An Indian Photographer from Chennai who shot an incredible picture of the green vine snake wins the first prize in the National Geographic Nature Photographer of 2016.The Grand Prize was won by Greg Lecoeur who clicked millions of sardines which were preyed upon by Cape gannet birds and dolphins.
The 1st prize was won by the Indian Photographer Varun Aditya who has sent his picture under the Animal Portrait category. The NGC had received thousands of entries and after scrutinising the photos for over 12 weeks selected the top images which included entries by two Indian photographers.
Entries were invited in four categories under Action, Landscapes, Animal Portraits and Environmental Issues. The picture of green vine snake won the first prize in the Animal Portrait section and was clicked by Varun. Yadav got a citation for his work in the Landscape category.
Nature photography is a tedious process and requires long observation which often results in failure. Some of the opportunities can be described as a once in a lifetime occurrence and depend upon the dexterity of the photographer who must have a knack for observing and predicting such rare opportunities.
‘Dragging you deep into the woods’ was the title of Aditya’s unique picture. Recalling how he was to snap the masterpiece, Aditya said that he was in the forest on a humid and foggy day when he saw the 20 cm beauty of Green Vine snake. The rest happened reflexively, and he switched from macro to wide angle lens to click this amazing picture.
Varun had to continuously stroll in the incredible forest which was drenched in the ceaseless drizzle for 12 hours daily before luck smiled upon him and the rest is history.
Prasenjee Yadav, another Indian participant, received the citation for his work titled ‘Serendipitous Green Meteor’. He had sent his entry in the landscape category for capturing the green meteor rushing towards Earth.
