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, we announce the winners of the Trek Photographer of the month January 2022 and the Trekker’s Choice Award Winner.

Towards summit. Picture by Sachin Venkatesh.

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. Congratulations Sachin Venkatesh! You have won the first prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 5,000 along with this great day pack by Adventureworx!

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

Walking in the frozen Bramatal lake. Picture by Himanshu Jungi.

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! Congratulations Himanshu Jungi! You have won the first runner prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 3,000.

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

Ridge walk towards Brahmatal Summit. Picture by Aditya Mahil

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. Congratulations Aditya Mahil! You have won the Second runner prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 2,000.

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

Sun Rays from Lohajung base camp. Picture by Vihit Shah.

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!

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.

Trekkers walking towards Pukhrola campsite. Picture by Hayat Amiree.

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)

Trekkers descending from the summit. Picture by Akshay chavan.

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.

Campsite view from Chhattisgrah jungle trek. Picture by Maya Murli.

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)

The view from Tilandi campsite in winter. Picture by Ankur Gupta.

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)

Thank you for participating! We’ll be back with more.

Winners Announced – Trek Photographer of the Month January 2022

November in the mountains makes for stunning shots of landscapes. The grass is a magical sun-baked golden and is sprinkled with fresh frost every morning. You can also see the sudden colour changes from Autumn to Winter.  For the November 2021 Trek Photographer Of The Month contest, we received over 200 photographs. Each photograph was unique in its own way – an interesting frame, great perspective shots, Emotion photographs, and never-before-seen photographs of some of the world’s highest summits.

With that, we announce the winners of the Trek Photographer of the month November 2021 and the Trekker’s Choice Award Winner:

The Molley campsite on the Sandakphu trek. Picture by Prajna Pujary

This is a picture that made us go “wow!”, not for the location or the composition. It’s purely for the colours and the morning light that’s been captured at the right moment. It’s hard to believe that this is a shot from a Himalayan village in India and not from any European setting. Congratulations Prajna Pujary! You have won the first prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 5,000 along with this great day pack by Adventureworx!

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1800, Aperture – 2.8, ISO – 200, Focal length – 10mm. (Captured in mobile)

A panoramic shot of the Sleeping Buddha. Picture by Swati Gavde.

The Sleeping Buddha is perhaps one of the most photographed landscapes in the trekking world. Yet, here’s a vast panoramic shot that took our breath away. We love the colours of the sunset captured in this picture, the sharpness of the elements and the depth of field in the photograph. Congratulations Swati Gavde! You have won the first runner prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 3,000.  

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/80, Aperture – 5, ISO – 400, Focal length – 66mm.

Amith Sreedhar – Deoriatal Chandrashila

Trekkers watching the sunrise falling on Mt Chaukhamba. Picture by Amith Sreedhar.

For us, just to catch a sight of Mt Chaukhamba from the shores of the Deoriatal is worth doing the entire trek. Many trekkers capture the majestic mountain during sunrise or sunset from the Deoriatal lake. However, it’s rare for us to see a story unfolding in a photograph. This is what we love about this shot. We love the composition of this picture as it captures the exact emotion of beholding this view in front of our eyes. Congratulations Amith Sreedhar.! You have won the Second runner prize, a Trek Voucher of Rs 2,000.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/60, Aperture – 4.3, ISO – 100, Focal length – 35mm.

A horse meanders around a freshly snowed landscape at Sandakphu. Picture by Harshal Mehta.

This is a rare composition. There are a lot of spellbound colour combinations on a trek but the way this picture shows the combination of a brown horse & the white winter snow makes it class apart. Congratulations Harshal Mehta! you have won the trekker choice award.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/320, Aperture – 4, ISO – 1250, Focal length – 70mm.

The first viewpoint of Mt. Dronagiri from the Akhrotghetta campsite. Picture by Aditya ram.

