My November Mongolia trip had two main purposes: scout future tour locations, and try again for snow leopards.
Back in 2015, I went to the Himalayas in search of snow leopards, and only came away with some very distant (1-2km away) sightings. That too was a scouting trip, and beyond my failures I knew that 12-14,000 feet of elevation wouldn’t work for most clients. Mongolia offered a slightly more moderate challenge, on the surface at least. The altitude was closer to what I was accustomed to in Yellowstone, so I figured I’d have an easier time with it. Nobody told me about the lack of game trails or the skee-covered slopes…
This was the first leopard our tracking team found, and to reach it we had to scramble up one of those slippery, steep hillsides. We positioned ourselves on a small ridge line opposite from the cliffs where the cat was hanging out. Once it started moving, we had chances to photograph it at a much closer range than I’d realistically expected.
This was my favorite photo taken last year, and it just went up as a large canvas on our walls. I’ll cherish this one.
Canon R5
Canon 600mm + 1.4x
1/640th
f/6.3
ISO 800
Max
Type of Critique Requested
- Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
- Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
- Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.