Photographer Steve Winter's dangerous quest to photograph 'big cats'

June 19, 2015

Saffron Howden

A remote camera captures an Indochinese tiger while hunting. Photo: Steve Winter

 

Steve Winter, one of the world's pre-eminent wildlife photographers, did not capture an animal on camera until he was 34 years old. On a work trip to the Costa Rican rainforest, his inaugural wildlife subject was a turtle. "It was of a marine turtle coming back into the sea at dawn after laying its eggs under the sand on a beach," he told Clique via e-mail.

 

A jaguar hunts for caimans along a riverbank in Brazil's Pantanal. Photo: Steve Winter 

Photographer Steve Winter's amazing big cats

National Geographic photographer Steve Winter's photos of 'big cats' reveal a new world Photo: Steve Winter

Formerly a photojournalist focussing on people for political and business stories, Winter, an American, reinvented himself as an expert stalker of nature.

In 2008, he was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year for his image of an elusive snow leopard, taken at night in the mountains of central Asia. He has twice won first prize in the World Press Photo nature category.

A camera trap captures tiger cubs at a waterhole. Photo: Steve Winter

Now, National Geographic is bringing the "Big Cat legend" to Australia for a series of talks about his work tracking tigers, leopards, jaguars and lions across the world.

In his search for the big cats, Winter has trekked through some of the world's last remaining truly wild areas - and encountered some of its wildest inhabitants. "I've had lots of close calls, especially in India's Kaziranga National Park," he said.

A remote camera captures a radio collared cougar in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. Photo: Steve Winter

The park is home to the world's largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses. "They charged us constantly. They're extremely fast over short distances and they weigh about three tonnes, so they could have easily flipped our jeep," he said. "One charged us while I was setting up a remote camera and completely dented in the door. Another attacked an elephant I was shooting from."

Winter said that despite the close shaves, he has no plans to relinquish his vocation. "I could never give it up," he said. "Photographing wildlife and telling their stories, including the threats that endanger their futures, is my life's work."

A female cougar and her kitten use rock outcrops to provide shelter and cover for hunting. Photo: Steve Winter

This will be the photographer's first trip to Australia and his family will accompany him. Though it may not be as taxing as his usual working days, which involve getting up in the dark to photograph at first light and collapsing into bed without dinner after nightfall. "Lodgings could be anything from a 5-star hotel to a falling down, thatched-roof shack that's swarming with insects," he said.

Steve Winter will be presenting in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney between late July and mid-August. For details and tickets, go to www.nglive.org/pacific

 source

Wildlife photographer Steve Winter