The Ascent

Great shot Ashley. Nice and sharp, and the wood's proximity to the paw doesn't bother me at all.

WOW ! Great action and body language, very nicely captured !
Love the sense of balance in the frame.
Jagdeep Rajput

Hey Ashley,

Geez....I personally see no reason whatsoever to clone out that little stump of wood (and I think doing so would alter what's going on here - I can't say for sure the leopard is using it for leverage/support, but it sure looks like it).

You've timed the action very well here - great positioning of the tail and both front legs. I have to admit I'm not 100% fond of the shooting angle - obviously you had no choice but to shoot upwards here, but I'd definitely prefer this if it were shot from a more level angle (yep, perfect world kind of comment). One technical nit - there seems to be a faint halo around the tree in the lower half of the image - it's visible (but not too problematic) when viewed dead-on on my monitor, but it does jump out quite a bit when I view the image just off-centre (i.e., slightly tilt my monitor).

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad

I must say you were very lucky Ashley to see this Leopard climb. I was lble to see them on the trees only. It must have been a great experience. You have taken a lovely picture.Thanks for sharing with us.

Tack sharp action! Good capture of the climbing action. Very nice color really like how the cat stands out from the blue sky.
Thanks for sharing.

Very dynamic ! Love that counterbalancing tail !

Great action shot. I know it has good color contrast but I feel like this would make a great bw.

Wonderful image Ashely! I'd leave the bit of stump, looks natural that she would have her paw there. Great work!

Ray

Nice action captured. The leap balanced in the composition against the blue sky works well.

Many thanks for you thoughts and appreciative comments Guy, Jagdeep, Brad, Hussain, John, Anand, Paul, Ray, and Vijay :^)

A ballet dancer in a tree. Great image that make you want to see the next frame: Why is it climbing up the tree and will she manage to get up anyway?

I can see why you have doubts about the little tree stump. Without the stump being there she would really balance on her hind-legs. Now she seems to have some support form that little tree stump (although I am not sure whether she really does..)

Main thing is that you captured this action very well. Yes, of-course in an ideal world it would be nice to have been able to photograph this from a higher POV.

Thx for sharing
Jef

This is a very, very striking and powerful image Ashley! If it were not such a heavy crop and moreover, if this would have been a wild leopard, I would have been in complete awe

Thanks for your comments Jef and Vincent :^)

The light on the leopard rocks! Certainly better than my 'ascent' shot in that regard (this is the kind of light I was hoping for all day which didn't materialise).

I don't mind the little stump. The upward angle couldn't be helped, but yes in a perfect world...
Lovely pose too. Like Vincent said - if this were a "wild" leopard...

You have captured this fantastic action very well Ashley, the angle could be better but not in the real world.
The little stump of wood is OK for me.

What a great photo, Love the pose and lines in the photo! The piece of wood isn't bothering me at all.

Superbbbb action !

Ashley, really love the outstretched Leopard and the climbing action you captured in this shot. My only tiny nit, is I am not thrilled about the huge angle...but I am certain there isn't really anything you could have done about it....just wish next time, you are fortunate enough to be on a hillside or something . Still, all in all, a terrific capture!

I would clone out the stump below the left front paw. I don't think she is using it to climb up. But, a great action shot this, Ashley!

Thanks for sharing your candid thoughts and comments Morkel, Andrea, Ester, Kiran, Kurt, and Ajit :^)