of the day to reach Guwahati before noon on day 1 of the workshop. Book a flight that departs Guwahati after 6 pm on last day of workshop.

LAST MILE

We will coordinate with you for your pickup/drop from/to airport/rly station. We generally do car pooling of participants arriving at around same time.

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT

2 camera bodies. 1 full frame and the other crop sensor is recommended. For wide angle shots, you will need a 16-35mm and 70-200mm range lens. Then you an have the 100-400 or the 200-500/150-600 zoom lens and finally you can get the 500/600/800mm biggies.

DURATION / STAY

4 nights/5 days @ IORA - The Retreat

CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT

Check-in: Post 12 noon on day 1 of the workshop and check-out on after morning safari on last day of the workshop.

SAFARI

Total safaris - 7 . Morning safari from 7:30am to 12:00pm and afternoon safari from 2:00pm to 5:30pm

WEATHER/TEMPERATURE

Max temp: 30°C and Min temp: 15°C. Generally it will be a bit cold in the morning and late evenings. Otherwise bright and sunny during day time.

KEY SPECIES

The BIG 5 of Kaziranga - Rhino Tiger Elephant Water buffalo Swamp deer along with a host of birds including the Great Indian Hornbill.

THINGS TO CARRY

The recommended Camera gear, Binoculars, Hat, Sunglasses, Essential medicines

Here’s a complete overview of what happens in the SSP Photography learning tours.

1.Photography learning through indoor / outdoor sessions:

Sudhir will have interactive classroom photography sessions followed by hands on outdoor sessions to help the participants have a practical approach to the learning. These sessions help you pick up the basics and advanced concepts of photography and you can start applying them in the field.

2.Photography learning in the field during the safari:

Once you have understood the concepts in the indoor/outdoor classroom sessions, it’s time to implement them practically in the field. During the safari Sudhir will guide you with the camera settings and composition based on the challenges in the field. He will also give you few assignments to help you understand the concept of pre-visualization.

3.Healthy photography competition among participants:

This is a new concept introduced in SSP tours. Each participant submits 2-3 images shot during the tour. You will then be taken through the entire process of judging an image, where you will learn the key parameters(around 6-8 of them) used to evaluate an image. You will then rate each of these parameters between 1-10 for all the images. Once you spend evaluating around 25-30 images for more than an hour, you will automatically become an expert on what it takes to judge an image and set the foundation for you to participate in any competition, where you will know what the judges expect. This has been received very well in the previous tours by the participants.

4.Fun Times:

While we are extremely serious about our photography, we never play down the importance of some good old-fashioned fun and some great food. Breakfast during the safaris is a great time to share, interact and know each other. Last night of the workshop is official party night where we match steps with the local tribal folk over a celebratory dinner. So, what do we celebrate? Good times, great food, awesome friends. And of course, photography!!

The teaching and learning will not stop after the workshop. In fact this is just the starting point. You will be part of the SSP community of the SSP website where your learning and interactions with fellow photographers continues.

Before the Workshop
We will ask you for:

some basic information about your equipment
your photos/portfolio
your expectations from the workshop

Whatsapp group of the participants will be formed 1 month prior to the workshop dates so that your learning starts much in advance and you are well prepared for the tour. Communicating your expectations beforehand will ensure that Sudhir addresses them during individual interactions with you.

During the Workshop

Sudhir will demonstrate the best way to approach and shoot the subjects and give deeper insights on their behavioural aspects.
He will introduce the advanced custom function settings of your camera. A firm understanding of these settings will be your first step toward shooting like a pro.
In the park, he will continually guide you based on the field conditions and subjects.
Knowledge sharing and image review will continue through the evenings as Sudhir interacts with you with focused inputs to reinforce the day’s learning.
You will have assignments to complete, giving you ample scope to assimilate and apply all that you have learnt.

Wildlife Photography Learning:

As a part of the workshop, the 4 important pillars of photography – Subject Knowledge, Fundamental concepts of photography, Shooting Techniques / Understanding your equipment and Post processing will be covered.

The below topics from the advanced fundamentals of photography will be covered and you will learn how to apply these concepts in Wildlife photography.

– Importance of Subject Knowledge and understanding natural history
– The key to getting right colours – Use of White Balance
– In-depth understanding of Manual exposure (ISO, shutter speeds, Aperture)
– Understanding exposure – the 18% grey concept
– Diving deep into Metering modes (evaluative / matrix / Multi, spot metering)
– Exploring the AF points (both DSLR and Mirrorless)
– Exploring the advanced AF points for subject tracking
– Understanding the advanced menu options for auto focusing (for both DSLR and Mirrorless)
– Depth of field

– Motion (freezing, blurring and panning)
– When to use what: Aperture priority, shutter priority or Manual
– Shooting techniques
– Accessories in wildlife photography

Topics of Composition (framing):
– Understanding light
– Rule of 1/3
– Vertical vs Horizontal
– Angle of shooting
– Avoiding Distractions
– Getting complementary foreground/background
– Catchlight and head turn

Creative Photography:
– Backlit / rim lighting image creation
– Capturing Behaviour
– Extreme Close-up
– Eye Level
– High / Low key images
– Foreground OOF Images
– Portraits vs Habitat
– Using Reflections
– Complementary background
– Signature Shots
– Story Telling

Post-Processing:
During the course of the workshop, you will be taken through the fundamentals of image processing and the following topics will be covered (Processing using Lightroom and ACR / Photoshop will be covered):

– Fundamentals of colour management.
– Lightroom essentials: The Library and Develop modules of LR
– Importing and metadata of images into LR
– Key wording
– Filtering images
– RAW processing workflow covering advanced tools of LR
– Exporting images

During the Field Outing:
During the field outing, your mentor Sudhir Shivaram will help you make memorable images. Inputs provided on the field will enable you make the most of the opportunity.

The actual day today itinerary may vary depending on the flow of the workshop. All updates will be regularly communicated at the venue via the Whatsapp group formed.

Day 1:

Arrive and check in to Iora, The Retreat Resort by noon / evening depending on your travel schedule.
We meet in the evening for a round of introduction and to know the complete agenda of the workshop.
Dinner and lights off.

Day 2:

Wakeup call at 6:00am and we have breakfast at 6:45am and leave for safari by 7:15am .
Return from safari, rest for 1hr before we meet for hands on photography sessions
Hands on photography session – We will go through advanced concepts of exposure / metering and see how it applies to wildlife photography
Lunch / rest and afternoon safari. We return in the evening, 45 mins rest and we meet for the photography session.
Photography session – we meet for a presentation on concepts of composition.
Dinner and lights off.

Day 3:

Wakeup call at 6:00am and we have breakfast at 6:45am and leave for safari by 7:15am.
Return from safari, rest for 1hr before we meet for hands on photography sessions
Hands-on-session – We will go through advanced concepts of auto focusing and see how it applies to wildlife photography
Lunch / rest and afternoon safari. We return in the evening, 45 mins rest and we meet for the photography session.
Photography Session : Post Processing session using Lightroom. Review of assignment work, image review / critique and open discussions.
Dinner and lights off.

Day 4:

Wakeup call at 6:00am and we have breakfast at 6:45am and leave for safari by 7:15am.
Return from safari rest for 1hr before we meet for hands on photography sessions
Photography Session: What does it take to win photography competitions – Presentation with guidelines on internal photography competition. A healthy photography competition, where each of you will be taught the process of judging images and each of you will be part of the jury to judge the images submitted.
Lunch / rest and afternoon safari. We return in the evening, 45 mins rest and we meet for the final photography session.
Photography Session : Review of assignment work, image review / critique and open discussions..
Dinner and lights off.

Day 5:

Wakeup call at 6:00am and we have breakfast at 6:45am and leave for safari by 7:15am.
Return from safari and leave for our destinations with found memories of the tour.

IORA – The Retreat,
Kaziranga

Iora-The Retreat has 38 luxurious rooms and 4 suites, a multi-cuisine restaurant (Scarlet Flame) and an Assamese speciality restaurant (Bhatbaan), a bar (Ironwood), a swimming pool, a fitness centre and a spa (Retusaa-The Spa). With landscaped gardens adorned with trees and flowers and a Kids Zone for children, the resort has everything one could want for a relaxing getaway right in the middle of Kaziranga.

Workshop Cost:
INR 1,27,000/- (plus 5% GST) – On Single Occupancy basis.

Inclusions:
– All costs are ex-Kaziranga. However, at an added cost, we can arrange for transportation.
– Accommodation and all meals for 4 Nights / 5 Days stay at The Iora Retreat.
– 7 safaris (2 participants per vehicle), forest entry fee/camera fee/guide charges.
– Photography Workshop fees.

*Any other expenses outside of the above will have to be borne by the participants.

Terms and Cancellation Policy:
INR 45,000 is non refundable once the payment is done.
75% of the remaining amount will be refunded if cancellation is done 45 days prior to the workshop start dates.
No refund if cancellation is done between 0-45 days of the event.

Payment Terms:
Full amount to be paid 60 days prior to the workshop starting date.

Please note: The date of written (email) communication of intent to cancel is the date considered for calculation of the cancellation fees.

OVERVIEW