And here is Nature India photo contest 2017 finalist number five:

Deepak Bhau Kumbhar, Maharashtra, India

Photo caption: Just one world

{credit}Deepak Bhau Kumbhar{/credit}

Deepak explains his shot thus:

Deepak Bhau Kumbhar

“These beautiful caterpillars face severe competition from one another, trying to nibble into a single piece of leaf. That’s what is happening to mankind – we are greedily consuming the world’s limited resources. It is time we realise that soon there won’t be enough left for all of us. Though that realization has dawned among many, out of sheer habit we continue to nibble into the same leaf.

I am a science teacher at a high school, passionate about micro wildlife photography. I photograph nature’s amazing creations and show them to my students with various messages.”

Congratulations Deepak for the lovely composition. Welcome to the top ten!

The Nature India photo contest is in its fourth year and continues to receive some breathtaking entries from around the world. The theme this year was ‘Grand Challenges’, and needed more thought and creativity than our earlier themes.

Despite the challenge, the quality and novelty of some of the entries has been breathtaking. We have had a mix of amateur and professional photographers, scientists and non-scientists, mobile cameras and high-end DSLRs — all vying to portray the complex global problems we face — the world’s grand challenges — and to look for solutions for a healthy and sustainable future.

Tough job as usual for the Nature India editorial and design team in selecting just three winners. The winners stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the latest Nature India Special Annual Volume and an enviable bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we will be rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced somewhere in late December 2017.

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

Watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.

Presenting Nature India photo contest 2017 finalist number four:

Avinash Surendran, Bengaluru, India

Photo caption: Children of the Sun

{credit}Avinash Surendran{/credit}

Avinash Surendran

Avinash tells us the thought behind this picture:

“Enough sunlight hits the earth in an hour to power it for a year. Why aren’t we using this resource enough? Even five years ago, powering homes or industries using solar power would be considered a billionaire philanthropist’s dream. However, in the last five years, the cost of solar energy has fallen by a fifth, making it cheaper than fossil fuels in many countries around the world. The story of solar energy is not just about sunlight. Its success includes sound technology, innovation and the political will to solve the grand challenge of cheap sustainable energy. It is a story of democratization of energy and leaving the planet a better place for our children. The next generation should inherit this energy from the sun – they should be the children of the sun.

This photo was taken from the terrace of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. I am a PhD student there and contributed to the installation of a solar rooftop power plant which offsets the energy usage of the entire institute, while providing cheaper electricity than that available from the grid. This photo for me is symbolic of the opportunity we have in solving the problem of cheap sustainable energy for all.”

Congratulations for a brilliant capture Avinash, and welcome to the top ten of this contest!

The Nature India photo contest is in its fourth year and continues to receive some breathtaking entries from around the world. The theme this year was ‘Grand Challenges’, and needed more thought and creativity than our earlier themes.

Despite the challenge, the quality and novelty of some of the entries has been breathtaking. We have had a mix of amateur and professional photographers, scientists and non-scientists, mobile cameras and high-end DSLRs — all vying to portray the complex global problems we face — the world’s grand challenges — and to look for solutions for a healthy and sustainable future.

Tough job as usual for the Nature India editorial and design team in selecting just three winners. The winners stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the latest Nature India Special Annual Volume and an enviable bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we will be rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced somewhere in late December 2017.

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

Watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.

And now for Nature India photo contest 2017 finalist number three:

Ricky Patel, West Bengal, India

Photo caption: Cleaning up my abode

{credit}Ricky Patel{/credit}

Ricky Patel

Ricky thought from the animal’s point of view while shooting this photo:

“Can we please use biodegradable material or adopt safer waste disposal practices, at least inside the national parks? My friends and I living in the Ranthambore National Park ( Rajasthan, India), have a hard time cleaning up after careless tourists .” This Royal Bengal Tiger, with a plastic bottle in its mouth, would probably say something similar if it could speak to you. Incessant use of non-biodegradable polymers makes a mockery of our national programme of ‘Clean India’, even in highly protected zones.

A rare catch Ricky! Welcome to the top ten.

In it’s fourth year, the Nature India photo contest continues to receive fantastic response with entries from around the world. The theme this year was ‘Grand Challenges’, and needed more thought and creativity than our earlier themes.