As you step into Gorson Bugyal, you get a terrific view of Mt Dronagiri and Mt Nanda Devi. You don’t get to see this view anytime before this point. We love how this photograph captures the very first sight of this grand mount Dronagiri. From a photography perspective, we particularly liked the composition and framing of this photo, using the withering tree in the foreground. It made for a very rare shot of the mountain we have seen so many times.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/2500, Aperture – 6.3, ISO – 200, Focal length – 45mm.

A trekker takes in the view of the Swargarohini massif from Har-Ki-Dun. Picture by Siddharth Jain.

Most trekkers go on summit climbs to get good views and a sense of accomplishment. Yet, here’s a trek in a valley that gives you as big rewards, and this photograph captures that beautifully. The composition, following the rule of thirds, the leading lines, with the trekker’s placement leading to Mt Swargarohini, the dramatic clouds, they all make for a stunning shot.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/2000, Aperture – 2.8, ISO – 200, Focal length – 5mm. (Captured in mobile)

A spectacular view of mount Dronagiri. Picture by Vedant Talnikar.

Capturing scale on a trek is not easy. It often requires the photographer to climb heavily off the trail, go to a vantage point to get a perspective. And the photographer has done exactly that in this shot. It is one of the best photographs we have seen that captures the scale of trekkers against the backdrop of Mt Dronagiri. Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1435, Aperture – 1.7, ISO – 100, Focal length – 4mm. (Captured in mobile)

A resident on the Sandakphu trail looks on from his window. Picture by Harshal Mehta.

Sandakphu Phalut is a trek that exposes you to the culture of the Indo-Nepal border and the life they lead. Yet, it’s an aspect of the trail that is rarely spoken about. Which is why we loved this photo. It’s a simple portrait photograph, which can tell you a thousand stories and run you through so many emotions.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/100, Aperture – 4, ISO – 2500, Focal length – 36mm.

Alpenglow as seen from the Bhoj Gadi campsite on the Phulara Ridge trek. Picture by Dharun Viswanathan.

This picture tells you how underrated the campsites of Phulara Ridge trek are. Here the Bhoj Gadi campsite is shown in such a marvellous setting. Simply for the novelty of this photograph, and the alpenglow on the mountain ranges in the backdrop, we love this shot.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/60, Aperture – 4, ISO – 400, Focal length – 24mm.

Nikhil MG – Har ki dun and Ruinsara tal

A view of Maninda Tal from the Har Ki Dun trek. Picture by Nikhil MG.

Maninda Tal is a not-so-well-known part of the Har Ki Dun trek, but it feels like this picture finally positions it on a pedestal. We have never seen a picture of the lake flowing out into a stream from such close proximity, and with such a lovely composition.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/4431, Aperture – 1.8, ISO – 125, Focal length – 7mm. (Captured in mobile)

Sunrise at as viewed from Sabargram on the Sandakphu-Phalut Trek. Picture by Ravichandra

Silhouettes are not easy to capture. But here’s a photographer who has done so with aplomb. It’s not just the colours, but also the composition of the shot, which captures the sunset from Sabargram so beautifully. It almost looks like a painting out of an art gallery.

Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/200, Aperture – 6.3, ISO – 100, Focal length – 24mm.

Winners Announced - Trek Photographer of the Month November 2021

April was an interesting month for all of us. On one side, the snowy and spring season officially commenced and on the other side, we still had receding snow at higher altitudes. That’s why this month, we have received a wide variety of photos from our trekkers.

We received over 200 entries in April. It was not easy to shortlist Top 10 nominations, as each photo has a strong story behind it. From Summer landscapes to trekkers in action to beautiful sunrise to some amazing portraits, we simply loved going through each photo.

So here, we announce the Winners of the Trek Photographer of the Month in April 2022.

Pangarchulla_Avinash Sharma_ Back Side View of pinnacle

Stunning bird's eye image showing us the pangarchulla summit and massive views of Mt Chaukhambha, Mt. Neelkant and Mt Dronagiri in the background. What makes this image truly rare and unique is that the photograph used a drone to capture this image. We get a clear picture of the massive mountains that we don't witness due to the haze. It's a spectacular image!  

We were mesmerized by the view and creative skills required to take this picture. For these reasons, this image is our clear winner. Truly one for the ages! 

| Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1250, Aperture – 2.8, ISO – 200, Focal length – 18mm.

