January 2022 Trek Photographer Of The Month Nominations Are Out – Vote For Your Favourite Photographs

January was a difficult month. Despite heavy snowfall day after day, and Omicron hitting the country, trekkers headed to Brahmatal and Chattisgarh Jungle Trek; bringing with them these beautiful pictures!

We received over 250 entries in January. Going through these pictures was a delight. The variety of landscapes that these treks depicted was immense.

So here are the top entries, which our judge has selected as the nominations for the January Photographer of the Month Contest.

We have special prizes for our top 3 photographs

• The winner gets a trek voucher of Rs 5,000
• The first runner up gets a trek voucher of Rs 3,000
• The second runner up gets a trek voucher of Rs 2,000

Winners can use these vouchers to book any Indiahikes trek in the next one year. We also have a Trekkers’ Choice Award, which will be the photo that wins the highest votes out of our 09 nominations. The Trekkers’ Choice Award Winner gets an Indiahikes goody bag

Vote for your favorite photographs below.

You can vote only once, so take a look at all the entries before you cast your vote.

1. Aditya Mahil – Brahmatal

Here’s a picture from a tricky section on the Brahmatal Trek. We have seen the Brahmatal trek from various angles. Some of those angles have almost become repetitive but it was so refreshing to come across a shot from this angle that captures the reason behind Brahmatal being a moderate trek in winter. 

| Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1750, Aperture – 1.7, ISO – 100, Focal length – 10mm. (Captured in Mobile)

2. Ankur Gupta – Brahmatal

This picture caught our attention for the gorgeous setting after the morning sunshine. The snow, the trees, Mt. Trishul and its neighboring mountains are all coming together and celebrating the arrival of winter season in this shot. 

| Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/900, Aperture – 1.9, ISO – 50, Focal length – 6mm. (Captured in Mobile)

3. Vihit Shah – Brahmatal

Here’s a photo capturing our basecamp Lohajung from the favorite photography spot of all time. What’s unique about this picture is the timing when it’s shot. The last of the sun rays falling upon Lohajung before it bids adieu for the day makes the setting all the more romantic!

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1400, Aperture – 1.7, ISO – 125, Focal length – 10mm. (Captured in Mobile)

4. Sachin Venkatesh – Brahmatal

We love wide expansive shots of summit climbs and when it’s a shot from one of our most favorite winter trek then it’s even better! The photographer has managed to capture this action shot from the perfect angle. It almost feels like he would have ran a little ahead to stand in front of the trekkers and to take this breathtaking shot. 

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1250, Aperture – 7.1, ISO – 100, Focal length – 24mm.

5. Himanshu Jungi – Brahmatal

Here’s another shot from the Brahmatal trek from another favorite spot – The frozen Brahmatal Lake. We keep telling our trekkers how delightful it is to get a chance to walk on this frozen lake. This picture captures that exact emotion and now we have a visual proof to show them! 

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1400, Aperture – 1.7, ISO – 125, Focal length – 10mm. (Captured in Mobile)

 6. Maya Murli – Chhattisgarh jungle trek

We’re so happy to have this splendid shot from a trek added to our favorite list recently! This photograph speaks because of its composition. You can easily imagine a story when you look at this photo. We love how it rightly captures the establishment of a campsite on a jungle trek.

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/580, Aperture – 2.4, ISO – 100, Focal length – 6mm. (Captured in Mobile)

7. Vikrant – Chhattisgrah Jungle Trek

There’s something very calming about this photograph and that’s what we feel is sometimes so simple yet so rare to capture. This picture embodies the true essence of Chhattisgarh Jungle Trek – The jungles, the red sand, the low lying mountains and the beautiful lakes. Chhattisgarh Jungle trek hold the potential to become one of the best treks of our country and settings like these are testament of that. 

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/400, Aperture – 11, ISO – 100, Focal length – 18mm.  

8. Hayat Amiree – Kedarkantha

Kedarkantha in winters. These three words have brought about a huge shift in the trekking culture of our country. You capture any setting and it turns out to be beautiful on Kedarkantha in winters but it’s still not so easy to convince a novice like that. This picture can easily do that and that’s what makes it special. 

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/2200, Aperture – 1.7, ISO – 125, Focal length – 5mm. (Captured in Mobile)

9. Akshay chavan – Kuari pass

You would have often heard the name Kuari Pass and Pangarchulla being mentioned together. That’s because of their geographical location. This picture comes very close to visually representing that. In front of you is the Pangarchulla summit which might look 4 steps ahead but would take a tough climb to reach and as you divert from that route and take the right you go towards Kuari Pass. 

|Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/400, Aperture – 1.8, ISO – 100, Focal length – 10mm.

Which one is your favourite shot? Vote for it below!

• 3. Vihit Shah - Brahmatal (51%, 967 Votes)
• 9. Akshay chavan - Kuari pass (26%, 492 Votes)
• 4. Sachin Venkatesh - Brahmatal (11%, 217 Votes)
• 7. Vikrant - Chhattisgrah Jungle Trek (7%, 125 Votes)
• 5. Himanshu Jungi - Brahmatal (5%, 87 Votes)
• 2. Ankur Gupta - Brahmatal (0%, 2 Votes)
• 8. Hayat Amiree - Kedarkantha (0%, 2 Votes)
• 1. Aditya Mahil - Brahmatal (0%, 1 Votes)
• 6.Maya Murli - Chhattisgrah jungle trek (0%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,894