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Announcing the results of the June 2018 Trek Photographer of the Month...

Announcing the results of the June 2018 Trek Photographer of the Month Contest

Category Photo Contest

By Sneha Rao

2018-07-28

June was an exciting month for trekkers and photographers alike. While the snow wall at Buran Ghati presented an adrenaline rush, the meadows on the Roopkund and Dayara Bugyal treks came alive with flowers. The upper and lower waterfall campsites on the Rupin Pass trek were majestic as ever.

We received close to 400 entries for the Trek Photographer of the month contest. Our judges have selected the top three photographs among these. You voted for the Trekkers’ Choice Award out of the top ten nominations.

Scroll down to see the results.

Winner – Trek Photographer of the Month

Dayara meadows on the Buran Ghati trek – Nikhil Joshi

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The velvety meadows of Dayara on the Buran Ghati trek

If you have been on the Buran Ghati trek, you will know that this is exactly how the Dayara meadows look like. This is an amazing choice of time to click the picture. The sun is hitting the meadows but not the mountains, bringing more drama. Tiny sheep and cows give an idea of the size of the site.

First Runner Up

Waterfalls on the Rupin Pass trek – Samar Rahman

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Valley of a hundred waterfalls on the Rupin Pass trek

This is a well calculated picture. The choice of aperture (f/16) makes the picture really sharp. A 5 sec shutter speed is giving a smoothness to the flow of water.  The rocks, green grass, dramatic sky bring more colours to the picture.

Second Runner Up

Sheep chasing the light at Ali Bugyal – Parimal Davara

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Herds of sheep at Ali Bugyal, on the Roopkund trek

This is one dramatic picture! The picture is backlit on one side and cross lit on the other, giving each sheep a different pattern of lighting. The photograph looks like a shepherds’ point of view.

Trekkers’ Choice Award

Shea Goru campsite – Ketan Salunke

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View of the Shea Goru campsite on the Hampta Pass trek

Rarely will you find a perfectly balanced, wide photograph. This one gives an idea of the perfect location of the campsite. The majestic Peak 5,260 looms in the background. The photographer makes the entire site look like a vessel holding the campsite.

Other Nominations

Chandratal – Nilanjan Ghosh

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A view of Chandratal and the Lahaul landscape

The blue Chandratal lake complements the blue sky. The lighting patterns around the lake and on the mountains are brilliant.

Meadows of Ali Bugyal – Mourya B S

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Meadows of Ali Bugyal on the Roopkund trek

This one is a simple green and blue photograph of Ali Bugyal. Clouds blocking some parts of the sky create brilliant light patterns on the meadows. You can see cattle on the top right corner of the picture showing how majestic these meadows are.

Mountains guarding the Litham Campsite – Sumit Pamnani

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View of the castle like mountains surrounding the Litham campsite on the Buran Ghati trek

This photo is selected for the photographer’s choice to take the photograph. A common sight on the Buran Ghati trek, the importance of these rock formations is usually neglected. The layers you find here took millions of years to get into their present form.

View from the Jobra campsite – Nitesh Garg

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View from the Jobra campsite on the Hampta Pass trek

For a moment you can’t spot the sheep in this picture. They look like rocks, evenly spread around the grass. You can only see green and white in this picture. Thick bushes make this a perfect monsoon trek picture.

On the road to Chandratal – Isha Agrawal

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Following herds of sheep on the road to Chandratal

This one looks unrealistic to say the least. The sheep are almost aligned to the bottom line as if they are walking on the picture.  The carefully included the mountain view in the frame gives this picture a brilliant background.

On the descent to Barsu – Isha Bhate

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A view straight out of Lord of the Rings, on the Dayara Bugyal trek

This is a rare picture from the Dayara Bugyal trek. It shows how different life is in the mountains. The stone house and the stone walls make it hard to believe that this is in India. White flowers in the foreground balance the frame very well.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominated photographers!

What you should do now

1. If you’d like to see a few great photo stories from our tresk: You’ll find our photo stories on this page.

2. If you’re a professional photographer: Perhaps we could sponsor your trek! We take photo trekkers on our treks if they can showcase our beautiful Himalayas with their skills. To apply, send your portfolio to sneha@indiahikes.com and tell us why you want to be a photo trekker with us.

3. If you would like some tips on photography specifically for treks: Click here, or here or here.

4. If you want to see some videos on how to manage camera gear: Watch this video.

5. If you ended up here by chance and were actually looking for treks to do: Then head over to our upcoming treks page. You’ll find all our Himalayan treks there.

6. If you want to see the 13 best treks of India: Then get our guide here.

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Sneha Rao

About the author

Sneha is an erstwhile HR professional from Bangalore, now living in Mumbai. She has trekked several trails in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala and Meghalaya. She holds the Green Trails idea close to her heart and enjoys researching and writing about the environment.

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