Goechala-Srinjana Dhar-The Forbidden Forest

Goechala's famous forest section- Dense, misty and mythical with the perfect setting of Rhododendrons. I absolutely love this picture. I used to always wonder what the forbidden forest looked like while reading Harry Potter when I was young. For a brief moment, this image took me there!

Dayara Bugyal - Sanal K M- View of the Gangotri Range

This Dayara Bugyal picture shows us the perfect setting for a summer trek. Lush green in front and the snow-capped mountains in the background. This image taken from a trekker's perspective perfectly encapsulates that feeling. 

| Camera Settings: Shutter – 1/1250, Aperture – 2.8, ISO – 200, Focal length – 18mm

AliBedniBugyal_RaviKayasth_BuranchYouBeauty

Blooming spring Rhododendrons from Ali Bedni Bugyal.  I'll be honest- whenever I see a photo of Rhodos, I get mesmerized every single time. This image shows the different shades of Rhodo colours. We have seen Deoriatal Chandrashila have beautiful rhododendron but Alibedni is equal to it!

Goechala – G Hassan Kumar – Pandim watches over trekkers enroute Thansing Campsite

This is a beautiful picture! Trekkers in the foreground and massive Mt Pandim in the background with the perfect golden ratio composition. It shows the perspective of how mighty this mountain really is. The mountains have a way of humbling us, this picture says exactly that story.

Dayara Bugyal_Vishwas Krishnamurthy_Golden Light on Dayara Medows

Dayara is extremely famous for its meadows. The sunsets are also extremely beautiful during the summer. Almost a golden aura surrounding it. This picture shows us the endless full green carpet meadows with blooming yellow and pink flowers. You'll experience exactly this on your Dayara Buygal Trek.  

 Harkidun trek is unique in its culture. It has more than 200 years of raw culture. This picture is composed of a beautiful portrait and the eyes tell the story of it. Sun-kissed light falling on an innocent face- Truly mesmerising.  One of the best portrait images we have seen in a while. 

Khopra Ridge-Ritabrata Das-Waiting for Sun rise on Muldei top

 We were eagerly waiting to see the pictures from Khopra ridge Trek after a 2-year hiatus! And well, the wait hasn't disappointed us one bit. What a beautiful shot of sunset with the background of the famous fish-tail mountain Mt. Machapuchare. The photographer has captured this with a good landscape and silhouette background. 

As a photographer myself, I want to simply appreciate this capture. This image is special for a reason. We as viewers take this reason for granted. For this beautiful landscape picture- the photographer had to wake up at midnight and trek the whole night to reach the summit just to capture the first sunlight that falls on the Kanchenjunga range. Alpine glow. Epic sunrise. Tearful reflections. Perfect picture!

AliBedniBugyal-Vaisakh- Blooming flowers carpet

In the summer season, grasslands turn green along with blooming cloured flowers. This picture encapsulates just that. Trekkers walking on the flower carpet of Ali meadows. Photographer has perfectly captured the composition of flowers and trekkers walking in the background. Expect this setting in most of your time in the Ali meadows!

Winners Announced - Trek Photographer of the Month September 2021

Winners Announced - Trek Photographer of the Month April 2022

We invite you to participate in the June 2018 Trek Photographer of the Month contest! This contest is exclusive to Indiahikes trekkers who have trekked with us in June 2018.

Our judge will select three winners for this contest – One Grand Prize Winner and Two runners up. We also have a Trekkers’ Choice Award.

Photograph of the lake at Roopkund by Atish Waghwase

This month, the Winner gets a voucher of Rs. 5,000 as the grand prize. You can avail this voucher on any of your future treks with Indiahikes.

The First Runner Up gets a Trek Voucher of Rs. 3,000 and the Second Runner Up gets a Trek Voucher of Rs. 2,000.

Trekkers’ Choice award sponsored by AdventureWorx

The waist pack comes with a detachable and adjustable waist belt and shoulder sling. The belt is padded and cushioned and has a small zippered pocket. There is one large compartment to store travel essentials and and a secondary compartment with internal organisers to keep small items. The pack also has two stretch-mesh side pockets.

