About two months ago, while I was on a shoot, I suddenly get a call to be on a luxury east Africa safari four days later. I finished the shoot, rushed to Bangalore, got my yellow fever shot and jumped into a plane to Nairobi. Till the day before I got into the plane, I didn’t even know where I was going in east Africa.
From Nairobi, we took a charter to Mara over the great Rift Valley. The minute I landed, I got out and kissed the Earth under my feet. In the next 8 days, I saw, experienced, and photographed some of the greatest wildlife spectacles on earth. We saw Olive, the leopard (the leopard star of BBC Big Cat Diary), make multiple kills with her 2 young cubs, we saw thousands of Wildebeest crossing the rivers and getting eaten by Nile crocodiles, we saw cheetahs touching the speed record to take down its prey and most of all, saw the giants of Africa against limitless sky and savannah.
From the moment I landed, I knew I had to do a Black and White series of Masai Mara. It is an amazing photography experience when you take photographs specifically to make them into monotones. So here is my first fine art wildlife series: Mara in Monotones
Fantastic series, I like your compositions a lot.
Kalyan,
This is amazing. My heart actually skipped a beat. Thanks for sharing.
Vijay
Breathtaking!!!!, Great series of compositions, loved the gradients that the monochrome offers too!!! Simply magnificent,,running out of words actually!; Always wanted to experience the great migration from the Masai Mara/Serengeti!! Is August the right season?
No words to describe the series…awesome, brilliant, mind blowing. Could only dream and visualize the place.
Super series and the monotones are just an added glory…
Amazing… Esp the monotone shots give each photograpgh a deep thought about nature games and savanaah ecosystem ..!!
Regards
Amrita
“Odd one in the group” was the best.
Liked all of them.
Deepak
Wow Kalyan..superb images of my most favourite landscape and wildlife in the world!!
Btw..even i kissed the earth of Masai Mara, as soon as i stepped out on the first trip in 1998!
It’s after all the mecca for all wildlife enthusiasts!!
Cheers! Sarath
Woww.. there is something mystical about B&W shots!! beautiful…
Beautiful
The wildebeest shots are particularly spectacular! Photos framing the animals against the horizon look stunning. What kind of a photo gear did you carry on the safari?
All shot with Nikon D700 with 200-400mm lens and 70-200mm lens
Kalyan… wow. wow. WOW! WOW!! It’s been a while, would say quite a while since images have evoked such a feeling in me… may be not since I first laid eyes on Nick Brandt’s captures from Africa… I don’t have to tell you those are B&W’s as well! I don’t like the idea of comparing work from 2 masters and I am not going to do it… but the emotion these 2 pieces of work have evoked in me are very very similar! Doff my hat to you!
I am more than inspired to join your tour in Aug… need to figure out where to steal the cash from now 
Cheers!
Nagesh
I have seen Nick’s work before. Really amazing stuff. Now my aim is to try some of this kinda work with Indian wildlife.
Amazing photographs, the kill pictures are outstanding!
I must have watched the wildebeest migration almost 10-15 times… i simply love the show and hope to visit Masai Mara sometime in the future.
Your shots are simply the Best in B&W that i have seen so far !! Good work.
Fantastic pictures! The leopard with its cub picture is great.
Awesome pictures..
I’ve always been a fan of your work but this takes it to a whole different level.
Fabulous shots kalyan…… i have seen these shots multiple times…each time they take my breath away…. simply stunning…..fine art is the right word for such work…..simply awesome.
it’ll be an under statement to say excellent shots! this is far more than that … gr8 to see those b&w shots … never thought b&w and wild life photography cud go together so well!
great megestysir,
hi sir i have a passion of wildlife photography
could u please help me out.
hi kalyan
i chanced upon your photographs in fb..awesome .. they moved me.. i have been to kenya …and fell in love with africa ..didnt ahve a chance to go to masai but did go to Amboselli.
I love ur work !
vijaya
awesome, i am dumbstruck at the beauty you have captured here! am off to the serengeti next week, fingers crossed that i will witness the splendour and be able to take photos that do justice to it!:-)
cheers
roshni
Beautiful photos. The “Zebras panic” photo is totally arresting.
Just Spectacular…the landscape, the animals, and the photography….just simply spectacular. Can’t imagine how exciting this trip was for you, Kalyan. I think all the photos come in my fav list…can’t seem to be able to choose just a few …and the choice to do it in B/W was an excellent one.
Amazing pics–you’ve captured the spirit of the place and the animals so beautifully.
Kalyan, this is simply beautiful! words fall short here – wonderful work. Love the herd of elephants under the cloudy sky..
Hi Kalyan,
Unbelievable stuff…am totally out of words to say how good and mesmerizing they are…the B&W make them more mystical. Simply loved each and every capture!
Love the snaps! And totally love the fact that you chose to do a B.W version.
My personal favorite is the shot of the elephant herd under the clouds. Which one is yours Kalyan ?
Amazing shots Kalyan. Did you upgrade your camera to a D3 or a D700?
This is a brilliant stuff! You are setting new standards. It was difficult pick one favorite. Great work.
Brilliant and Stunning work….You are the best!!!!
These pictures are awesome. Absolutely loved this collection.
Brilliant pictures.. loved each and every pic. gr8 job!
Hi kalyan.. those are some brilliant pictures. Thanks for sharing. I have one doubt though.. the picture titled “Lioness killing another lioness’s cub” did you actually see it killing the cub? Was it because of lack of food? I thought it was carrying one if its own until I saw the picture title.
Kalyan ,
You are one my inspiration for photography. Wish you all the very best for all your future photgraphy and wildlife ventures .
I like the presentation and simplicity of your work which makes you special and one of the “Best indian wild life concept photgrapher ”
Regards,
kartick v bhat
9741110383
Hi Kalyan,
Been a huge fan of your work for almost 3 years now. These photos are spectacular but I would like to see them in color too, especially the “odd one out”. Kindly post if possible.
Cheers,
Adi
You got to be kidding me…
I never thought b/w photography can be so amazing…
Loved it…
hey..amazing photography…good job..keep it up
loved all of them…!
Amazing b/w photography… Kalyan.
Absolutely loved it, great job.
Hi Kalyan,
Each and every frame is so absorbing. Absolutely amazing.
The B/W composition has brought out character in every subject and the feel is just so wonderful!
Thank you for bringing to us, beautiful as well as gruesome (the Tigress killing a cub) wildlife moments. The pics leave a deep impact and one wants to see more
Regards,
Sameer Jain
visited ur site after some time … loved it … amazing pics … have great times ahead and share by way of pics … nimesh …
amazing shots,
especially liked the unusual shot of female lion with dead cub