I am currently doing a bachelor's in biological sciences. My relationship with the NCF precedes my recent induction by several years and the hands-on field experience I got working with the team has been far more enriching than my academic education. Some of the early influences which set me in this direction - a landed family background with a certain tradition of shikar, a childhood spent largely outdoors with frequent visits to nearby Chambal where I had my initial experiences in conservation, picking up camera instead of our mothballed rifles that stirred my interest and took me to remote corners of our wilds. Over the years I have realised that I am particularly drawn towards the mountains and, perhaps subliminally, to 'game' animals and birds, a term both pejorative and unscientific but certainly evocative. Wildlife research calls for a rigorous scientific approach and expression which tends to make it somewhat esoteric and it shall be my endeavour to use the visual medium to document the observations and also create a wider outreach.