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Tigers
Andy Rouse

	When action happens with Tigers, it happens really quick. To freeze this action I had my camera set to the widest aperture (therefore fastest shutter speed) and pushed my film from 100 to 200 ASA. Taken with Canon EOS 1V HS, 500mm F4 IS lens, Fuji Provia 100F pushed to 200, new pants.

Charging powerfully through the water, the Tiger remorselessly gained on it's fleeing prey. Twisting and turning, the Tiger plunged ever onward, water spray leaping out of its way in every direction. With a final leap the Tiger captured it's prey, and so recorded an awesome moment in my life. It would have also been a great picture, had I not been reloading film...

My first encounter with Tigers was certainly spectacular, and it was the start of a relationship between us that continues to this day. The Tiger always wins of course, but over the years I've learnt a few tricks to help the odds in my favour.

Perhaps the most basic, and simple piece of advice that I can give is to always have the camera set up ready to shoot at a moments notice. Whether you're tooling along merrily in a jeep, or lurching on top of an elephant, having the means to shoot within seconds can mean the difference between a good shot and a missed opportunity. Experience has taught me to always have the camera set up in the following way:

• Exposure mode set to AV, aperture set to minimum for lens (i.e f2.8 or f4). This will allow the maximum shutter speed no matter what the light levels.
• Autofocus set to Servo / Tracking focus mode, as any Tiger that you come across will probably be moving at first. If it flops down and sleeps (which it does for most of the day) then you can switch back to normal autofocus mode.
• Choose your zoom lens with the greatest range, don't limit yourself to a fixed focus lens. I always use my Canon 100-400 Image Stabiliser as I can rest it anywhere and shoot a tight portrait or a more landscape style shot.

Being confident with your autofocus can be the difference between a nice shot and a wasted opportunity. If I'd have used the centre autofocus points here then I would probably have got the tigers head out of focus as my aperture of f4 gave a low depth of field. So I selected the left hand points, as the eyes are the most important feature of the picture. Taken with Canon EOS 1V HS, 100-400 IS lens, Fuji Velvia.

Film choice is also an important consideration. The tiger has beautiful coloration and you should use a film that enhances the golden colour of the skin, as well as the surrounding vegetation. I always use Fuji Velvia, underexposed by rating it at 40 ASA, which gives the best results. If the Tiger happens to be in a more shady area then I can quickly push the film to 80 (effectively 100) without any loss of detail. Don't use Kodak VS, it's just too much and looks unreal, if you want a warmer effect then use an 81A filter. If the conditions are overcast or the tiger is in deep shadow, then I'll use Provia 400F, as its better to get a sharp shot with that than a shaky one with a slower film.

So now you know how to be ready for the shot, but how do you know where and when to go? Well, the Tiger season is from late November until April, after that it's unbearably hot, before that it's unfeasibly wet. Although there are many Tiger reserves in India, there are only three that offer realistic chances of seeing wild Tigers - Kanha, Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh.

	I always love taking moody shots and when the opportunity presents itself I'm always ready. I always look for a single shaft of light illuminating the subject, with a dark background behind, as I know that this can be darkened / underexposed by 1/3 - 2/3 stop without any detrimental effect. Taken with Canon EOS 1V HS, 100-400 IS Lens, Fuji Velvia.

All have really nice tourist lodges, with good curry to match. At Ranthambore you're limited to working on a set route from jeeps, which can be a little limiting. I much prefer Kanha and Bandhavgarh for my photography; they not only combine jeeps with elephants, but also have a great range of other species to photograph. Sure everyone wants to photograph Tigers, but sometimes old stripey doesn't want to be a star and disappears for a few days. On my last trip I went 2 whole days without getting a shot of a Tiger, but spent the time photographing the beautiful Chital Deer, Owls and the Indian Wild Dog (the Dhole).

Elephants, did he say elephants? Yep, they are vital for tiger photography (all the good Tiger films are made from elephants), none more so than on my last trip to Bandhavgarh. We'd been tracking a tiger for several hours when we got a call that a female with cubs was on a fresh kill. Now I had gone to India to complete my Big Cats book, and needed none other than a female with cubs and anything on a kill. The next five minutes was a blur, as we raced to get to the site, I prepared my camera ready for the mornings action. Space on an elephant is limited, so I generally only take on two EOS 1V bodies, with a 70-200 f2.8 attached to one (for action) and a 100-400IS attached to the other (for everything else!). After losing several camera bags from elephants I now put everything around my waist using the Lowe Pro Street and Field system. Film, spare batteries (vital) and an empty plastic bottle (in case nature calls whilst on top of the elephant) can all be strapped safely around my waist.

Tigers are messy eaters and are hardly worried about being covered in blood. Unfortunately my clients are worried about that, so I need to be very careful that I get a "clean" picture of a Tiger feeding. To get this shot I used AF Centre Spots selected, exposure dead on the meter. Taken with Canon EOS 1V HS, 100-400 IS Lens, Fuji Velvia pushed to 80 ASA.

So we arrived, commandeered the elephant from a tourist group (my permit allowed me to do this) and set off after the tigers. This is vital preparation time, as the best Tiger pictures are often taken during the first few minutes of an encounter with the elephant. I made sure that all cameras were loaded with fresh film (if I have 10 frames left on one roll then I rewind it and put a fresh one in), then had to hang on for dear life. The Elephant was climbing an impossibly steep slope, it's footing surer than a Landrovers grip, and I was hanging off the back. After what seemed like an eternity of getting whipped in the face by bamboo, we reached the top of the hill, and there before us was a mother and her two "cubs" busily devouring a kill. I say the word cubs loosely as they were almost as big as her!

	Being able to predict behaviour is a skill that comes with experience. As soon as one sibling started moving towards the other I knew that something would happen and had my snapshot camera to hand. Taken with Canon EOS 1V HS, 100-400 IS lens, Fuji Velvia.

The light was quite low in the glade, so I pushed my Velvia to 100 and used my Image Stabiliser lens to maximise the chance of getting a non-shaky shot. One important tip about pushing film by the way, don't forget that you've pushed it else your results will be a little dark! I now carry a small permanent marker with me and scribble "PUSH +1" or something similar on the film cannister itself.

For me, Tigers will always be a habit that I can't kick, and I don't particularly want to either. There is just something sinister, unpredictable, about those piercing eyes...

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