Venomous Beauty

Photography has made me realize that even the most feared things in this world can prove to be really beautiful subjects. Photos can change your perception towards something you fear.


Snakes are feared by many people especially in a country like India. Here snakes are in great numbers and due to their conflict with humans cause many deaths every year.


I have been always fascinated with snakes. I never feared them as my curiosity to know them was immense. Two years back i met this guy named Ninad Manjure who was into herpetology. I learnt a lot about snakes from him. He taught me everything from identifying to handling snakes.


In these two years I have realized that there is a lot more in snakes than just being creepy. Each snake is so different from the other. Some are aggressive, some are extremely harmless. (To an extent where they won't bite even if you sit on them). Even among the aggressive ones, their aggression is unique. The cobra will warn you before biting by spreading it's hood, a Russell's viper will warn by letting out a high pitched whistle, where as a common krait strikes with no warning at all. Snakes possess really interesting characteristics. Like the hump nosed viper catches its prey by luring them with its tail which looks like a worm. Pit vipers actually have a thermal vision because of which they can see in the dark perfectly.


There is so much one can learn about snakes and for me, they never fail to amuse me. The snake in the picture was the first one I had rescued. It's a female Buff striped keelback. After the rescue it not only recovered well but also laid eggs. I was really lucky to see its babies hatch. The eggs cracking and the young snakes coming out into the world for the first time was an unforgettable sight and being able to look after the eggs and finally watching them hatch gave me immense satisfaction. No matter what people think about these reptiles, I know for a fact that they are really beautiful. People need to know more and that will let them look at snakes from a different perspective.

The First

I got into photography three years ago when my father got me a new mobile. It was the Nokia 5610 with a 3.2 mega pixel camera. It had the macro feature in it, so it was something very fascinating for me. This was the first photo clicked by that mobile. It was raining outside and my exams were on for which i was least interested in studying.


So I decided to go out for sometime and try out my new mobile camera and my ability in photography. With a very "philosophical" look in my eyes and the red and black mobile in my hand, I was roaming on the the road trying to capture something interesting. As I was walking, a flower vendor who was passing by caught my interest.


The flowers he had looked quite beautiful with the drops of water on their petals. Among all the roses, gulmohar and daffodils a small white flower with it's glistering petals caught my eye. And so i switched on the camera mode in my mobile and clicked a photo of the flower.


 I was quite surprised with the quality of the image, the depth of field and the details the camera could capture. And luckily for me, every time i was stressed studying for my exams I would look at this picture and my mind would rejuvenate completely. This photo became something very personal for me and with my growing attachment for this photo grew my interest in photography.