Fifteen photographs taken by 17-yr-old Prakruti P have fetched her recognition as the youngest member of Great Britain’s Royal Photographic Society

Prakruti P Kumar has created a record by becoming one of the youngest current members of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), Great Britain. Prakruti, a second year pre-university science student and a member of the Youth Photographic Society was enrolled as the Associate of the RPS in the Natural History Photography recently.

“I was confident that I would get it because my pictures were pretty good - that’s what many senior photographers like B Srinivas,a wildlife photographer told me when I consulted them before selecting the pictures,” says Prakruti. The teenager had sent a set of 15 pictures that were shot at Tadoba and Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, Rollapadu Bird Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh, Daroji Bear Sanctuary near Hampi, Rangantittu Bird Sanctuary, Kokkare Bellur and in Hessarghatta. These were shot over a period of two years. “Handling the lens and the camera was the toughest because the equipment weighed between three-and-a-half to six-and-a-half kilos. Sometimes the bird flew in from the right side and sometimes from the left and I couldn’t use the tripod at all times.” Clicking handheld pictures was the toughest for the young girl,but her father HV Praveen Kumar, superintendent of customs and central excise and an avid photographer, used to guide Prakruti on getting the best shots. “After every trip, he used to sit with me and point out the mistakes.”

Remembering her first picture, an image of a small bird called Ashy Prinia, she shot with Nikon D-300, Prakruthi says it is one of the most memorable pictures. “I was just too excited to hold the camera and shoot with it. I had waited till 8 am that winter morning to get the right light. When the clouds moved and the golden rays fell on the bird, I clicked it.”

A few images from this series of Ashy Prinia won her awards and certificates, including the prestigious Dr MPS Prasad award for youth in the YPS Salon. Since then, this youngster has been addicted to wildlife photography. “I mainly want to capture the drama of the jungle. I love shooting action pictures as opposed to static images which require a lot of patience.”

Source: Bangalore Mirror (story and pic)