Indian origin Kartik Subramaniam wins National Geographic’s ‘Photo of the year’ contest

Indian-origin man, Kartik Subramaniam has won Nat Geo’s ‘Picture of the Year’ contest on Friday for his photo titled "Dance of the Eagles.''

Karthik Subramaniam, a San Francisco-based software engineer, built his expertise in wildlife photography during the pandemic.

Subramaniam titled the image “Dance of the Eagles” as an homage to a fictional dragon war in George R.R. Martin’s novel A Dance with Dragons, and submitted it to the National Geographic Pictures of the Year contest.

His award-winning photo will find a place in the May issue of National Geographic magazine.

According to National Geographic, the stunning image shows a trio of bald eagles battling for a spot on a branch in Alaska's Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The photo was selected from nearly 5,000 entries across four categories: nature, people, places, and animals. 

He told National Geographic how he clicked the photo during his weeklong photography trip in Alaska, where he camped out near the shore of this preserve to capture the perfect shot.

And on the final day of his trip, he got the perfect shot that captured the chaos of bald eagles near the shore of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Every fall, that location hosts the world's largest gathering of bald eagles, with around 3,000 arriving in time for the salmon run.