Review-Wildlife photography workshop ,AAZP, Vandalur, Chennai
Hi
Happy to share my workshop review by one of the AAZP wildlife workshop participant, Mr.Lakshmanaperumal.
Arignar Anna Zoological Park(AAZP)-Zoo school organises various programmes now a days. As a part of it, the AAZP zoo school organised two days workshop on Basic wildlife photography and Post processing techniques on April 06 and 07. India's one of the leading wildlife photographers, Rathika Ramasamy conducted this workshop and nearly 75 participants which includes Professional photographers, Working Professionals, photography enthusiasts, hobbyist photographers and even children took part in the workshop.
Personally, I was eagerly waiting for this workshop since the day I registered for it. We all have seen Rathika and other wildlife photographers' photos but we all would have thought at least once, "How beautiful this picture is and how do they take it!". I would say finally I got the answer.We all knew Rathika as a professional wildlife photographer. But, it was a big surprise when she started lecturing on Basics of wildlife photography because she is a good teacher too. Her way of communicating with people is really lovable and her energetic and enthusiastic voice drove us into the wild.
In this workshop, several topics were covered like Basic photography terms, Field Identification, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife photography composition, Ethics of wildlife photography, wildlife habitat, Bird photography and more. The best part of the workshop is that Rathika shared her experience in the wild which added a flavour to the workshop and it was really useful for the participants to know how the wildlife photography trips would be in reality. Listening to her life experience in the wild was really awesome and I was tempted to visit the "wild world" with my camera to feel it. For every topic covered, Rathika Ramasamy showed the pictures of her work and explained "how to" and "how not to" take a photograph. And she had given some tips regarding booking tickets for National parks, when to visit which national park, where to find some rare species and so on.
Even during the break time, so many people approached her but she never tried to avoid anyone. She answered everyone no matter it is regarding technical aspects or work-life related questions.
After the lecture, the participants were taken to the field, inside the zoo, to practice on the topics covered. The participants were guided to take photos of birds and animals in the zoo. The photos were reviewed immediately on the field and given feedback. The next day, Post processing technique workshop had been conducted and Rathika taught the participants to use Adobe photoshop and Lightroom softwares. The participants were trained to edit their own photos taken on previous day and were reviewed.
I would say this was the most valuable training I have ever attended in my life so far. I know Rathika conducts some workshops and Master classes often and I am already checking her website to lock my seat in the safari. Without any doubt Rathika can be your "Guru" as she is mine now and you will surely get the world class training in her workshops.
And During the Q&A sesssion, Rathika Ramasamy cleared all the doubts of the participants that were very basic and as well as professional.The workshop was really interesting and very useful to know about the wildlife photography. On the other side, the Zoo administration was so good in organizing the workshop. Finally, it was really amazing to work along with India's renowned photographer for two days and now I am waiting for my second chance to attend one more workshop from Rathika Ramasamy Ma'am. I won't miss it.... Would you..?
- Lakshmanaperumal Subburaj
