National Geographic photographer Steve Winter has spent most of his adult life shooting wild cats.

Winter used elaborate and creative lighting designs to photograph the elusive snow leopards. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

Winter has photographed just about every kind of wild cat on the planet. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

Snow leopards were Winter's ticket to fame. In 2008, he captured the first intimate portraits of the world's most elusive cats – in the brutal, 15,000-foot cold of the Himalayas. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

A camera trap captures 14-month-old sibling cubs cooling off in a watering hole in Bandhavgarh National Park, India. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

A 14-month-old cub, cooling off in a pond, is riveted by a deer that appeared near the shore. Tigers are powerful swimmers; they can easily cross rivers four to five miles wide and have been known to swim distances of up to 18 miles. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

Winter uses every trick in the book to capture his photos. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

A male cougar, labeled P22, makes his way home from the Santa Monica Mountains to Griffith Park – an island habitat surrounded by homes and highways. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)

A hidden camera recorded Hollywood's most reclusive star. This male cougar was first seen in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. (Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic)