This image was captured one January afternoon in 2025, during my very first visit to the wetlands of Mangalajodi—a quiet village tucked into the eastern part of India. I had spent the day photographing a variety of shorebirds and resident species when I noticed several whiskered terns diving into the marsh, snatching up small fish and tadpoles.
Captivated, I decided to try and freeze one of them mid-flight—just as it made a successful catch.
Positioning my boat to make the most of the side lighting, I crouched as low as possible and began tracking one of the terns as it dove. Their speed and erratic flight paths made it incredibly challenging. As a new photographer, I struggled—sometimes the bird was out of focus, other times its wings were clipped or the composition didn’t work at all. But I didn’t give up. I reviewed each batch of frames on my camera’s playback screen, adjusting and refining as I went.
After about half an hour of trial and error, I finally got a series of shots that made all the effort worthwhile. Among them, one frame stood out—the precise wing position, a graceful head turn, a catchlight in the bird’s eye, the fish’s eye still visible, and a clean splash of water frozen in time.
It’s not just a photo I’m proud of—it might just be the best shot of my small but growing photographic journey.
