Encounter of Alvis Lazarus with a wild tiger in a cave
Alvis Lazarus is a Wildlife Photographer from Nazareth, India. He is a Avid traveler and loves to photograph tigers in the wild. Though Alvis has photographed hundreds of tigers in the wild in the past decade, he explains how he waited for a moment for almost 5 years before he encountered it. Alvis Lazarus always wanted to photograph a tiger in the cave and he knew that it would not be easy to get such moments due to a number of reasons. Such as, the cave should be accessible in the jungle, then a tiger has to consider that cave as its home and during the safari, the tiger should be present in that same cave as well. The probability of all these coming together was pretty less.
Finally, Alvis Lazarus came to know about a cave in one of the central Indian jungles and planned a trip to that Jungle to have a look at that Cave. It had been carved by nature in dark contrasting colors. The most fascinating part was that the Cave had vibrant natural colors owing to the flowing waters, algae, and the changing weather conditions. As Alvis saw the Cave, his excitement grew multi-folds. “How about a tiger here?” he wondered the very first time he came near that cave.
Alvis made a game plan of at least 2 visits to that jungle in a year and decided to stay there about a week every time. He was relentless for years, yet every drive was a disappointment to him. But he did not give up on his dream. After waiting for years, Alvis got the most awaited phone call from one of his close friend and naturalist that a new Tiger family has taken the cave as a home. With pumped-up emotions, he packed up the bags to reach the Forest and visited the same cave. After 2 days of travelling, he fervently forged ahead towards the same cave. Finally, he reached the cave but just in vain. his brand new NIKKOR 180-400 f4 1.4TC lens for this last drive, since somewhere in his mind he felt the versatility of this lens which has a range from 180mm to 560mm and it can ensure an edge in capturing the most awaited moment. On the downside that was a very heavy lens, but Alvis was willing to take that risk.
In a hunch, he also decided to be there at the cave at the latter part of the drive at around 10:30 am since the weather is warmer and the chances to see the Tiger are higher. The main concern here was that we only had one shot at this, since it takes around 2/3rd of the total time one can be in jungle just to visit the cave and come back. Unfortunately, Alvis’s plans shattered when the driver told him that it is difficult to be there by 10:30 am and come back, and it is only possible to visit the cave first i.e., by around 7 am to 8 am. Leaving things on its way, Alvis went to the cave and saw nothing. This time he decided to wait there for one last time. After a long wait, Alvis felt an odd silence in the jungle (a feeling he always gets seconds before he sees a tiger) and a Male Tiger walked through the wilderness and looked straight at him. Alvis became numb and was just seeing the tiger in the awe. But still, the tiger did not enter the cave but stood on the other side to it. While Alvis was waiting for the actual moment that he always dreamt of, the tiger laid down on the rocky terrain and gave a chilling look straight onto the eyes of Alvis.
When everything felt like he would have to wait for more years to see a tiger in the cave, the Tiger stood up walked through the rocks towards the cave and did not enter it but laid down at its entrance and stared straight into the camera. He decided to capture the complete cave and the Tiger at the best possible least focal length. Thanks to his versatile Nikon lens.
Then suddenly, the Tiger became so curious and with his ears wide open and gave a royal pose. That pose felt like a wildlife photographer’s dream come true.
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A ROYAL Prince’s Killer Looks! @alvislazarusphotography © ALVIS LAZARUS #tiger #travel #alvislazarus
Alvis was experiencing what he dreamt of and he is just immersed at the moment and the muscle memory was the one clicking the images. After a point of time, the Tiger became comfortable and leisured at the cave.
Alvis Lazarus fired more than hundreds of rounds, took images till his cards and his heart both were full of happiness. Then, he returned to share his memorable moments with everyone.
About the Wildlife Photographer:
Alvis Lazarus is a Wildlife Photographer from Nazareth. He is Partner Wildlife Photographer at Panthera.Org, Nikon Global NPS Member and Brand Ambassador for Planet Trotters. He specializes in Wildlife Portraits and Wildlife Action Photography; he has travelled across India to see and has photographed the rich wildlife of Incredible India. Alvis says, “Wildlife Photography has infinite scopes of learning as, not even a single wildlife moment repeats itself in the wilderness and that makes wildlife photography so challenging and exciting”.
Alvis Lazarus has won many awards at Global Stage; he is the
- Winner of Nat Geo Your Shot for Feb’19 Magazine
- 4 Winning Wildlife Images in 2018 published at Nat Geo Daily Dozen
- National Geographic Top Shot Winner 2017
- BBC Your Photo Winner 2017
