bengaluru only two per cent of a photography project requires operating the camera the rest is all about knowing your subject well and telling a compelling story this is wildlife photographer anand varmas mantra when he works with scientists across the globe and captures the processes involving living beingsanand a budding biologist who by a twist of fate became an awardwinning photographer with national geographic magazine addressed young scientists on monday at the national centre for biological sciences ncbs on using photography to communicate with the publicas part of the ncbsnatgeo initiative shoot for science is the firstofitskind workshop that aims to equip scientists with the powerful tool of photography to make them more visually literate and enable them to communicate their work more effectivelyits all about how you can draw the reader to your subject these are ways of contributing to the knowledge among people about natural history as well said varmawhat began as a hobby turned into a career for varma when he got to photograph a raft of fire ants for the magazine i had very little training in photography my father had a camera that i borrowed during graduation and a workshop i learnt through reading watching videos and experimenting on my own he told toievery story is different though i struggled in the beginning by the third story i was pretty confident about what i was doing anand added from capturing the first 21 days of honey bees and parenting behaviour among primates to explaining parasite infections among living organisms varma redefines science and natural history with every project through his timelapse techniques and lighting efficiencyspeaking of going back to academia he said though i dont really want to go back to academia i want to link it to what i do this workshop allows me to understand how best i can integrate the two to train scientists to be better storytellers is one way of doing it i work on one project a year which is like working on a research project in some ways there arent enough science photographers so this training is one way inspiring researchersthe workshop hosts a series of handson sessions and lectures at the ncbs campus gkvk the next lecture will be delivered by kurt mutchler senior photo editor at national geographic on science stories in the magazine connect with the readerwhile natural history and widlife photography is gaining popularity among young shutterbugs the journey isnt very rosy unless they can connect with the reader varma explained it is important to think closely about what heshe can offer to the client theres a distinction between passion and needs no matter how passionate you are there isnt much you can offer if you cant cater to your readers needs