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| Sunday, 2 November 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Andy Rouse Living dangerously by VIMUKTHI FERNANDO The key to good wildlife photography is studying the behaviour of the animal you want to photograph, he points out. Unless one has knowledge of its behaviour, and respect for the animal photographed, one cannot be a wildlife photographer.
And, there's more. Imagine one who not only survives the event without a scratch but also captures the gigantic rage in reels of film and shrugs off his tryst with death as one of the silliest daredevil acts of his youthful enthusiasm. He is Andy Rouse, renowned wildlife photographer who was in Sri Lanka recently. Andy and 'Danger' are bedfellows. For he simply cannot envision a life without danger. Getting very close to wild animals and photographing their behaviour is the speciality of this UK based wildlife photographer and winner of BG Wildlife Photographer contest. The key to good wildlife photography is studying the behaviour of the animal you want to photograph, he points out. Unless one has knowledge of the behaviour, and respect for the animal photographed, one cannot be a wildlife photographer. Another speciality in his photography is low level photographs. That's what made him lie in waiting in the path of those majestic creatures, out in the wild Africa, explains Andy. However, at the next encounter with an enraged mammoth he was meters away. His remote control camera hidden under a handful of earth near a pool of mud where the giants frolic bore the full impact of its wrath recording as its last, one of the rarest shots of a direct attack of mud by an African elephant, laughs Andy.
The elephant is merely a beautiful and majestic animal in Africa and other parts of Asia. But in Sri Lanka it is part of its culture, which shows a bond between man and elephant that is not found in any part of the world, he points out. His intention is to give voice to this unique phenomenon, throughout the world. In his latest book that he is in the process of writing 'Elephant and Man' the Sri Lankan elephant will stand side by side with its African relative and will receive worldwide attention and exposure, he says. Another animal which had charmed Andy is the Sri Lankan leopard. Though there are similarities, in the family of big cats the behaviour of the queen of our jungles is certainly different from that of its African siblings, he says. He has reserved a part of his new book 'Leopards of the World', for this fascinating creature of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan leopard and elephant have virtually no publicity over the world, says Andy. He plans to popularise them through his books, which will go to niche markets of USA and Europe. Andy is sure of success, with his years of experience as a wildlife photographer and an author of many books. His latest book 'Live in the Wild' got worldwide popularity. He is a popular columnist for the magazine 'Practical Photography' with worldwide circulation and a sought out consultant for Canon and Nikon, photography equipment manufacturers. One of the top 10 wildlife photographers in the world today, Andy claims to be the first professional wildlife photographer to have converted to digital photography, field testing the latest state of the art digital cameras. His personal website provides information for wildlife photographers on equipment and techniques. His plans for Sri Lanka includes a visit by a group of photographers from different parts of the world and a comprehensive tourism book, on Sri Lanka in collaboration with two local wildlife photographers, Ifham Raji and Ravi Samerasinghe. Andy hopes to visit Sri Lanka again, early next year to carry out these projects. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
A charging elephant. With its protruding tusks ready to pierce, trunk
ready to smash down any obstacle on its path and feet ready to trample
objects to pulp. Imagine you lying on its path, just six feet away from
the giant of the jungles! It would be a miracle to find anyone who lives
to tell the tale.
Elephants in Sri Lanka are mild tempered; even those in the wild,
compared to its African counterpart, says Andy who is fascinated by the
ritual of elephants at the temple processions in Sri Lanka.
