Portrait of a Family

Gothangaon. Umred Tiger Reserve.

One of those trips where everything just comes together.

F2 and her three sub-adults. The son and the two daughters. And somehow, all four tigers almost entirely to ourselves for long stretches. Close. Comfortable. Looking right back at us at times.

The photographs from this safari almost tell the story on their own.

Most of my frames of F2 are close-ups. Tight portraits. The kind where every whisker, every scar and every expression begins to show up. She had just emerged after a post-siesta cooling session near the waterbody and looked absolutely stunning. Calm, composed and completely aware of us around her. In one frame she looks thoughtful, in another she gives that piercing stare straight into the camera. The kind of look that makes you momentarily forget to click the shutter.

The son was full swagger.

Absolutely nonchalant fellow. Walking along the waterbody edge as if he had nowhere to be and all the time in the world. Some moments he looked playful, and in some frames you could already see the future dominant male beginning to emerge. That hint of ferociousness is coming in now.

The elder daughter was something else altogether.

We waited for her near the waterbody for quite some time and she did not disappoint. The moment she emerged from the forest and trotted towards the water, it genuinely felt like she had discovered a treasure trove. Cuteness and ferociousness coming together in the same frame. She has already started marking territory and we hear there are now small territorial tiffs happening between her and F2. Looking at her now, you can almost sense that transition happening. The cub days slowly fading. A tigress coming into her own.

And then the youngest one.

Easily the cutest of the lot.

Curious about everything. Sniffing the air constantly as if trying to figure out whether mom or brother had crossed before her. Such a soft demeanour. Even when she stared straight at us, there was innocence in her face. She made for some of my favourite frames from the trip.

Looking at these photographs now, what I love most is how different all four of them were.

The grace of F2.
The swagger of the son.
The emerging fire in the elder daughter.
And the absolute charm of the youngest one.

An added bonus from the trip was the Karhandla tiger sighting. One lazy morning, we found him completely sprawled out and relaxed, giving us the most magnificent yawn before settling back into doing absolutely nothing. A very different mood from the intensity of F2 and her family, but a lovely sighting to end the trip with.

See you around!