Evening Stretch

Photographer

Vinayak Shankar

Category

Black & White Photography - Wildlife

Company

Submission Group

Amateur

Year

2022

Country / Region

India

This was photographed in the upper altitudes of Himachal Pradesh, India at around 15,000 ft and around -20 Degrees C. We were on our way to the village of Langza, which is in a part of the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary. We came across a pair of Snow Leopard cubs on the road and they were as surprised to see us as we were of them! As its highly uncommon for such sightings to occur. After a brief stare off they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. We though initially that the sighting had ended, but our guide and tour leader did not give up and after scanning the many rocky cliffs above us we got to see the cubs staring down at us! They gave us a wonderful opportunity to shoot them in their fully wonder as there was brilliant light and they seemed very comfortable to us being around. This particular image of the evening was shot as one of the cubs got up and stretched towards the setting sun almost like it was taking the last few rays of warmth before a long and cold night ahead. This image is presented as a black/white as one does not get to see Snow Leopards stretching in monochrome.

Credits

Naturextreme India Pvt Ltd
Sanjeet Mangat (Tour Leader), Mahandar (Guide), Vinayak Shankar (Self)
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