You get to choose the Trekkers’ Choice Award by voting for your favourite photograph from the list of nominations published on 28th July.

1. Maximum of 5 photo submissions per person

E-mail your photo entries to contest@indiahikes.com. The last date for entries is 26th July 2018.

Copyright for all images submitted as a participant remains with the respective photographers. However, each photographer grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to Indiahikes to feature any or all of the submitted images in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.

Results will be announced on August 1st, 2018.

If you’re writing a blog post about your trek, send it over to us! We will share it on our social media channels and if we deem it suitable for our website, we will publish the same. Let the whole trekking community read what you have to say about your trek.

Send your blog post to swathi@indiahikes.com.

1. If you’d like to see a few great photo stories from our treks: 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 on 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.

June 2018 Trek Photographer of the Month - Contest Rules

This April, we saw a wide variety of pictures! Right from the dramatic Everest Base Camp trek, with the snow-covered Gokyo Ri, to the wonderful spring colours of Uttarakhand.

We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We have picked three winners. In addition, we also have a Trekkers’ Choice Award for the photograph with the maximum number of votes.

The Deoriatal Campsite – Picture by Sudipto

This is a calendar-worthy shot of the Deoriatal campsite. It’s one of the rare treks where you meet with big mountains with 2 km of your trek! And Sudipto has captured the entire campsite beautifully! We love it especially for the depth, the colours, the right amount of view of the lake and the tasteful editing.

A striking view from Maninda Tal – Tushar Bhujbal

Here’s another one from Har Ki Dun — this is the view from Maninda Tal. We were surprised to see such vivid browns and oranges in the month of April! This picture captures the scale of the Har Ki Dun valley wonderfully, giving us a perspective of how tiny humans can be amidst these big mountains! Also, there’s wonderful play of light and shade in this picture, which makes it especially appealing.

A grand sunset at Chopta – Picture by Nikhil Aggarwal

This spot at Chopta seems to be a favourite amongst photographers! That makes it all the more hard to get a photograph that stands out! And Nikhil Aggarwal has done just that, with this sublime sunset shot! The colours, the contrast, the depth, the sharpness and the composition are all spot on!

A semi-frozen Gokyo Lake – Picture by Santhosh

Rarely do you see mountains 20,000 ft above sea level towering right before your eyes. The Everest Base Camp is one of those rare treks! Here’s Mt Machermo, standing tall at 6,273 m (20,580 ft) rising behind the Gokyo Lake. Only a very lucky trekker will get to experience such clear skies and crystal clear reflections!

Simplicity at its best – Picture by Pinaki Mandal

We love the lightness and the heartiness of this picture. The composition is interesting, giving us a peek into life in the mountains, while at the same time showing us a little bit of Garhwalil culture through the subject. The timing of this picture is everything, because it’s not often you get to capture a young child smiling candidly!

The mountain village of Osla – Picture by Madhura Korantak

This picture beautifully captures a slice of life in the mountains. The wooden architecture, the Supin river in the distance, the surrounding forest cover, the clothes hanging out to dry facing the easterly sun. No frills. Just a plain day in the mountain village of Osla.

A long way ahead to Pangarchulla – Picture by Nishant Narkhedkar

The Pangarchulla summit always makes for great photographs. It is an adventurous summit climb that resembles an expedition, both in pictures and in terms of experience. Trekkers start their climb much before sunrise, at around 3.30 am or 4 am to make it to the summit on time. It takes around 6-7 hours to climb one way up to the summit. This picture captures the early hours of the climb, the morning light, where the sun is just about to rise. A great story-telling shot!

The Julota Campsite on the Kedarkantha trek – Picture by Harish

What a vibrant shot! The way Harish has captured this campsite is making us immediately want to head to the Kedarkantha trek. We intentionally moved away from the regular route and the Juda Ka Talab campsite because of the crowd. Now trekkers camp here, at Julota, in an isolated clearing in the forest, without a soul around!

The Barnala Tal at Dayara Bugyal – Picture by Srikanth

A peek into how trekkers spend their day after the day’s trek. Here are trekkers relaxing by the Barnala Tal after a short day’s trek Dayara. One of the biggest attractions of such easy-moderate treks are that you have the afternoons all to yourself. You’re free to explore the forests around or read a book sitting by your tent, or in this case, share conversations sitting by a lake.

Life at the Everest Base Camp – Picture by Santhosh

We love this picture for the drama and the story it tells! The Khumbu Glacier, the moraines, the expedition tents on the moraines, the snow, the stormy clouds. It’s a classic representation of the hard life that mountaineers live — and this is just the beginning of their climb to Everest!

So those were the Top 10 entries for the Trek Photographer of the Month April 2018.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominated photographers!

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

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

The nominations for the Trek Photographer of the Month April 2018 are now out! Take a look at these striking landscape photographs (and a few portrait shots) and vote for your favourite entry!

Winners announced for Trek Photographer Of The Month April 2018

We invite you to participate in the November 2017 Trek Photographer of the Month contest! This contest is exclusive to Indiahikes trekkers who have trekked with us in November 2017.

Our judge will select three winners for this contest – One Grand Prize Winner, two runners up. We also have a Trekkers’ Choice Award.

This month, the Winner gets a voucher of Rs. 5000 as the grand prize. You can avail this voucher on any of your future treks with Indiahikes.

The First Runner Up gets a Trek Voucher of Rs. 3000 and the Second Runner Up gets a Trek Voucher of Rs.2000.

We also have a Trekker’s Choice Award, where our trekkers choose their favourite shot through a poll. The winner gets a Goodie Bag by Indiahikes!

E-mail your photo entries to contest@indiahikes.com. The last date for entries is 25th December 2017.

Regarding copyright: Copyright for all images submitted as a participant remains with the respective photographers. However, each photographer grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to Indiahikes to feature any or all of the submitted images in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.

Results will be announced on January 1st, 2018.

Send your blog post to swathi@indiahikes.in.

Our photo contest for this month is now open. If you've trekked with us in November 2017, you're welcome to share your entries with us.

November 2017 Trek Photographer Of The Month

We received a flood of entries from trekkers for the July 2015 Photo Contest. It was difficult short-listing just ten out of them. Here are the top 3 winners from the shortlisted nominations.

Shyam kumar Chelathur – Kashmir Great Lakes

A good photograph gets many things right at the same time. First, it is beautifully composed. Second, it gets the lighting right (as much as natural and as less as Photoshoped), Third, it needs to tell a story which sticks in your mind. Fourth, it must make you go wow! Shyam’s photograph is a superb rare composition of the Kashmir Great Lakes trek. The lighting is perfect. It makes the reader go wow at the beauty of the place and finally, it tells a joyous story of trekkers wafting across the grasslands of Kashmir. Shyam gets the first prize for this photograph.

Rajiv’s Roy picture of the Hampta Pass is a terrific composition. The beehive of activity of the camp against the backdrop of the Hampta Pass gives readers a picture of what the trek is all about. The enhanced colours work in the photographs favour. 

Sometimes a photographer has to wait for long to get the lighting perfect. The setting sun plays out a lovely game of light and shade in another wonderful composition. The composition, the lighting gives Shibi the third prize. 

1. Abhishek Ray, lone figure on Hampta Pass. Terrific composition. Overtly photoshoped.

2. Abhishek Mondol, tent near Chandratal. Terrific composition, but the tent is too close and dominates the photo. 

1. Shyam kumar Chelathur: Kashmir Great Lakes

10. Raghav Sharma – Kashmir Great Lakes

The nominations for the July 2015 Photo Contest by Indiahikes. They're all entries from the Hampta Pass and Kashmir Great Lakes treks. Take a look.

July Photo Contest - Results

Here are the shortlisted 12 best photos of the Rupin pass trek – summer 2014. Trekkers were asked to submit their best photos from the trek for the contest.

Our judges will now run through these photos and choose three winners. Before the judges choose, tell us which of these photos deserves the top three photo awards (use the comments box below). The photographs are not displayed in any particular order.

Results will be out on 14th February, 2015.

The winners get the following awards from Indiahikes

The winner of the photo contest gets a Rs 5,000 trek voucher from Indiahikes.

The second winner gets Rs 3,000 trek voucher from Indiahikes.

The third winner gets Rs 2,000 trek voucher from Indiahikes.

Lead image photo credit: Shariff Ahmadulla

Tell us which of these photos deserve the top three photo awards (use the comments box below).

Watch out for the results on 14th February, 2015!

Rupin Photo Contest 2014 - Nominees

The contest results are out !  The top three winning photos are below. Our Judge Srinivasa Prasath shares with you why the pictures turned up winners. Post your comments below.

Lsp says ” This picture has all the elements that make a perfect landscape photograph! By going low on the perspective, the photographer has managed to create a sense of symmetry using the reflection on the water body. Rock in the foreground act as a comfortable anchoring point to rest the attention and wander around the photograph. Lake’s shore line leads the attention towards the background and in the background, the mountain is gorgeously lit by the golden light, glowing beautifully! Reflection on the water creates a nice symmetry between top and bottom portion of the frame. Also the shadow of the mountain on the right side creates a vertical symmetry with mountain to the left. This aesthetically balances the frame both horizontally and vertically. Orange on the mountain is perfectly complementing the blues in the frame. Icing on the cake is definitely the moon setting beyond the mountains! Good exposure balance between the shadow area and the brightly lit mountains. Also the depth is adequate. Well qualified to be FIRST in this contest.”

“Photography is all about seeing and showing familiar things in a different-interesting perspective. Photographer Aju Marshal has done that perfectly in this case! KishanSar lake has been photographed so many times by different photographers, in so many different perspectives. Yet in this case photographer has managed to capture the same lake in a totally unique perspective! Generally when we see people on the summit, it is very common they are surrounded by open sky all around them. In this case the mind is fooled by the vast KishanSar lake surrounding them in all directions. Taking perfect advantage of the vantage point, photographer has created this beautiful frame using his perspective. Composition is very powerful using the negative space of the lake. Tiny people at the bottom of the frame contribute to judging the scale of the lake shown above them. Reflection of clouds and mountain on the lake adds an element of interestingness to the otherwise empty portion of the frame. All in all this picture deserves to be SECOND for breaking the pattern and reintroducing the lake to us in a breathtaking perspective!” says LSP

“The saying ‘Add a horse to your landscape and make it look more beautiful’ fits so perfectly to this scene! This is one of those ‘Being at the right place, at the right moment’ kind of photograph. It has a nice peaceful and soothing ambiance created by the magical light rays in the background and the silhouetted horse grazing near the placid lake. Positioning of horse inside the frame is well balanced and the curving lake leads the viewer’s attention into the frame. Just wish the photographer went a bit low on their perspective to place the horse right on the bright spot created by the light rays. That would have made the horse positioned right at the place where the light rays fall instead of that small disjoint created by the bright spot. Nevertheless this picture stands THIRD for the wonderful artistic frame”. says LSP

Here are the shortlisted 15 best photos of the Great lakes trek. Trekkers were asked to submit their best photos from the trek for the contest.

Our Judges will now run through these photos and choose one among them as the winner. Before the judge chooses, tell us which of these photos deserve the best photo award (use the comments box below).

The photographs selected here are in random order. The numbers attributed to the photos are to identify the photographer and does not denote any ranking by Indiahikes. Use the number and the name of the person to make your comments. Please click on the photo to view the enlarged image.

The winners get the following awards from Indiahikes.

The winner of the photo contest gets a Rs 5,000 Trek Voucher from Indiahikes.

The second winner gets Rs 2,500 Trek Voucher from Indiahikes.

The third winner gets Rs 1,000 Trek Voucher from Indiahikes.

Kashmir Great Lakes - September, 2013 Photo Contest

Lsp says “Totally love the trail time story telling aspect of this photograph! A person viewing this photograph can literally feel with the trekker. This picture has passion and ‘never give up’ attitude written all over it! First off, it was a great choice of the photographer to go for a vertical composition in this case, inspite of a landscape scene. Vertical orientation highlights strength. Majesty of the towering target and the inner strength of the trekker complements each other very well in this composition. Secondly, clever use of layer separations. Placement of foreground subject is brilliant with the curving trail leading the viewer’s eye to the subject comfortably. Midground is the majestic target waiting to be scaled. The tormenting scary clouds form a dynamic background to this picture. All adding a certain degree of interestingness to this photograph! Exposure is well chosen and the depth is perfect. I can see both the trekker and mountains in sharp focus and clarity. There are natural lines running everywhere inside the frame creating a visual sense of dynamism overall. Without doubts number ONE in this contest!”

Beautiful framing of the scene using the opening of the tent. Have to appreciate the photographer for his presence of mind to use this available window to create a frame within a frame, which creates a more compelling composition and a three dimensional feel. Also the POV is well chosen. It creates an illusion of giant movie screening happening inside the tent! The positioning of subject is good and the clear rainbow in the background adds a lot of interestingness to this photograph. Exposure is good and there is a uniform soft light all over. As far as displaying the depth is concerned, just wish the photographer included something in the immediate foreground that a viewer can associate closely, like a pair of relaxing legs would have generated that impact. It would have also created a more stronger foreground and a clear 3 layer separation inside this frame. Nevertheless this is a beautiful depiction of the scene and rightly qualifies to be SECOND in this contest!

Very rarely we get to see a picture with good sense of abstractness in landscape genre of photography! This picture quickly grabs a place in that category. Very well spotted by the photographer. The natural form, texture and tones are brilliantly captured. Alternating bright and dark patterns are really eye catching and very interesting! Use of lines in the composition is brilliant. It was a good idea to tightly fill the frame than a loose composition. Details are sharp throughout the frame. This frame would have been even more striking and powerful in monochrome, for the monochrome highlights the alternating tones, texture and patterns much better than colors. Quickly grabs THIRD position in this contest!

Here are the shortlisted 15 best photos of the Stok Kangri trek. Trekkers were asked to submit their best photos from the trek for the contest.

<table class=" table table-hover" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; border-style: solid; border-color: #141010; background-color: #cbf6f6; height: 146px; width: 588px;"><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 13px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ccffff; color: #000000; font-size: 10pt; font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Our Judge – Srinivasa Prasath is a trekker, traveller and a freelance photographer. A software programmer by profession, he loves to travel length and breadth of this country to document its beauty,  diverse lifestyle and culture of the people. When he takes a break from his mundane life, he simply hangs out in the higher shelves of Himalayas, totally relaxing in the lap of Mother nature. You <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #cbf6f6;">can</span> find his work </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #800000;"><a style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: normal; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lsp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ccffff; color: #800000;">here</span></a></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">…</span></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>

Place : Some where near Shang Pu, Photo was taken at around 5:30 in the evening.

“Photo was taken on a stroll to get some water after a days hike. Magic of evening light on the wedgey, textured mountains made me place the camera between myself and the mountains..” says Ganesh on why and how he took this photograph.

Camera Settings : was @ F 5 & Shutter speed of 1/500, ISO 80 & Focal lenght 28

“The team wakes up for the first attack by the snow. The entire valley of the stock kangry base camp was filled with thick snow. This photo was taken on the first glimpse of day light. Extreme low light but the amazing valley is tried to be captured. At an altitude of 17,000 ft above sea level, Finding all the people with a hope for the weather to clear and continue their trek to the summit is an inspiration that gets you high!” says Gurunandan.

Camera Settings : f-stop- f/3.8, shutter speed- 1/20, ISO- 1250, Focal length- 21mm, camera-  NIKON D90

Rainbow, an apology for the bad weather 

“The rains hinder our trek all day long and at last when we end the days trek the nature god gives you a beautiful rainbow as an apology”. says Gurunandan

Camera Settings :  F-stop – f/22, shutter speed – 1/45, ISO – 200, focal length – 18mm, Camera – NIKON D90.

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