Despite the challenge, the quality and novelty of some of the entries has been breathtaking. We have had a mix of amateur and professional photographers, scientists and non-scientists, mobile cameras and high-end DSLRs — all vying to portray the complex global problems we face — the world’s grand challenges — and to look for solutions for a healthy and sustainable future.

Tough job as usual for the Nature India editorial and design team in selecting just three winners. The winners stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the latest Nature India Special Annual Volume and an enviable bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we will be rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced somewhere in late December 2017.

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

Watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.

Rolling out Nature India photo contest 2017 finalist number two:

Dipankar Ghosh, Oakdale, Minnesota, USA

Photo caption: Fishy tales

{credit}Dipankar Ghosh{/credit}

Dipankar Ghosh

Here’s Dipankar’s description of his picture:

A dramatic increase in population and climate change are depleting global natural resources at an alarming rate. Fishermen on the Puri coast in Odisha, India depend on the ocean’s natural resource for their livelihood. But meeting daily targets of fish haul to earn a living is often a big challenge.

Congratulations Dipankar for making it to the longlist!

In it’s fourth year, the photo contest continued to receive fantastic response with entries from around the world. The theme this year was ‘Grand Challenges’, and needed more thought and creativity than our earlier themes.

Despite the challenge, the quality and novelty of some of the entries has been breathtaking. We have had a mix of amateur and professional photographers, scientists and non-scientists, mobile cameras and high-end DSLRs — all vying to portray the complex global problems we face — the world’s grand challenges — and to look for solutions for a healthy and sustainable future.

Tough job as usual for the Nature India editorial and design team in selecting just three winners. The winners stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the latest Nature India Special Annual Volume and an enviable bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we will be rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced somewhere in late December 2017.

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

Watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.

Like every year-end, we are now ready to roll our the finalists of this year’s Nature India photo contest.

In it’s fourth year, the photo contest continued to receive fantastic response with entries from around the world. The theme this year was ‘Grand Challenges’, and needed more thought and creativity than our earlier themes.

Despite the challenge, the quality and novelty of some of the entries has been breathtaking. We have had a mix of amateur and professional photographers, scientists and non-scientists, mobile cameras and high-end DSLRs — all vying to portray the complex global problems we face — the world’s grand challenges — and to look for solutions for a healthy and sustainable future.

Tough job as usual for the Nature India editorial and design team in selecting just three winners. The winners stand a chance of seeing their entries grace the cover page of one of our forthcoming print publications. The winner and two runners-up will receive a copy of the latest Nature India Special Annual Volume and an enviable bag of goodies from Springer Nature.

As a run up to the final announcement, we will be rolling out the top 10 finalists of the photo competition (in no particular order of merit) over the next few days on the Indigenus blog as well as our social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). The final results will be announced somewhere in late December 2017.

So here’s Nature India photo contest 2017 finalist number one:

Owais Rashid Hakiem, PhD student, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.

Photo caption: The glorious dead lake

{credit}Owais Rashid Hakiem{/credit}

Owais Rashid Hakiem

This is how Owais describes his entry:

Dal lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India, has a shoreline of about 15.5 km. Dal used to be a breathtaking freshwater lake till a couple of decades back. Now the capital city empties its wastes into it. Illegal floating gardens and inland farming have added to the lake’s woes. The Indian government has made massive investments (approximately US$275 million) to restore the lake’s original splendor. But poor accountability shows in the declining health of the lake.

Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the Earth Sciences Department at Kashmir University says 32% of the lake is severely degraded, 48% suffers medium degradation and about 20% is relatively clean. The lake, which has shrunk from 31 to 24 square km between the years 1859 and 2014 faces multiple pressures from unplanned urbanisation, high population growth, nutrient load from intensive agriculture and tourism.

Congratulations Owais for making it to top ten!

Nature India’s final decision to chose the winner will be partly influenced by the engagement and reception he/she receives here at the Indigenus blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. To give all finalists a fair chance, we will take into consideration the social media engagement of each picture only during the first seven days of its announcement.

So watch out for our other finalists and feel free to promote, share and like your favourite entries with the hashtag #NatureIndphoto.