Dr Param Sandhu is a nature & wildlife photographer who cares deeply and is passionate about the environment & conservation.

He has travelled extensively & has photographed in all the continents, including the Arctic & Antarctic. He has trekked to Everest Base Camp & captured the high altitude wilderness of Ladakh in the Himalayas. These images form a significant part of his landscape portfolio. He has travelled up the Amazon River and has experienced the cloud and rain forests of South America. He has been up Kilimanjaro and photographed in Tanzania, the Namibian desert and South Africa. He has snapped the majestic wild elephants of Africa and India. His photo diary of the Galapagos Islands is essential viewing. He has also captured images in Central America, Columbia & Mexico. His lectures on the Farne Islands & Bass Rock off the coast of Britain illustrate his expertise in bird photography, bringing the beauty of puffins and gannets, amongst others, onto the screen. Param is proud of his portfolio of images from the Faroe Islands, Norwegian Fjords and Iceland too.

Param has a special interest and passion about photographing the few remaining tigers in the wild and he is well respected and recognised for his efforts and world class pictures. He is concerned about their dwindling numbers and the threat to their habitat. Param is immensely knowledgeable about the various factors having a deleterious effect on tiger numbers; these include deforestation, human development, the prey base, man-animal conflict, mining, lack of animal corridors, the ecosystem poaching. Param has a formidable understanding of the behaviour of wild tigers.

Param has had an interesting career as a doctor of medicine in the National Health Service & as a Senior Advisor within the Civil Service of the UK. He was also the Medical Director of a large multinational Health Information Technology company and has experience in matters related to the corporate world.

He served in Her Majesty’s Reserve Forces and lectured to troops in the UK and several countries, including Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, Channel Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Fiji. UK Param saw active service in Bosnia with the British Army and was decorated with the NATO Medal for former Yugoslavia, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and The Territorial Decoration.

In 2021 Param also went on a photographic expedition to the Arctic, circumnavigating the Svalbard Archipelago to see for himself the effects of global warming. He then spent a further three weeks on an expeditionary ship around the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia & the Falkland Islands. This has further enhanced his photographic image portfolio with gorgeous pictures of the landscape and the unique wildlife including penguins, killer whales (orca), leopard seals, etc.

He has exhibited at the prestigious Joe Cornish Gallery and has a book release in the summer.

A very experienced and confident public speaker, he has a relaxed interactive storytelling style punctuated with humour. He understands that he is part of an enrichment team and therefore he should inform but also entertain. Param’s talks on nature photography have been well-received and he is currently in demand to speak at various events and at distinguished photographic societies in the UK and as a guest speaker on several cruise ships.

Param could give you at least 25 lectures illustrated by images made by him. He can customise the lecture offering depending on cruise itinerary and wishes of the guests with the Cruise Director's approval. As a committed photographer Param seeks an audience and will lecture cheerfully whenever he is called upon!

The following list of lectures are indicative of what he can offer; the order and number or choice of lectures can all be adapted as required:

1) Nature & Wildlife Photography
Param provides an overview of his photographic genre. He describes what underpins his approach and presents a flavour of what he can present

2) “I am sailing”
Having spent considerable time with cruise ships, Param has put together images from around the world. He remains true to his preferred genre of nature & wildlife photography, ecology and conservation.

3) Birdlife, a photo diary from the Farne Islands
This is a gorgeous treat of images from a summer at the Farne Islands, in the North Sea. Puffins and arctic terns and several others are profusely represented. He shares his technique of photographing birds in flight.

4) A Pictorial Journey through the Galapagos Islands
Something different, worth a visit; visited by Charles Darwin too!

5) A Photographer at Work: Vanishing Stripes
Param shares his passion & eccentricity – photographing tigers in the wild. He describes the concepts of cultural acclimatization and fieldcraft.

6) Working the Light: Adventures in Two Worlds
Param presents to you a unique juxtaposition of images from two places where he has lived, Scotland and India. Gannets and elephants are on show, including their young.

7) Patience & Perseverance: A wildlife photographer’s tools
Param takes you to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, the most popular tiger safari destination of the western tourist. He tracks Krishna and her cubs.

8) A Himalayan Diary (1)
Param is off to Everest Base Camp in Nepal; a feast of images of the beautiful and varied landscape. He explains the importance of acclimatization.

9) Himalayan Diary (2): Ladakh, the High-Altitude Desert
Param now is a guest of the Indian Military for his exploration of Ladakh, in India. Very different images as compared to Everest Base Camp dispatches.

10) Around Svalbard in the Arctic
Param is amongst ten photographers capturing the beauty and alas also the reality of global warming.

11) The Antarctic Peninsula
A real treat of this beautiful wilderness & its wildlife. The images on the big screen are mind blowing!

12) South Georgia
A real feast of marvellous images of penguins & marine mammals & also some relics of the whaling industry past.

13) Remaining Focused
Not many would argue against the fact that a tigress is at her most dangerous when she is with her cubs. Param lets you decide whether he was brave, foolish or skillful in bringing these images to you!

14) Developing Vision & Style: The Cubs of Bandhavgarh
Param feels privileged to share these images from this tiger reserve. Some of the images of the cubs at the entrance of a cave are exemplary and a world exclusive.

15) Capturing Biodiversity: From the Kingdom (Part 1)
Param explores the diversity of the living world in the tiger habitats, this includes the flora and fauna, the prey base and reference to alarm calls.

16) Capturing Biodiversity: From the Kingdom (Part 2)
We continue to explore the living world within the tiger’s kingdom. Numerous images of mainly indigenous birds are also included.

17) Developing a theme and a story: A tigress called “Spotty” & her cubs (Part 1)
Param tracks the mother for days capturing her majestic images and then shares the joy of finding her cubs.

18) Spotty and her cubs (Part 2)
Param returns some months later to see how the wee ones are doing; they are not wee now! Another world class collection of images, including a unique sequence of “tiger ballet”.

19) A Potpourri of Wildlife Images
Param shares some recent work including from Namibia, South Africa, Australia and India.

20) The importance of critiquing: Simply the best!
The subject in nature and wildlife can have a big emotional impact on the viewer. The approach here is analytical. Param has included some images you liked, some that you could have liked along with additional material.

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.