From sketching to photography could be considered a natural transition, but switching from land acquisition to bird photography and conservation is a paradigm shift. Kiran Poonacha from Bangalore has not only made that shift but also crowned it with international laurels and appreciation from the world’s best bird photographers.
Known as the raptor man of India, Pooncha is a born conservationist, rescuing and carrying out documentation work on raptors, especially eagles in various corners of India. It also gives him an opportunity to capture the majestic birds in action. Says Pooncha, “I love their temperament, their style, their enormous power and majesticity. I want to share my moments with these powerful yet graceful birds with everybody.”
Unlike visualisation by other photographers, his image of the winged wonders stands out because they are captured when in action and that is what gives life to the pictures. The birds taking off, flying, diving, swooping, hunting, feeding, nurturing, he has caught all these with the right background and foreground, surreal lighting, great precision and artistic imagery. “Capturing birds in flight is technically very challenging but it is such rare movements that interest people and also stays in their memory. I’m also pursuing my passion in my hometown Coorg. This is a tribute to what I have been exposed to during my early years while growing up in Madikeri. I sincerely hope my photographs will help influence people conserve birds by restoring their natural habitat,” says Pooncha with a smile.
Hailing from a family of nature lovers and born and bred in the hill district of Coorg, a place abounding with rare and beautiful species of birds, Pooncha was inspired to start birding at the tender age of seven. Chikkaballapur, where he did his schooling and a nearby place called Gudibande with rocky terrain and scrub forests that support a variety of avians, played an important role in igniting his interest. Midway for 15 years, he missed nurturing these winged wonders in their habitat as he was busy with his education and professional duties but now nothing seems to stop him in his pursuit.
“I patiently bided for the time when I could go back to the world of birds. In 2006, Neeta, my wife and birding partner, gifted me a camera and that is when my passion for capturing my love for birds began. Coinciding with this, I met a couple of people through a social networking website who shared similar interests. These incidents gave me a second chance to pursue my passion to visualise birds in a permanent frame,” says Pooncha.
Pooncha became a member of India Nature Watch that supports well-known photographers from across the country for sharing their work on their website. This exposure played an important role in helping him to improve his photographic skills. He purchased his first DSLR camera in 2007 and his dear friend and boss Kumar Babu gifted a zoom lens and that is when he started concentrating on his chosen hobby, bird photography.
“I have done extensive studies on birds since childhood. I have raised pigeons, kites, parakeets, and sparrows, looked after injured birds, tending to their broken wings and spoon-fed them. Not all survived, however, one injured black kite would not part from me even after two years,” says the raptor man. Pooncha proudly adds, “I can tell you the spots where ea gles can be found, where they hunt, breed and Bangalore is filled with raptors—tawny eagles, snake eagles, boneless eagles, Indian spotted eagles and many more species.”
Now, every holiday and weekend is taken up by trips to scrub forests and wetlands around Bangalore in search of eagles. His favourite haunts on the outskirts of the city include Hessarghatta, T G Halli, Bannerghatta forests, Gudibande and Hoskote.
Over the years, his portfolio on raptors has attracted international attention and awards as some of the images are pretty rare, hitherto never captured on camera. Dedicated to studying these birds, Pooncha says, “My social life is a big zero as all my time is taken up either following them through thorny jungles or standing in slimy wetlands for days together, hoping for the best shot.”
Recollecting his experiences, he says, “Once I was following a Bar Headed Geese near Talkad near Mysore when a snake wound up around my leg. My position was so treacherous that neither could I leave my subject nor ignore the reptile. But fortunately, after two hours, the snake slinked away. Another time, I had to sit in the water for hours together to get a Little Grebe in action. Some images like two snakes fighting for territory at Hessarghatta, a snake eagle hovering between death and new life and falcons at Kolar for whom I waited for three years are still fresh in my mind.”
Pooncha’s dream project, a birding resort on a 30-acre land surrounded by Pushpagiri Hills near Madikeri will soon be a reality. He is hoping to bring renowned experts like Arthur Morris, popularly called “father of bird photography”, Doug Brown and others for workshops on bird photography apart from giving an opportunity to youngsters to know more about birds.
Decrying the nation’s obsession with big mammals, Pooncha appeals, “Birds need our help. They play a very important role in the food chain, pollination and of course, they are the natural scavengers of the earth. We have to look beyond tigers and elephants as India has thousands of species that needs protection at all levels. If I can convince hundred people to conserve nature in and around Bangalore, it will be a small beginning to save these helpless avians.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Meera Bhardwaj / March 31st, 2013
