Wildlife photography as a career

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 a serious interest in learning photography and adopting wildlife photography as a full-time carrier. Affordability has increased; the cost of digital SLRs has 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 help 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 newcomers. 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 advice is to 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 the 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 newcomers 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 that has been doing exceedingly well in the field of wildlife photography and we aspire to be the best in the country.