Snow leopard - dream come true

[Hymakar Valluru]

NOW LEOPARD.

Clicked on 09 Dec 2013.

Hemis National Park, J&K.

After 8 days of ordeal in testing conditions with -15 to -20 Deg temperature and walking for hours together every day on slipper and steep Himalayan Ranges.

We got to sight the Grey Ghost from top of a mountain with limited place to stand and with a 60 to 70 Deg gradient on either side of the mountain.. this guy was around ~800 mtrs away from us on a different mountain.

We did not have Gypsys or commandos to turn and race to the spot.. we did not have cozy seats to sit and get closer to the animal...we did not have choicest angles of low level, eye level etc... all i had to manage is hold the gear properly, hold on firmly against stiff breeze, get the spot right, careful with my steps so that i dont start rolling down few feet and get packaged in a box back home..

This is what i had managed to capture....

Canon 5D MIII + 300/F2.8 ISII+2x TC.


SS : 1/1025
AV: F/5.6
ISO : 1000