Africa’s wilds beckon
Well known nature photographer Luxshman Nadaraja is setting off on a new journey
Aphotographer of rare sensitivity, his stunning images of this country’s fauna and flora are well known. Yet throughout his career, first associated with Studio Times and that legend Nihal Fernando and later striking out on his own, Luxshman Nadaraja has essentially steered clear of the limelight, save for when an exhibition or the release of a new book compelled it. Now he’s setting off on a new track –one that will see him sharing his love for photography and wildlife with others.
His plan is to lead small groups on expeditions to the wild. Sri Lanka, he knows all too well after years of exploring and camping but Africa, one of the world’s greatest wildlife destinations with its sheer abundance of wildlife and magnificent landscape, that he recently experienced has left him in awe.
His Africa tour is a seven-day expedition in Kenya that includes driving through the Maasai Mara (Great Rift Valley) for three nights, full day game drives to see the Black-maned lion, elephants, leopard, cheetah and other wildlife, one night at Naivasha National Park trekking through the Hellsgate Gorge and a dawn boat ride for bird watching and sighting hippo pods. Also on the itinerary is two nights at the Amboseli National Park ‘the home of elephants’ with its spectacular views of the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.
The idea of leading tours, sharing his experience in photography as well as in nature has been brewing for a while, he says, following suggestions from friends who have travelled with him over the years. What he envisages are groups of not more than eight where through briefings and slide presentations not only before leaving Colombo but also while on tour they could discuss their sightings and get his advice on how best to photograph the animals. While he himself has always been drawn to the elemental thrill of camping out with minimal encumbrances from his early days, on tour the accommodation will be luxury tented camps and lodges. Transport will be in Land Cruiser 4x4 vehicles with open roof and sides, the vehicle holding only four persons to have optimum chances for photography.
In Sri Lanka, the tours he has drawn up will open up a mysterious world many have not explored with a man who knows it intimately. His love for nature, he shrugs off as something part of his life, as his Doctor father, for many years in Government service always chose to serve in the remotest areas. So Luxshman born in the hills of Deltota, grew up in arid Hambantota where the jungle began at their back garden. The youngest of six, he explored and went camping with his father’s friends – names familiar to those in the wildlife circuit of yesteryear, Childers Jayewardene and Shirley Perera, stalwarts in conservation, the latter who was to later contribute the chapter on the Ruhunu National Park for Luxshman’s book ‘Nature of Sri Lanka’. Shirley’s son Chris will handle the camping side here.
The time feels right to launch this new venture, he says, a feeling that the experiences he has been blessed to have can be shared. His friends call him ‘Lucky’ and he has indeed been exceptionally fortunate in finding in Nelun Harasgama, his artist and designer wife, someone who shared his love for nature and was ever willing to go off camping. Blessed too in his ‘guru’ being Nihal Fernando, whose practice it was to spend two weeks in Kumana every year. That, as it turned out was Luxshman’s first trip after joining Studio Times as a raw young school-leaver having rejected a more ‘desirable’ job as this held the promise of nature and travel. “At that time I had not even held a camera,” he marvels.
Countless trips with Nihal driving as he always believed a photographer would instinctively know where to stop and of waking at 4 a.m. to brave the misty chill of Horton Plains and wait shivering for sunrise are cherished memories. Even if the wait for the perfect light was to photograph a tree! “For photography you have to see the light! Nihal worked that way- he had to see the light,” he says.
Not for him the stereotypical image but opening up one’s mind to more than the obvious. Observation is the key- when you start seeing things, you see many, many, things -different shapes and patterns in nature or the lack of
them. It’s not exactly what you are looking for but you see it. I suppose it’s what some call training your eye, he says.
Of course, a majestic elephant looking at you makes a great picture but it is not about that all the time, he says.“In my photography it’s not a case of getting closest to the animal or getting the clearest view. I may be pleased with the result when the animal is far away in its natural habitat. I really don’t have a formula. ”
Deeply knowledgeable and more than willing to share, journeys with Luxshman Nadaraja may be for wildlife and photography enthusiasts, an enlightening and adventurous experience.