A tiger safari in one of India’s national parks, like Ranthambore in this case, is not like photographing in East Africa where you can see for great distances and cats are plentiful. Most areas have dense vegetation, and the big cats are much harder to see. If and when you do spot one, it could be obscured by the forest or it could be in deep shade. If the sun is out, contrast and patchy lighting could make good photography impossible. When I schedule a photo tour there, I plan for at least 6 game drives because that increases the odds quite a bit. Bengal tigers are smaller than their Siberian relatives, but they are still extremely impressive and incredibly beautiful. I took this shot in the late 90’s when I was still shooting medium format film, and this compounded the difficulty of getting a great picture because the camera is completely manual -- the exposure, the focus, and the film advance. I used a Mamiya RZ 67, a 500mm Mamiya lens, and Fujichrome Provia 100 transparency film. My settings were unrecorded, but I always shot wildlife with the largest lens aperture so the shutter speed could be fast enough for sharp pictures. That means this was taken at f/5.6, and the shutter was probably 1/250. I used a bean bag to steady the large camera and lens and to take the weight of it off my arms and shoulders.
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