Photography
Photography is my latest craze/passion/obsession -- whatever you call it. Its something that interests me very much. I started photographing as a hobby at the end of 2004, when I bought my first point-and-shoot (PnS) camera -- a Canon A75. It helped me learn the basics of photography (aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc). Quite a lot of my colleagues and friends were already into photography, and that helped me learn a lot while shooting alongside with them. At the end of 2005, I bought a Canon S2 IS, which is what I currently shoot with. I primarily focus on wildlife and landscape photography, but I do experiment with other styles too.
Wildlife
I was bitten by the wildlife bug late in 2004 when I came across Kalyan's blog. He was quite seriously into wildlife already and used to write about his experiences in the forest which was very interesting to read. Soon I came across lots of other journals/webpages of people around Bangalore and across India who were very enthusiastic about wildlife.
I began spending considerable amount of time watching documentaries on Nat Geo and Animal Planet. Sometime in 2005, I joined India Nature Watch (previously -- india-nature-pixs). I was awestruck looking at some of the pictures there and this boosted my interest. Thats when I began capturing wildlife through my lens. You can look at my pictures on INW here.
In Jan 2006, Narayan and I volunteered for the tiger census at Balle, kabini. This was my first ever visit to any Indian forest. This is where I learned to look at wildlife seriously --- I started to lookout for all forms of wildlife, not just mammals. I started observing and identifying birds and studying their behaviour. Most of all, I enjoyed being there -- in the forest.
I went through the Naturalist traning programme organized by Jungle Lodges, where I met more like minded people. I started visiting the forests frequently, learning more from every visit and looking forward to the next visit.
Looking back, I realize I have spent quite a lot of time and money on my interest in wildlife. My only regret is not having done more of it.
Travel/Trekking
Like many people, I too am interested in travelling and trekking. I have trekked at quite a few places in and around Karnataka in southern India. I havent travelled around northern India yet (someday I'll probably take a break from my routine life and backpack around north India). My only international travel so far has been to China where I spent close to 6 months. I really loved living and working in China and ended up making some very good friends out there.
Others
My other interests include sports --- soccer, cricket, snooker etc. I dont like watching sports as much as I like playing them. I used to be immensely interested in computers, programming and 3D games, but of late this interest is slowly dying down. Apart from these, music, movies and food form some of my interests.