Sheep Scape at Tsokar Lake in the Land of Changathang in Ladakh
In the cold and desolate desert mountains of the Tibet highlands in the rain shadow of the Himalayas is the Changathang area with wide valleys and ample pasture.
The area is about 14000 to 16000 feet high. It is windy, intensely cold and unforgiving with sand storms, scarce water and even scarcer pastures for the sheep and yaks of the nomads of the region. They are called Changpas and they are one of the toughest breeds of human beings on Mother Earth.
The pastureland is almost a rough brown as the harsh sun, the cold wind and the slushy snow play havoc with the chlorophyll of the grass. So one may be forgiven to think that there is no pasture. The sheep eat it. The yaks too and all other herbivores that inhabit the high altitude plateau of Tibet.
This is the bed of the Tsokar lake which had very little water this year as there was not much snow in the winter of 2013 and not enough sunshine in the summer of 2014 to melt the snow and ice on the mountain tops.
I was there in May of 2014 on assignment to shoot the life of Changpas and it was tough to be a photographer as every change is posture from kneeling to upright makes you breathless and tired in a minute. Go there if you must but you are forewarned. :)
The sheep seem to be heading to the mountain peaks high up in the background that straddles the Tsokar lake.
What about you ? Don't you want to ?
Nikon D800
24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
ƒ/8.0
55.0 mm
1/640
320
Flash (off, did not fire)
_DSC6881 nef
Sheep Scape at Tsokar Lake in the Land of Changathang in Ladakh
In the cold and desolate desert mountains of the Tibet highlands in the rain shadow of the Himalayas is the Changathang area with wide valleys and ample pasture.
The area is about 14000 to 16000 feet high. It is windy, intensely cold and unforgiving with sand storms, scarce water and even scarcer pastures for the sheep and yaks of the nomads of the region. They are called Changpas and they are one of the toughest breeds of human beings on Mother Earth.
The pastureland is almost a rough brown as the harsh sun, the cold wind and the slushy snow play havoc with the chlorophyll of the grass. So one may be forgiven to think that there is no pasture. The sheep eat it. The yaks too and all other herbivores that inhabit the high altitude plateau of Tibet.
This is the bed of the Tsokar lake which had very little water this year as there was not much snow in the winter of 2013 and not enough sunshine in the summer of 2014 to melt the snow and ice on the mountain tops.
I was there in May of 2014 on assignment to shoot the life of Changpas and it was tough to be a photographer as every change is posture from kneeling to upright makes you breathless and tired in a minute. Go there if you must but you are forewarned. :)
The sheep seem to be heading to the mountain peaks high up in the background that straddles the Tsokar lake.
What about you ? Don't you want to ?
Nikon D800
24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
ƒ/8.0
55.0 mm
1/640
320
Flash (off, did not fire)
_DSC6881 nef