Vultures on the Edge & Our Return to the Mara

As a kid in Kolkata in the 80's, I could never imagine that vultures would be on the precipice of extinction today. Our home was just across Tolly Nallah and the Alipore zoo was across the Nallah itself. I just had to lift my head and look at the sky and invariably I'd see vultures hovering. It was a problem of plenty then. Today, the scene has changed. It's an event to see a vulture, let alone photograph it. This great cleaners of the environment are disappearing at an alarming rate - we've lost over 95% of their population in the last two decades. Can we reverse this trend? I'm not optimistic. Stranger things have happened though - it doesn't hurt to hope.

In other news, I'm planning a trip back to the Maasai Mara during migration. This one will be with my friends Kesava Murthy and Vinodh Venugopal. I wouldn't mind some advice on photographing the migration, by the way. Do drop me a note, put in a comment on this blogpost or just talk to me if there's something you think I should know. I'm also looking to try out some new equipment while in the Mara. Amongst other things, I really want to give the Tamron 24-70 Di VC USD a spin when in Africa. I'd like to give myself a challenge of producing upto 10% of my images using this wider perspective - let's see! That apart, if you have some tips on remote triggering without placing my equipment under too much risk, let me know. I've got a few shots planned which either endanger me or my equipment and I'd prefer neither, really!