Have they Gone?

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 3, 201593 views8 comments

On one of our traditional evenings out with Wild Dogs, the dogs disturbed a Leopard. Wild Dogs hate Leopards as they have a nasty habit of eating their pups.
This one was lucky to find a precarious perch to escape with it's kill.
The dogs eventually got bored and went on their merry way, later we saw that the Leopard had moved on to a better vantage point with the kill, but by then it was much too dark.
Taken in Kwando concession, Northern Botswana
EOS 1DX
200-400 mm F4 at 513mm
F5.6
ISO 1600
1/1250

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Max Waugh on February 3, 2015 at 2:13 AM

The colors stand out to me, Ken. I like the mottled tones mixed with the dark trunks in the background.

Max

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

Comment posted by Martin Dunn on February 3, 2015 at 3:34 AM

That's one very alert leopard Ken.
Detail is really good considering the leopard appears to be in shadow.
The only thing that slightly detracts from the overall image is that the patch of foliage on the LH side is much brighter than the subject and it draws the eye away from the subject.

Registered on February 20, 2013, 198 Posts, 1011 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Austin on February 3, 2015 at 7:34 AM

Lovely leopard shot. The light spots do detract a bit, but not too much. I like the fact that you can see part of the kill. Tells a story.

Registered on January 6, 2012, 651 Posts, 3448 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on February 3, 2015 at 12:19 PM

I like this image a lot. Tons of detail, gorgeous perch, nice soft shade lighting and a little bit of gore (that's easily cropped out if need be). I'm on my work monitor so take it worth of a grain of salt, but I think it could use a slight boost in contrast

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on February 3, 2015 at 3:43 PM

The composition, detail and sharpness are very good. The light on the face is a bit flat. It would have been nice if you could have gotten a bit of the sunlight on the face.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 4, 2015 at 1:58 AM

Thanks everybody, this was an extremely difficult shot to get , the undergrowth around the tree was extremely dense and this dictated the position we could get our vehicle into, shifting around in the seats made little if any difference. There was certainly nothing we could do about the light or its direction.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on February 4, 2015 at 12:58 PM

A quintessentially feline look.!! Very good light, despite the fact that leopard was in the shade in what appears to be a fairly brightly light background

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 5, 2015 at 4:03 AM

Alberto,
Thanks very much for your comment

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments