Michelle Guillermin Photography

17/02/2026

Perhaps a less controversial image today 🙂. And no, they aren’t doing what you might think they are doing. These are two male litter mates doing what all brothers do-trying their best to annoy each other.

16/02/2026

I hesitated before sharing this image. I have spoken often about the ethics of riding elephants and the difficult reality faced by working elephants across Asia. That context matters, and it should not be ignored.
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These elephants, however, serve a specific and complex role. In many tiger reserves, the terrain is dense and often inaccessible by vehicle. Rangers cannot safely patrol on foot in areas where tiger presence is high. Elephants make it possible to monitor, protect, and manage these landscapes in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Their work directly supports the survival of wild tigers and the integrity of the reserve.
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This photograph captures something real. Conservation is rarely pure, rarely simple. It is often a balance of imperfect choices made in service of protecting species and ecosystems under constant pressure. The question is not whether the image is evocative, but whether we are willing to confront the complexity behind it.

19/01/2026

18/01/2026

Is this not the most ridiculously handsome creature? And he knew it. He faced 15 cars full of (annoyingly loud) people, giving us super-model poses one after the other. And then when he was done, he turned his back to us. What a star.

17/01/2026

By the numbers:
20 game drives over 10 days.
22 individual tigers sighted, 30 total sightings. 🐅
4 parks/preserves.
2 sloth bears.
Innumerable langurs and spotted deer.
At least 20 desserts eaten (and enjoyed!)
8 Indian Wild Dogs
1 Indian Forest Cat
1 python 🐍
4 adult and 2 baby leopards.
1 puppy that almost got packed in my suitcase
Countless laughs.

The last game drive is in the books and it was a doozy. Since we found all those things by looking at pug marks on the road, it only seemed fitting to show what made them. Animal feet are just too cute!

Thanks to .01 for making this trip a reality. I’ll be back soon!

15/01/2026

Some days you rush to the computer immediately after a game drive to confirm that you really did see what you thought you saw. Quick edit and many more shots from an incredible sighting will be coming.

Tigers 13 and 14. Unnamed male subadult cubs of Bijili.

14/01/2026

It’s been COLD in India! Like 3 wool shirts plus a sweatshirt plus a puffy coat cold. Even the owls are huddled together for warmth.

Indian Scopps Owls

12/01/2026

It still feels like a fairy tale; not only the presence of a mythical creature, but the spell of the forest he commands. He slips out of the darkness, crosses the light like a passing thought, and then fades into the trees, leaving you wondering whether he was ever truly there at all.
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Tiger #6. Swastik, a male lion who is mate to Lakshmi, Tiger #5. I’ll introduce you to her later.

09/01/2026

Tiger number 4. It was clear who was in charge. He had total disregard for the five cars packed with photographers, shouting in Hindi as the vehicles jostled for the best vantage point, while he came straight at us.

08/01/2026

I’ve always suspected tigers weren’t real; that they are mythical creatures found only in fairy tales. I met two tigers today-and I’m still not sure…..

Thanks to and for transporting me into a fairy tale.

07/01/2026

No tigers today, but pocket-sized owls made my heart go pitter-patter.

05/01/2026

Seeing my feed flooded with tributes to Craig has been so heartening. That one animal touched so many people is noteworthy, but that so many people understand and are celebrating what he represented gives me hope.

Yes, he had massive tusks. Yes, he was perfectly happy to hang out with a car full of excited photographers snapping away for just the right shot. But the deeper message of how conservation efforts, and specifically, community based conservation made this possible is the real victory. and have been working tirelessly to do all the things that protected Craig, his cousins, and his offspring. It’s not just the important act of rangers patrolling-it’s the engagement of the community who now understand not only why it’s important to protect him, but who to call when he’s being naughty or needs help. It’s the compensation programs that ensure that people don’t lose the ability to feed their family when an elephant raids their crops. It’s the understanding of where his nightly migration makes him most vulnerable and working to shore up his protection. The many many ways the local community has been engaged in this effort is a clear victory.

And now we have a baby boom in Amboseli with record numbers of new baby elephants-due in large part to all the things that gave us Craig for 54 years.

So while we mourn, let’s also celebrate the Power of One - a single charismatic animal that helped change so much for the better.