A Morning That Didn't Go As Planned
Mahadeva Malai, Tamil Nadu
We left home long before sunrise
The plan was simple.
Reach Mahadeva Malai before first light, photograph the sunrise, spend some time exploring the landscape, and return home.
Like many plans in nature, this one had its own ideas.
For me, this wasn't just another hill.
As a child, I used to see the small Deepam on Mahadeva Malai from my grandmother's house. She was the person who unknowingly sowed the first seed of photography in my life by placing a simple camera in my hands.
Although I had looked at this hill from a distance for years, I had never actually stood here.
Yesterday was my first visit.
The sunrise was gentle.
Not dramatic.
Not the kind that paints the entire sky with brilliant colours.
But photography isn't always about extraordinary light.
Sometimes it is simply about being present.
I also tried something I had never attempted before.
Instead of photographing only the landscape, I wanted to include my SUV in the composition and play with light, reflections and geometry.
The idea was simple.
The execution wasn't.
The photograph didn't become what I had imagined.
That is perfectly fine.
Every unsuccessful experiment quietly prepares us for the next successful one.
Photography has always been my classroom.
I still enjoy being its student.
Then something familiar happened.
Without discussing it, all three of us slowly stopped looking at the sunrise.
Our eyes began searching the bushes.
Our ears started listening for bird calls.
Some habits refuse to leave us.
Within minutes, we forgot about landscapes.
The birder inside us had quietly taken over.
This little bird became the photograph that completed the morning.
We had travelled to photograph the sunrise.
We returned home smiling because of a bird.
That is the quiet magic of bird photography.
It never really lets go of you.
As I drove back, one thought stayed with me.
My body grows older.
The child within me, always eager to learn, always ready to try something new, and always listening for birds...
...never does.
Photographing with Nikon since 1975.
— Sundara Rajan