Ratish Nair

Ratish Nair Wildlife Photographer | Nikon Creator

20/08/2026

It arrives with the monsoon rides the rain into the forest, raises its family, and vanishes back into the green.

Tiny. Blindingly fast. Unbelievably colourful.

The Black-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, also called the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher or ODKF, is barely 13 cm long, yet it may be one of the most magical birds of the Indian monsoon.

So where does it come from?

That story is more complicated than you might think.

The species occurs across India and Southeast Asia. In the Western Ghats, the ODKF is a seasonal visitor to many areas, especially Maharashtra and Goa, where its breeding season coincides with the southwest monsoon, usually from June to September.

The rain arrives.

The forest comes alive.

Streams fill, prey becomes plentiful, and this tiny forest kingfisher begins the most important journey of all raising its young.

They feed on insects, frogs, lizards, crabs and other small prey, carrying food back to chicks hidden inside nests in earth banks.

And then comes a moment like this.

A flash of blue and orange lands on a rain-soaked perch.

A few seconds.

And it’s gone.

Straight back towards the nest.

For us, it’s a photograph.

For the bird, it’s a parent coming home.

And where does it go after the monsoon?

Here’s the fascinating part: there isn’t one simple answer. The Western Ghats population’s movements are not completely understood. Some birds appear to be resident or move seasonally within India, while northern populations are known to migrate south towards the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

Perhaps that’s what makes the ODKF so special.

We know when the rain brings it into our forests.

We know what it comes here to do.

But some of its journey is still a mystery.

And maybe the forest should keep a few secrets.

Have you ever been lucky enough to see this tiny jewel of Indian wildlife? Tell me your ODKF story below.

I sometimes stop and think about how completely my life has changed.20 years in the corporate world. Targets, meetings, ...
19/08/2026

I sometimes stop and think about how completely my life has changed.

20 years in the corporate world. Targets, meetings, designations, boardrooms. A life that looked successful on paper.

And then I walked away.

Today, I spend my days in forests with a camera in my hand, waiting five hours for something that may happen in five seconds.

I photograph wildlife. I teach photography. I mentor photographers. I build Ecotrailz™ | Wildlife Safaris and create wildlife expeditions around something I deeply believe in: learning to experience the wild, not just photograph it.

Somewhere along the way, I realised I wasn’t building a photography career.

I was building a life that felt like mine.

Wildlife photography has taught me patience, humility and, above everything else, how to see.

That’s also why AI-generated photography doesn’t frighten me.

If anything, it makes real photography more valuable.

Because when an image can be created without ever being there, being there matters more.

The waiting matters.
The failures matter.
The field experience matters.
The story behind the photograph matters.

I don’t want to teach people how to make photographs.

I want to teach them how to see wildlife differently. To understand light, behaviour, patience, ethics and storytelling. To create photographs that come from experience, not simply from a camera.

After all these years as a wildlife photographer and mentor, that is probably the biggest lesson I have to offer.

Don’t spend your life building something that only looks successful.Build something that feels like yours.

We call them giants.But spend enough time watching elephants in the wild and you realise that strength isn’t always loud...
12/08/2026

We call them giants.

But spend enough time watching elephants in the wild and you realise that strength isn’t always loud.

It is in a mother walking beside her calf.
Two trunks meeting.
A herd moving together, never losing the individual.
The quiet intelligence, memory and emotion behind every movement.

After years of photographing wildlife, elephants have taught me that the most powerful moments in nature are often the quiet ones.

Elephant conservation is not just about protecting an iconic species.

It is about protecting their forests, rivers, wildlife corridors, families and freedom.

Whether Asian elephants in India or African elephants across the savannah, they need an ecosystem, not just a protected patch of land.

On World Elephant Day, let’s remember:

Their habitat is not separate from the elephant.
It is the elephant.

Some stories are written in books.Some are written in the scars of a lion.I’ve spent hours watching wild lions in the Ma...
10/08/2026

Some stories are written in books.

Some are written in the scars of a lion.

