Source: Steve Winter

Every Mac OS X update we get a new cat--cheetah, puma, jaguar, tiger, panther, leopard, and now snow leopard. Most of us take these cats for granted, not thinking about the photographic skill that goes into capturing them. Well, National Geographic sheds some light on capturing the elusive snow leopard in their picture show for today.

According to National Geographic, there are as few as 3,500 snow leopards in the wild, and they live in altitudes as high as 18,000 feet. So, it's no surprise that only a few have been captured on camera. Photographer Steve Winter is famous for his capture on Apple's Snow Leopard box--but most people don't know that he spent ten rough months in northern India getting it. Even using his famous camera traps, at one point it took him seven months of waiting to get one successful frame.

The expedition won Winter a Wold Press Photo award and made him BBC's Wildlife Photographer of the Year. But awards aren't everything for Winter; this conservationist is more concerned with making people care about protecting endangered wildlife, through his photos of course. He's also the media director of Panthera, a nonprofit devoted to wild cats.

He might have to brave getting chased by an angry rhinoceros every once in a while, but we're certainly glad we get to see his fantastic work on the cover of an operating system we use everyday!

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