Susie Cipolla

Late in the winter of 2013, John and fellow professional wildlife photographer, Brandon T. Brown, found a lynx mother and kitten near Lake Louise that turned into an epic six-hour day post-holing (sinking deep into the snow with each step) half a dozen kilometres through the powdery snow.

Buoyed by how comfortable the two lynx were in their company, John and Brandon spent the next month trying to find the lynx again. They were fortunate enough to spot her five more times, which all led to extended sessions loosely following the two cats as they hunted snowshoe hares.

This image was taken the second time the photographers found the pair of lynx, five days after their first encounter. John and Brandon had split up following different sets of tracks, so John found the mother first, and while following her, she killed a snowshoe hare. After consuming half of it, she stepped aside and let her kitten take over. Meanwhile, the mother lay down about five metres from John and promptly went to sleep, occasionally opening her eyes to look at John as he lay face-down in the snow in front of her.