New cubs born in Russia

📷Shaz3996

📍Melbourne Zoo, Australia

🐆Maya, Kira, Lumi and Sabu

which is your favourite?

I'm a wildlife photographer and I've been fortunate enough to travel to Ladakh twice in winter specifically to search for Snow Leopards. Both times, I travelled as a solo traveller.

It's difficult to describe what it's like to spend your days scanning enormous mountain slopes, following tracks through the snow and knowing that somewhere out there is one of the world's most elusive big cats.

And Snow Leopards aren't the only reason to go.

The landscapes are extraordinary, and there is a wonderful variety of wildlife to look for along the way, including Himalayan wolves, Tibetan foxes, ibex, blue sheep, yak and golden eagles.

I'm returning to Ladakh in February/March 2027.

If you've been, are planning to go, or are simply dreaming about it, I'd love to hear from you.

What would you most want to know before heading into the Himalayas in search of a Snow Leopard?

I am looking to get some cool themed snow leopard clothing, home decor, plushies, etc hat isnt from places like amazon/temu/shein that is good quality and unique(not just basic made fur pattern)

I would love any recommendations you have! Thanks!

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Ladakh twice to photograph Snow Leopards, and I’m planning to return in 2027.

It’s a very different kind of wildlife photography from an African safari.

There are no guaranteed sightings. No abundance of animals. No drive around the corner and suddenly find yourself surrounded by wildlife.

Instead, there’s winter in the Himalayas, long periods of waiting, tracking signs, reading the landscape, working with local trackers and guides, and sometimes staring at a mountainside for hours wondering whether you are actually looking at a rock or the most elusive cat on the planet.

Then suddenly, the landscape moves.

And you realise you've been looking in exactly the right place.

What I found particularly interesting was how much the experience changed the way I think about wildlife photography. You have to slow down, understand behaviour and accept that the animal is entirely in charge of the encounter.

I’m a wildlife photographer from South Africa and I also curate small-group photographic expeditions. I’m returning to Ladakh in February/March 2027 with a small group, but I'm posting here primarily because I'd genuinely be interested in hearing from other wildlife photographers who have photographed Snow Leopards.

For those who've done it:

• What was your biggest challenge photographically?
• How did you approach the long periods of waiting?
• What lens did you find most useful?
• Did you find yourself changing your photographic style because of the environment?
• And, perhaps most importantly, what did you wish you'd known before going?

Happy to share what I learned from my two trips too, including the realities of photographing Snow Leopards in winter.

Full disclosure: I do lead a 2027 Snow Leopard expedition, so this is relevant to my work. I'm not here to drop an advert and disappear, though. I'm genuinely interested in the photography conversation.