I like the BW version more Ganesh - looks like a sketch on canvas . How did you create this effect?

Roshan, that is a trade secret!

Well, let me share it here! Kiran asked me the same question. Here is how it is made.

The backdrop you see is bamboo thickets at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. Some are bent right, some left which forms the vertical/slanted lines. It may be more evident in the color version (check this link ).

Kiran, about the texture, it is a new invention

This is a result of a series of experiments I conducted during last monsoon (some more images here). The idea is to accurately pan when the bird flies very close to backdrop. It needs some good practice to accurately pan the subject (and a good pan head).

Now a question to you all, why we need a bird flying close to backdrop? What changes if it does not from overall effect of the image?

Love image.. loved the canvas textures..
Coming to your question, here is what I feel.. the panning creates horizontal lines, and when its close to the backdrop i.e. vertical lines of bamboo, it forms this checkered texture.. but when the backdrop is not close enough we will only get horizontal lines against a smoother plain BG.. so the checks would be missing and we may only get the horizontal lines of the panning..

Love the way the bird and habitat are etched into each other. Sometimes I feel I'm looking at the scene through thin muslin. Tremendous trade secret!

I love this image so much...i prefer the BW version
beautiful texture

I think we will get a blurred background if the bird is not very closed to the backdrop.
So we will not get the horizontal lines made by panning.
Want to know the right answer from you

Definitely black and white for me. The bird looks like it has been woven into the fabric of the canvas.
What happens to the overall effect if the bird is away from the back drop?.. i think the bird gets defined more clearly and hence may not give the woven effect as seen above.

B/W for me too! There is no doubt about that!
Coming to the answer, drawing upon my geometry skills from highschool, the more the distance between the subject and the backdrop lesser will be the distortion in the Backdrop due to the wider FOV. This may reduce the texture of the backdrop if the subject is too far off. With the subject close to the backdrop the distortion could be increased to generate the effect we have here.
Right?

My answer would be similar to that of Hrishikesh - if the bird is not close to the backdrop, it won't seem to be flying 'through it' as it does in this image

I think all of you are close enough!

The crisp definition and the canvas feel is due to the fact that backdrop is also in focus along with the bird ( (tele) lens is stopped down below f11/f13 if needed). Those panned in-focus twigs/branches create a nice canvas effect while the bird itself gets rendered normally due to pan!

If the bird is not flying close to the backdrop there won't be any canvas feel. Here is an example - behind the bird is just infinity! However you might notice very slight texture below the flying bird.

Fantastic work, once again! You had mentioned about the brush strokes effect that you get with the pan (with backdrop being close to the subject) when we were in Bharatpur... So I guessed that part the moment I saw this image... what made me curious was that we have both horizontal as well as vertical lines.. thanks for sharing... as always, you have again raised the bar

I liked both versions. Colored one resembles to fabric painting! Amazing work!

Thanks for the inspiration.
Pratik

excellent combination of art and science (technique)
though i am a monochrome lover , i like the coloured version much ,ore than the mono ... It gives that sense of van gogh paintings of impressionism...loved it so much:)
great work sir