Kedarkantha Winter trek - December, 2013 Photo Contest

Here are the shortlisted 21 best photos of the Kedarkantha winter 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 three winners. Before the judge chooses, tell us which of these photos deserve the top three photo awards (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.

A note from Indiahikes:

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.

Rs 1,000

@ Abhineet ” I could see distant clouds and snow capped peaks.  Sunlight was bringing out the contrast between vast snow stretches and red patches of vegetation.  The lone trekker was reemphasizing the tranquility “

Location: Kedarkantha Base, around 12:00pm

Camera Settings: Nikon D90, Aper: f/9, Focal length: 12mm, ISO: 320, Exposure: 1/2500 sec

@ Abhineet ” The thick fresh snow and bright tents looked beautiful with the deodar trees.  At this position the sky and dead tree created a nice contrast for the click “

Location:

Camera Settings: Nikon D90, Aper: f/11, Focal length: 12mm, ISO: 320, Exposure: 1/400 sec

@ Abhineet ” I woke up to clean snow collected on my tent overnight.  That is when I noticed the scenery and a man walking with torch.  Had to click!”

Location:

Camera Settings: Nikon D90, Aper: f/22, Focal length: 14mm, ISO: 1000, Exposure: 30 sec

@ Abhishek Mandal ” The fact that the lake was frozen without a ripple added a different character to the otherwise normal reflection. It felt as if the time stood still and hence the capture resembling an Hourglass to portray the same.”

Location:

Camera Settings: Nikon D5100,VR 18-105mm F/3.5-5.6G, Focal length:18mm, F/9, Shutter Speed: 1/200s

@ Anoop Athreyasat “I always thought places like Narnia and the ones in Lord of the Rings were just a myth; but the awesomeness of the snow made Kedarkanta trail look like Narnia. In this picture you see that our army is entering Narnia.”

Location:

@ Ashish Mishra “The classic view seen with naked eye reveals the natural beauty of the landscape, where the snow capped and magnificent peaks under a gloriously blue sky provide a dramatic backdrop.”

Location

@ Ashish Gupta ” I wanted to capture the magnificence of Himalayas and the pollution free scenic environment in which Sankri is located. There are trillions of starts visible at night and the civilization feels like a pin in haystack from this location.”

Location:

Camera Settings: f/3.5, Exposure time: 477 sec, ISO : 400, Focal length : 18mm

@ Kunal Gujar ” Magical waters is what i called this spectacular sight, a perfect example given for beauty of nature in true sense.It just made me realise one thing “nature does not discriminate no matter what the colour is.”

Location:

@ Parikshit Mannur ” The picture was taken when we had finished the trek to KK base camp. I had reached early and  had time to compose the picture waiting for team to join. The landscape needs no words to explain as camp site was perfect with whole team in foreground (with  snow ahead of them) and clouds adding depth to the sky as well as casting shadows on mountains. I have tried to bring some depth to the shadow areas on mountain to the left  making the snow on it visible.”

Location

Camera Settings: Exposure Time : 1/500 sec, Focal Length : 22mm, ISO Speed Ratings : ISO  200, F Number : F 10, Max Aperture : f 3.86, Metering Mode : Multi Segment

@ Prachi Chhajer ” Loved the half frozen pond, with hay like grass sprinkled with snow.”

Location:

Camera Settings: Canon EOS 600D, Aper: f/3.5, Focal length: 18mm, ISO: 100, Exposure: 1/160 sec

@  Prachi Chhajer

Location:

Camera Settings: Nikon D90, Aper: f/11, Focal length: 12mm, ISO: 250, Exposure: 1.3 sec

@  Prachi Chhajer ” Inclement weather did not stop the group from marching on.  Trekkers continue to climb with the weight of their backpacks.”

Location:

Camera Settings: Nikon D90, Aper: f/6.3, Focal length: 12mm, ISO: 320, Exposure: 1/800 sec

@ Praveen Kumar ” This photo was taken while coming back to KK Base from acclimatization walk. The snow white gujjar hut in the background of dark clouds caught my eye..”

Location

Camera Settings: Sony HX7V, Landscape mode

@Garima Sood ” In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me, an invincible summer.” – Author unknown.”

Location:

Camera Settings: I’ve clicked this photograph from my iPhone 5. I hate using flash or filters, or any other special effects. So this is virgin beauty. Nature, the way I found it 🙂

@ Utsav Pathak ” I woke up in the morning at KK base to see this magical view unfold before me, watched in awe as clouds (as mist) continued to rise through the pine trees..”

Location:

@ Utsav Pathak ” We reached Kedarkantha base from Juda-ka-Talab to cloudy weather and snow-fall. With temperatures dropping, these tents seemed very luxurious (and warm) against the mighty Himalayan weather.”

Location:

@Vishwas Deshpande ”  It was the day of summit. We were enjoying the 360 degree view from the Kedarkantha top when I saw the beautiful mountains over the horizon. It instantly struck me to get a snap of the serene mountains over the horzon.”

Location:

Camera Settings: Nokia Lumia 720 with landscape mode

@Vishwas Deshpande ” The setting was for a photo at sunset. We were having a bonfire when I saw the beautiful shades over the mountains. So I decided to get the snap of the base camp with the mountains as the backdrop.”

Location:

Camera Settings:Nokia Lumia 720 with landscape mode.