Female leopard

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 2, 2012202 views9 comments

This female Leopard was in prime condition and she knew it and allowed me to spend almost half an hour with her, until she decided enough was enough and climbed into the canopy. Took a few frames and then left her to enjoy her time relaxing.

Steve
Subject: Female leopard in tree canopy (Panthera pardus)
Location: Botswana
Camera: Canon MKIIV
Lens: 500f/4 - HH
Exposure: 1/400s at f/4 ISO800 0 stop compensation
Crop: Slight crop for presentation (original capture vertical)

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on July 2, 2012 at 1:10 PM

She's lovely. Given the angle you were shooting from, this is a very nice composition. It's the ideal placement of the leopard in the foliage, in my opinion, with her head well clear from the foreground leaves (which still provide some nice border coverage at the bottom).

Max

Registered on September 26, 2008, 428 Posts, 2329 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 2, 2012 at 4:12 PM

Now that's a nice sharp well composed photo! Love that far-away look in the eyes. Very little to nit pick here Stephen in my opinion. I like the spots of sunlight peaking through the foliage.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 3, 2012 at 8:22 AM

Great pose! Nicely exposed. Also like how the tree branches/leaves help to frame her. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on July 3, 2012 at 10:08 AM

Nice portrait of this leopard! I really like the pose and the way the foliage frames her. Nice capture!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 3, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Love the framing here, Steve, great IQ as usual...just looks a tad underexposed? But will have to view properly at home tonight...

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on July 3, 2012 at 2:43 PM

The clear eyes with that look into the distance and the incredibly long whiskers are what make this an appealing image to me Steve. Unlike Gary i am not too fond of the bright spots in the BG and would suggest to tone these down a bit.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Clinton Bauder on July 3, 2012 at 9:52 PM

Quite an impressive animal. Love the far-away look and the whiskers. It does look just a tad dark to my eye and I agree with Vincent about the blue spots in the upper left. Still, an excellent image as presented.

Clinton

Registered on December 8, 2009, 31 Posts, 231 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 10, 2012 at 8:25 PM

Nice portrait, Stephen. Yes, you can tweak the bright sky...but this is darn nice as posted.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Joe James on July 10, 2012 at 9:47 PM

Great shot of one beautiful Leopard. Well done here, I really like the clear eyes and long whiskers.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments