അപ്പൊ ശരി........: 2013

Udayan Rao Pawar/ Wildlife Photographer of the Year; WINNER: Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year
One night, Udayan camped near a nesting colony of gharials on the banks of the Chambal River -- two groups of them, each with more than 100 hatchlings. Before daybreak, he crept down and hid behind rocks beside the babies. "I could hear them making little grunting sounds," says Udayan. "Very soon a large female surfaced near the shore, checking on her charges. Some of the hatchlings swam to her and climbed onto her head. Perhaps it made them feel safe." It turned out that she was the chief female of the group, looking after all the hatchlings. Though he saw a few more females and a male, they never came close. Gharials were once found in rivers all over the Indian subcontinent. Today, just 200 or so breeding adults remain in just 2 percent of the former range. "The Chambal River is the gharial’s last stronghold," says Udayan, "but is threatened by illegal sand-mining and fishing."

courtesy : http://www.huffingtonpost.com

When photographing the famous Japanese macaques around the hot springs of Jigokudani, central Japan, Jasper had become fascinated by the surreal effects created by the arrival of a cold wind. Occasionally, a blast would blow through the steam rising off the pools. If it was snowing, the result would be a mesmerizing pattern of swirling steam and snowflakes, which would whirl around any macaques warming up in the pools. But capturing the moment required total luck -- for Jasper to be there when the wind blew and for the monkeys to be in the pool. For that luck to arrive, he had to wait another year. Returning the next winter, he determined to get the shot he’d been obsessing about. He set up using a polarizer to remove reflections from the water and create a dark contrasting background, and got ready to use fill-flash to catch the snowflakes. "As it kept snowing, I stood there, willing the wind to pick up. I felt it just had to happen -- sometimes you can push your luck if I you just wait long enough." But as the steam started swirling above the water, there wasn’t a monkey in sight. "All of a sudden one adult appeared and jumped on a rock in the middle of the pool. When I started shaking off the snow, I knew this was the moment."

courtesy : http://www.huffingtonpost.com