I’ve spent hours watching wild lions in the Maasai Mara and Samburu and other places in Kenya and every photograph has a story behind it.

A mother who has to protect her cubs.
A young male fighting for his place in the pride.
A tired lion walking alone after a long night.
A powerful male carrying scars from battles we will never see.

We often see the beauty of an African lion. The magnificent mane. The golden eyes. The power.

But spend enough time with them and you start seeing something else.

The struggle.
The hunger.
The loss.
The survival.

That is what makes photographing lions in the wild so captivating for me. You are not just photographing an animal. You are witnessing a life being lived, one difficult day at a time.

And perhaps that is why a lion staring straight into your camera can feel so powerful.

There is a story in those eyes.

Today, on World Lion Day, I celebrate the wild lions of Africa and the incredible privilege of witnessing their lives in places like the Maasai Mara and Samburu.

May we always leave enough wild places for these stories to continue.

Which photograph tells you the strongest story?

9 years. One tiny bird. And this year, a completely different way of seeing it. 🌈I have been photographing the Oriental ...
10/08/2026

9 years. One tiny bird. And this year, a completely different way of seeing it. 🌈

I have been photographing the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher / black backed kingfisher for the last nine years. Not just because I love this little bird, but because it has become one of my favourite subjects to practise and push my photography during my offseason holidays

It is tiny, incredibly fast and never really gives you enough time to think. And that is exactly what makes photographing an orientel dwarf kingfisher so exciting.

This year, I wanted to do something different.

DIPEN G Shah | Camerapedia 📸 told me that the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is often referred to as the Flying Rainbow. The name stayed with me.

So I started thinking… what if I stopped trying to photograph the bird conventionally and instead tried to show what a flying rainbow could actually look like?

Purely abstract.

Three full days with these birds at House Of ODKF gave me enough opportunities to experiment. Different shutter speeds, different settings, different combinations and a lot of failures before I finally started seeing the images I had imagined.

These photographs are not about perfect sharpness.

They are about colour, movement, speed and the feeling of watching one of nature’s most beautiful little birds disappear through the frame.

This is my Flying Rainbow series.

And honestly, this is why I love photography. There is always another way to see the same subject.

Which one would you choose as your favourite? And would you try something this abstract with a bird you love photographing?

09/08/2026

Photographing one of the most beautiful tigress I have met so far...
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Follow Ratish Nair for more from the wild..

09/08/2026

This leopard made one mistake. She knew it instantly.

She had just made a successful langur kill in Kanha Tiger Reserve and dragged it high into a tree.

Safe.

Or so she thought.

Then the forest started talking.

The langurs were screaming. The spotted deer were alarm calling. Something had changed.

And then Gnaghar, the tigress, appeared.

She didn’t charge.

She didn’t roar.

She simply walked towards the tree, stopped underneath it and looked up.

That was enough.

The leopard looked down.

The tigress looked up.

And in that silent moment, the leopard understood exactly what was about to happen.

She had worked hard for that kill. But when a Bengal tiger decides it wants your meal, there isn’t much negotiating to do.

And then came the moment I’ll never forget.

She dropped the langur.

No fight.

No chase.

No confrontation.

She simply gave up her hard-earned meal.

This is what makes wildlife photography so addictive. It’s not always about getting the perfect tiger portrait or a dramatic leopard photograph.

Sometimes, the most incredible moments are about animal behaviour.

Unscripted. Unpredictable. Completely wild.

A moment like this is why Kanha National Park is such a special destination for wildlife photography, tiger photography and wildlife safaris in India. You don’t just come here to see a tiger.

You come hoping to witness something that nobody could have planned.

And when it happens right in front of you, you realise why Indian wildlife is so extraordinary.

The jungle has its own hierarchy.

And on this day, the leopard didn’t need to be told who was in charge.

Have you ever witnessed a moment in the wild where one animal simply had to surrender to another? Tell me about it in the comments.

And if you love real wildlife stories, wild behaviour and unforgettable encounters, follow me Ratish Nair . There’s a lot more waiting for us in the jungle.

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