S.Karthikeyan shares his story here:
Karthik has done most of all his non-digital photographic work on slides, and has preferred that form to photographs. The slides help him in the educational role that he likes to be associated with....introducing people, students, and everyone possible to the wonders of wildlife with lectures, presentations, and demonstrations.
He joined World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) in 1992, and says it was a job that was a “dream-come-true: to be interested in wildlife and work in that very field too!” He is based in Bangalore, except for a brief period of six months in Yercaud where he was studying the Indian Tree Shrew.
Over a period of time, his photographs became a medium to tell different stories of the wild to his audience, which varies from five to eighty years old, and in newspapers and magazines such as Sanctuary. His pictures feature in published books on all forms of wildlife- birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies, and trees. Recently he also helped contribute to a book on ants! He has never been keen on either publicizing his work or entering photographic competitions, as photography to him remains primarily a means of self-satisfaction and a tool to educate people.
He relied on a processing lab in Bangalore during his non-digital days. In 2006, he finally made the move to digital photography and now has a Canon 350D with a 100 mm macro lens and a twin-light flash. He and his wife Priya both like to do a lot of photography while in the field; but there are times he insists, that it is better to put the camera away and simply observe and absorb what is around.
Regarding digital photography, he finds it worthwhile because of the immediate gratification of seeing the images. However, when asked by others what equipment they should buy, he says that people should first determine the use that they want to put the photographs to, and that would determine the kind of camera and lenses they should buy and of course, he jokes, the affordability factor plays a part too!
To see some of Karthik's accounts and photographs, visit his site at http://www.wildwanderer.com. If interested in the Naturalist Workshops conducted by JLR email karthik@junglelodges.com
Karthik has been a Pixetra club member from the beginning and has addressed our members on a few occasions too. We are proud to present a selection of exotic butterfly photos captured by the maestro’s camera over many patient forays into the wild.
As told to Deepa Mohan - Written by Aparna Umaparvathi
Exotic photographs of butterflies - S.Karthikeyan 
