Fascinating Frames by Nat Geo Explorer of the Year Anand Varma

By | August 2, 2017

Photographer Anand Varma has once again created magic with his camera. Varma, a first-generation Indian American who grew up in Atlanta, was among the 14 ‘Emerging Explorers’ selected by National Geographic last month. He is now earning global acclaim for capturing stunning footages of hummingbirds in slow motion, lending a peek into their forked tongues and the aerodynamics of their flight as they beat their wings 70-200 times per second, a movement that remains imperceptible to the naked eye.

Working alongside ornithologists, Varma shot the footage using high-speed cameras. The story, which appears in the July 2017 issue of the publication, was the result of almost a decade-long pursuit to study these tiny birds.

Varma, a graduate in integrative biology from UC Berkeley, has been awarded $10,000 for research and exploration as part of the the National Geographic Society’s Emerging Explorer Program. Among his other noteworthy works are the narration of science behind primate behavior and bird biomechanics to amphibian diseases and mangrove forests.

Here is a look at some shots from his incredible portfolio:

Anna’s hummingbird shakes it .. to get dry!

An Anna’s Hummingbird shakes itself dry. A long exposure image shows the trajectories of individual water droplets as they are flung from the hummingbird’s body. This image was based on research done by Victor Ortega Jimenez from the Dudley lab at UC Berkeley. Thanks to @hivelighting for providing the plasma light that made this image possible. #hummingbird #biomechanics #science #litbyhive @thephotosociety @natgeocreative

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Jul 10, 2017 at 11:00am PDT

No, not a Game of Thrones dragon, that’s a wooly false vampire bat at a Mayan temple in Mexico

A wooly false vampire bat (Chrotopterus auritus) flies out of its roost in a Mayan temple found at the base of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. This carnivorous bat in lives in small family groups of 4-6 individuals. I took this photo while documenting research being done by Rodrigo Medellín (@rodrigomedellin1223) and Ivar Vleut (@ivarvleut) #bats #flight #onassignment #Mexico #Yucatan #Maya #temple @thephotosociety @natgeocreative

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Jun 28, 2017 at 9:57am PDT

Female Coppery-bellied Puffleg hummingbird. Notice the mite on the nose?

Close up of a female Coppery-bellied Puffleg hummingbird. Can you find the nose mite? Photographed outside of Bogota, Colombia. **correction: I was told by Dr. Robert Colwell, the world’s foremost expert on these mites, that the proper common name is “flower mite” since there are other mites that live in hummingbird noses that actually do cause damage. Who knew it could be so crowded in there?!

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Apr 5, 2016 at 12:14pm PDT

Leafhopper on, what else, but a leaf

A leafhopper blends into its environment by mimicking the veins of leaves on its wings. Photographed on an isolated mountaintop called Cerro Chucanti in Panama’s Darien region. #awesomebug #Panama #Darien #cloudforest #leafhopper

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Apr 28, 2015 at 9:27pm PDT

A zombie ladybug being enslaved by a mind-controlling parasitic wasp. Incredible, did you say? We did too

This stop motion video was made from the 2249 photos I took of a zombie ladybug being enslaved by a mind-controlling parasitic wasp. The wasp grows up inside the ladybug and when it is ready to transform into an adult, it crawls out and forces the ladybug to stand guard over it as it spins its cocoon. The last frame I took of this interaction was chosen for the cover of the November issue. Read about more stories like this in the magazine. See the full stop motion video with dubstep soundtrack here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/mindsuckers/music-video Get tickets to my talk this Wednesday night in D.C. with Carl Zimmer here: http://events.nationalgeographic.com/speakers/2014/10/29/zombie-parasites/

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Oct 27, 2014 at 1:21pm PDT

Brightly coloured extensions on hind legs of flag-footed bug. Yes, hair extensions are not everybody’s fetish

This flag-footed bug (Anisocelis flavolineata) uses brightly colored extensions on its hind legs to distract predators from more essential parts of its body. It can afford to lose a hind limb or two… Photographed on an isolated mountaintop called Cerro Chucanti in Panama’s Darien region. #awesomebug #Panama #Darien #cloudforest

A post shared by Anand Varma (@anandavarma) on Apr 28, 2015 at 7:07am PDT