Wildlife photography as a career in India, used to sound like a dream a couple of years back. Lucky had been those who could persuade their profession and passion simultaneously. For most, wildlife and wildlife photography remained as a childhood passion and one amongst the many lost dreams condemned by our professional pursuits.
However, today the trend is visibly changing. More and more people have started thinking differently; Local photography clubs, nature clubs, NGOs, schools, colleges, conservation societies, social media and even bollywood movies, everyone is talking about wildlife photography. Many have started taking serious interest in learning photography and adopting wildlife photography as a full time carrier. Affordability has increased; cost of digital SLRs have come down. Social media in particular has played a significant role in creating a massive wave of new generation DSLR users and the trend is going viral. Undoubtedly, today, we can see more opportunities for a wildlife photographer than what it used to be a few years back, from publication houses to web designers, from exhibitions to stock photography, from photo tours to guided expeditions, from natural history to conservation photography, from research to film making – options are too many.
However, this needs a caution bell here ! Hold on for a moment ! Think.
Don’t get carried away by the glamour and the social media based craze of it. Your education is important. Establishing yourself in life, family and society is important. Getting a good job is important. Look at the established wildlife photographers of the country. No one was born as a Wildlife photographer. One needs to understand that building a full time career in wildlife photography is not an overnight process. It demands your photographs to stand out amongst millions. It’s an art and has to be mastered.
Hand holding and personalized knowledge sharing helps one to improvise and excel. It facilitates your learning – much faster than what you would learn on your own, from your failures over a period of years. In the country, there are maestros in wildlife photography who have taken Indian wildlife photographers to an international platform. These masters are making their best efforts to disseminate knowledge amongst the new comers. Budding photographers and amateurs are enthusiastic about it but limited resources and the cost of it becomes a major challenge. Also, attending a workshop or a course can have its full impact only when you go back and keep practicing it. It is difficult to do alone. Hence our advise is get in touch with like minded people. Get associated with a photography club you know of. DCP facilitates this interaction and repeated guided practice on field without charging any fees for it. This happens every Sunday in multiple cities across the country, where our group leaders and skippers handhold the new comers in this field teaching them biodiversity, their conservation and using photography as a tool to document both the art and science of nature.
We have initiated a country wide chain of Wildlife Photography workshops, tours, camps, expeditions and walks in multiple locations across Indian geography and we are looking for more naturalists, biologists, conservationists, skilled wildlife photographers and other experts who would be interested in associating with us. We have an existing platform and a well recognized brand which has been doing exceedingly well in the field of wildlife photography and we aspire to be the best in the country.
If you are interested in associating with us, do send us a mail to [email protected] along with a link to your profile where we can view your work. If you are already an established wildlife photographer, you may expect a call from us directly. However, if you are a new comer in the field of wildlife photography, you need to escalate yourself in a stepwise manner.
Step 1: We have a social media based forum. You can join the group without any preconditions – CLICK HERE. This is a closed group and is one of the most interactive social media platforms which allows you to share your experiences, clarify your doubts, post your images for a critical analysis, get guided on skill set development and excel for a fantastic photographic learning. Feel free to ask any question, share any difficulty that you come across, ask for any help .. we will try our best to attend you.
Step 2: Start attending the weekend free photo walks. Currently we run in it 8 cities. In a few selected cities, this privilege is restricted to members only. You can join team DCP as a member by registering yourself here – JOIN TEAM DCP. Becoming a member is not mandatory, please note. Once you are a part of the forum, you will be monitored over a period of time for your skillset development process before you are considered as a Trainee with us.
Step 3: Once we understand that you have been producing consistently good work, you are shortlisted as a Trainee with DCP. You earn your first Trainee badge. During your internship, you will again be closely monitored for growth of your learning curve till you attain sufficient knowledge and skills to be a Group Leader with us. This process may take a few months to many years. It depends on your focus and consistency. Further career development process starts subsequently towards becoming a Skipper and then an Expert in DCP panel. Its not a 100 meter race my friend. It’s a marathon. So run slow but run steady !!
Good luck !!
