Napping in a Tree

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 8, 2012220 views6 comments

This morning I got a call from a friend that lives about 15 miles south and west of Scottsbluff that he had the cat up a tree in his back yard. This guy was looking for somewhere to take a nap and the trees around the farm house gave him a safe place. This is the first mountain lion I have seen in the wild. He was not bothered by our presence at all. Every once in a while he would look at us and then go back to sleep. The sky was heavily over cast, so not the best lighting behind the tree. It is exciting to still be able to see cats like this in the wild and not caged in a zoo. Thanks for your comments and critiques.

Canon 40d
Tokina 80-400
Aperture Priority
Shutter 1/250
Aperture f10
ISO 640
400mm
Fill Flash

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on July 8, 2012 at 7:53 PM

Wow, what a great opportunity you had here! I think you handled the lighting well considering and you did a good job of getting the cat's face clear of branches, etc. Thanks for sharing this!

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

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 8, 2012 at 10:27 PM

What a great opportunity, and you made the best of it!

Normally I would like to have seen all of the cats face, but in this case the hidden part just adds to the mystic of the montain lion. Good exposure, detail and colors. Good job of getting a nice image among the tree branches. I hope you thanked your friend for calling you

Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on July 9, 2012 at 5:15 AM

A fine capture of a wonderful animal. On the larger image I can see a hint of purplish chromatic aberration on branches at top of image, but that's easily dealt with.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on July 9, 2012 at 7:01 AM

Richard, the first wild mountain lion is always special. Congratulations! It's great that you were able to get a relatively clear shot without too much interfering foliage.

Max

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

Comment posted by Brad Hill on July 10, 2012 at 2:16 PM

Hi Richard,

Nice to see (and hear) you had such a positive experience with this hard-to-find-in-the-wild critter! In a situation like this you pretty much have to go with what you're given, and you did a good job of maximizing the opportunity. The sky is a bit unfortunate, but I'm sure if you had any way of getting higher up and more level with the cat's eyes (and thus lost most or all of the sky in the shot) you would have done so.

Well done and here's hoping you'll have further encounters with these amazing cats...cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 10, 2012 at 11:19 PM

I like the feeling his looks implies. Nice job in capturing the event and getting a clear look at his face.

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