Kangayam native wins Nat Geo's award

Karthik Subramaniam, an Indian-origin software engineer in the U.S. and a hobbyist photographer, has won the prestigious National Geographic's 'Pictures of The Year' award with his photograph titled "Dance of the Eagles". He was born in Kangayam, Tiruppur District of Tamilnadu and later took citizenship in the United States. On the final day of his trip, the chaos of bald eagles near the shore of Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve gathered his attention. That place was the largest congregation of bald eagles in the world every fall when around 3,000 arrive in time for the salmon run. Immediately, an outsider eagle swooped in, intimating the current resident of the log, and claiming the prime spot. The chaotic replacement of the resident was the opportunity for the photographer to capture the chaos through his lens. Subramaniam titled the image as “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.