Rama Krishna Sangem
BRS Rajya Sabha MP J Santosh Kumar this Sunday, November 19, clicked pics of a lovely bird in lively frames and posted them on X. As usual, these pics are nice and reflect the resplendence of our green cover in and around Hyderabad. But, more than that, I would like to highlight his commitment to a cause, of protecting environment, flora and fauna. He has taken up this #WeekendPhotography over two years ago.
As the founder of Green India Challenge six years back, many thought that his passion for nature and environment would be short lived, as he a politician by profession. When he announced of posting photos of nature and wildlife, most of us thought this too would be short lived, as most politicians cannot spare time for their passions, other than politics. Santosh, however, proved us wrong.
Many of Excel India readers also ask me, why we carry his pictures every week, when there are many good wildlife activists or better bird photographers. My reason is simple, being a political journalist for close to three decades, I feel this type of commitment from a politician, or an MP is praiseworthy. We must encourage MPs like Santosh who want to contribute to our society by bringing awareness about environment and nature.
Santosh efforts deserve a mention as he is continuing his passion even in times of ongoing assembly elections. This is a lesson for youth, that they should always find time to their hobbies. The MP posted the pics on X at 7.30 am, and by 1 pm in the day, they got a good 3,636 views, 160 likes and 47 reposts, indicating the following to him on the microbogging platform.
Birds photography is not easy
After saying this, let me share with you what bird lovers of Hyderabad told me- that photography of birds is easier said than done. Many birds photographers fails to get good pictures because of not having adjusted proper shutter speed of their cameras. The shutter speed should be between 1/125th and 1/230th, said a bird watcher, to get good and sharp photos of our winged friends.
Santosh has been using good cameras, as I understand, with fast shutter speed, as is evident from his pictures posted on X. Birds also are known to move very fast, not camera friendly. For example, Santosh today took a pic of a bird hanging from a tree branch, full of flowers. Our youngsters shall also master in patience and skill in capturing birds on trees. Isn’t a test of passion?
