Yushu, Qinghai, 3 Mar (ZXS) -- Photographers of herdsmen in Sanjiangyuan use images to let the world know their hometown
China News Agency reporter Li Jiangning
"Photography is a very important part of my life, it allows me to see more of the beauty of my hometown, and it also takes me to see the bigger world." Daje never imagined that the hands that once held the shepherd whip now turned to holding a DSLR camera and "transformed" from a herder to a professional wildlife photographer.
The data picture shows Daje photographing wild animals on March 3. Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Jiangning
Dajie, 32, is a herdsman photographer from Angsai Township, Zaduo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, whose hometown is known as the "hometown of China's snow leopards" and the core area of the Lancang River Source Park in Sanjiangyuan National Park.
In the evening, it may be the best time to "meet" snow leopards. Daje took his camera on his back and prepared to go to the hill behind the village to "try his luck". "This is fox droppings, and the footprints of Kawanishi pika, it seems that a story happened here not long ago." Dajie's eyes were sharp, and no trace on the grassy mountain could escape his eyes.
The yak herd that was leisurely foraging on the hillside on the opposite bank suddenly "all stopped", Dajie told reporters, most likely because the yaks felt the dangerous atmosphere of "predators" around them. "Maybe it's a wolf, it might be a snow leopard, we'll see." Daje said.
Dajie (first left) photographs wildlife with other pastoralist photographers on March 3. Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Jiangning
While waiting, Daje recalled an experience of "crouching" the snow leopard. "It was one night six years ago, when I went to the mountains to take pictures, I saw a snow leopard that had just caught its prey and was about to eat, I was lying on a slope that it couldn't see, only about 6 meters away from the snow leopard, and I turned my camera on it and started shooting." Daje said, "It ate for a while and went to sleep, slept for an hour and got up and continued to eat, and I stayed there all the time, from 15 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day, my hands were frozen, but I was very excited, it was the first time I photographed a snow leopard." ”
Between chats, the yak herd began to quickly descend the mountain to "go home" and escape from this "danger zone" in time. "It seems that there is no good show here today." Daje said. But he is not in a hurry at this time, in the 8 years of photography, he has gained a lot of "wonderful moments", and he is full of topics when it comes to the story of the snow leopard.
A few years ago, Dajie received important "information" from a friend: a snow leopard mother was raising two snow leopard babies. Dajie, who got the news, quickly informed the two photography partners that in order not to disturb the "parenting life" of the snow leopard mother, the three found a hidden location, worked shifts every day, and began a 35-day record of the growth of the snow leopard baby.
"The mother snow leopard will go out at noon to find food, and in the evening she will bring back some prey for the baby snow leopard, when we first started shooting, the baby snow leopard was still very small and her eyes were not yet open." Dajie's photography partner Cidin told reporters that the three filmed until the little snow leopard grew up, left here with his mother, and went to live elsewhere.
In recent years, photographers from all over the world who come here to "meet snow leopards" are endless, and Dajie, who loves photography, continues to communicate and learn with photographers from all over the world, from the beginning of using ordinary digital zoom card machines to photograph various wild animals encountered on the way to grazing, to now holding up a telephoto lens to shoot more professional precious pictures of snow leopards "parenting" and eating, photography has also changed from Dajie's "hobby" to "career". Many of Daje's photographic works have won awards, bringing him honor and a part of his income.
In 2020, Dajie and other herdsman photographers' Sanjiangyuan wildlife photography was exhibited in Shanghai. "Many photographers who went to the exhibition were very interested in our works, and I am proud to let more people know about my hometown and the wildlife through these photographs." Daje said.
Daje's love of photography also influenced his daughter Kangzhuo. When Kangzhuo was 7 years old, under the guidance of his father, he successfully photographed the snow leopard.
"I haven't been to school, and I hope my daughter will study well, know more, and then better recommend her hometown." Dajie told reporters that when Kangzhuo, who is now in the third grade of primary school, is on vacation, he will still pull his father to the mountains to look for the traces of wild animals.
Nowadays, more and more young people in Angsai Township have begun to pick up cameras and use images to show the world the ecology of the Sanjiangyuan region, and the team of herdsmen photographers has gradually grown. (End)