In the bosom of nature

His affair with the camera started 5 years ago when he clicked a Red Munia at the Rampura Lake. Ever since, the two have been inseparable.

Bengaluru-based Sathish Poojari, who was brought up in Coorg, has grown up in the lap of nature, but what caught his interest were the colourful birds. He used to spend his time roaming the jungles of Coorg with a hope to spot a different species of bird everyday.

“Coming from a place so close to nature, it is natural to have an inclination towards it. I read books written by K P Poornachandra Tejaswi which had a great impact on me and how I perceived nature. Apart from being a photographer, I am also a conservationist and have rescued many birds and snakes including the cobra, Indian Krait, and rat snakes,” says Sathish.

Bird photography being his forte, he loves the lake sides in Bengaluru for clicking pictures.

When he first clicked the picture of the Red Munia, he says he didn’t know how precious a bird it is. However, with more research, he understood the real worth of this particular species.

“I concentrate mainly on capturing the birds of South India, so we have enough material to study about the native birds. Of course, in the long run, I will widen my focus. I have been to Dandeli, Coorg, Mangaluru, Gundapur and Andhra Pradesh where I got a chance to click some mesmerising birds,” he adds.

Spotting an Indian Pitta has been his biggest achievement as it is a rare sighting. Recently, he took a picture of Swinhoe’s Minivet  (a migratory bird from China).

Recalling his most difficult shot, he says, “To take a picture of the Short-toed Eagle was a task in itself. I still didn’t get that perfect click though. It is very important to know the behaviour of each bird to get the perfect shot,” he says.

He mainly uses a Nikon 7100 camera with a 300 mm lens to capture these beauties.

He says his passion for nature and a keen eye to distinguish between various species of birds sets his photographs apart.

He says, “With every photograph that I take, I want to give back something to the earth which has given us so much. That apart, I also want to spread knowledge about these birds in the community.”

Getting a good frame and identifying the breed and behaviour of the birds has always been a challenge for him, but nothing ever stops him from trying and experimenting to get the best shot. “My dream is to travel to the Amazon river belt and click pictures of the rarest of rare birds. I also want to visit North-East India and take pictures of rare species which people have no idea about,” he says.