Masai Leopard #2

Olympus E-500, 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 @ 150mm, Creative Mode, f/4.5, 1/640 sec), ISO set 100, Handheld, JPG

This is the second of my two favourite images from the Leopard series I captured on the Masai Mara back in 2006.

The tree was perhaps 50 meters from the edge of the embankment she'd just climbed, and as she approached it she was constantly looking around warily for signs of (probably) Lions or Hyenas that might have spotted her kill (the Thompson's Gazelle) that she'd stashed earlier in the day.

While I assume it was simply because she'd become used to the presence of people in vehicles and didn't see them as any threat, it was still amazing the way she completely disregarded us; only interested in other potential competitors and getting back to her meal.

I could hear hushed “Ooo's” and “Ahhh's” from the people around us, as I kept clicking away with her every step closer to the base of the tree. She took one brief look up the trunk, as if to target the area she wished to land with precision, then, in the blink of an eye, she'd launched and landed half way up, leaving a mere couple of upward paces to reach the first branch, the one you see her settled on here.

Though unfortunately the setting sun was only just adding a touch of colour to the otherwise drab sky, thankfully she held her position long enough for me to fire off a few shots in this pose, while she gave one more look out over the surrounding area … leaving me wondering whether she was still looking out for other predators or, perhaps, appreciatively admiring the beautiful vista at the end of another successful day on the Mara ;^)

Moments later she climbed further up to where her meal laid safe, but something had her feeling she's be better off still higher up, so she took a firm hold of the Gazelle's neck and, in an astonishing burst of sheer power, made one single leap with her prey in her jaws to a branch above, I hasten to add the Gazelle looked to be at least as big as she in size if not bigger!

This entire encounter thrilled me to the core and, looking back now, I know with certainty that it was this particular experience that set me well and truly on the path toward fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a professional wildlife photographer, even though it took a number of years after before I was in a position to give it my very best shot and, in truth, I've a ways to go yet before I can consider myself professional in an income producing way ;^)

Hope this wasn't too longwinded, editing my own words has always been something of a challenge for me, but never more so than when I hit upon a subject I feel so passionately about :^)

PP: Cropped about 15%. The original JPG came out much darker than this, which actually offers quite a nice semi-silhouette effect, however, I decided to lighten this version up quite a bit (though probably too much!) to get at least some colour that was present in the sky showing.

This is far from great PP work I'm know, so any opinions, comments, suggestions or advice will be very welcome, thanks in advance for your time and consideration :^)

Kind regards,

Ashley