Ratheesh Rajan, who hails from a picturesque village, Thycattusserry in Alappuzha, travelled to Ernakulam nine years ago to buy a compact camera. It was to capture photos of his newborn baby, Bhavika. Soon he fell in love with the joy of freezing beautiful moments.
Over time, the civil police officer, currently on deputation as a personal security officer of a Kerala High Court judge, has evolved into a passionate wildlife photographer. His artistry is for all there to see on his Instagram page — @My Wildlife Stories. It is hard to find a ‘still’ photo of his models.
Through his zoomed lens, the 36-year-old cop has captured many action frames of animals and birds of the wild hunting and sometimes romancing. Ratheesh says he got hooked on wildlife photography four years ago while engaged in a deputation duty of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at Palakkad. “Imagine two weeks inside the forests. Walking through Parambikulam you get to see the animals and birds. I got up close with a king cobra once,” he says.
“Those encounters felt straight out of the Discovery channel. My curiosity led me to click away on my smartphone and camera. I am a self-taught photographer and continue to learn the art by trial and error. I also observe and take suggestions from veterans.”
Being a native of Alappuzha, Ratheesh was surrounded by ample opportunities for birdwatching and freezing interesting moments on his camera. Ratheesh spent most of his non-duty time in the nearby wetlands, a sanctum of various bird species, including migratory ones. With his Nikon DSLR, he focuses on the flight and preying styles of birds such as darters and green-bee eaters.
“Darters swallow the fish after tossing them in the air with their beak so that it doesn’t get stuck in its long throat. I spent three weeks watching green-bee eaters feed their chicks. Those frames show various shades of parenting,” he says.
The pandemic break in 2020 gave Ratheesh some free time to hone his photography skills. He travelled to many wetlands and captured images of 65 winged beauties on camera. “I was able to find the sparrow-sized strawberry finch in Nedumbassery… different kinds of owls and even the smallest flamingo species, the lesser flamingo,” he recalls.
“It was a dream come true when I got to click so many photos of hornbills during the pandemic shutdown. The flying hornbill, with wide open wings, was a dream frame. Another memorable shot was of two yellow rat snakes that appear to be mating but were actually engaged in a tense fight at a wetland in Alappuzha. That photo got me recognition as a wildlife photographer.”
Notably, last year, Ratheesh won a prize in Kerala Forest’s wildlife photography contest for a photograph of a monitor lizard hunting a darter bird. The video he shot has crossed more than 94.6 million views to date.
“I was having lunch at my home when unusual cries of many crows drew my attention,” says Ratheesh, who is planning to organise a photography exhibition with his shutterbug friends.“When I looked out in that direction, I saw the hunting scene. The monitor lizard held the bird’s neck between its jaws and stayed atop the tree for about two hours. Some people criticised me for not saving the bird. Actually, the bird was killed inside its nest itself. The predator kills its prey… it is the law of nature.”
Currently, Ratheesh is specialising in backlight photography – capturing an object opposite to the sunlight. “There are many possibilities in backlight photography and I wish to make it my signature style,” he says. “Sunlight is often the villain… it makes everything challenging.”
Ask him about his dream frame, and he says, “I want to click Saya… I have been waiting to capture him.” Ratheesh is referring to the elusive black panther of the Kabini Forest Reserve.