Wildlife Photographer of the year
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| By Steve Winter |
A US photographer has taken the coveted title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year with his striking image of a snow leopard on a night-time hunt.
Steve Winter was high in the mountains of Central Asia when he captured the elusive cat using a Canon EOS Rebel XT camera with 10-22mm lens.
“I was thrilled to have finally captured the shot I had dreamed of – a wild snow leopard in its true element,” said Winter, who was on a 13-month quest to catalogue the endangered species in its hostile habitat.
Managed by BBC Wildlife magazine and London’s Natural History Museum, the competition is in its 44th year. The panel of judges spent months going through more than 32,350 entries before deciding on Winter’s entry.
Judge, Mark Carwardine, said, everything just came together in the picture. “The drama of the snow, the mystery of the darkness, the posture of the rarely photographed snow leopard, and the intriguing composition.”
To view the winning images in the other categories visit: www.nhm.ac.uk
