The Hunt

Welcome to NPN, Phil. Well done, a very good first post. The whites are not blown, the detail is good and the composition is perfect. What I like most about this photo is that only what needs to be in the photo is there. It tells a complete story, expertly and well.

Oh! Fabulous!

Here in Florida, virtually all photos of the Florida panther are of captive animals or animals temporarily captured for monitoring, almost never in the wild.

Welcome Phil
Wonderful comp and contrasting subject to background. Excellent work.

I love the dramatic pose and the snow adds so much to the image.

Nice photo Phil, but sure would like to know the story behind the photo! Thanks for posting.

What a terrific first post, Phil. And welcome to npn. Great handling of exposure and super pose and detail.

A warm welcome to NPN, Phil, and a lovely image to debut with! The angle of descent of the puma, the way it is walking into the frame, and the contrasting snow all add up to a beautiful pic. However, the heavy border spoils it in my opinion.

I like the comp in this quite a bit Phil. Cats (as well as foxes) always look better in the snow for me. I agree with Ajit about the heavy border and would get rid of it. BTW, you didn't mention: was this a captive cat or in the wild?

Hi Phil,

Welcome to NPN, and to the Fauna Gallery in particular. This is a great first post and I hope this is only the first of many contributions (both images and comments) you make!

I really like the strong diagonal component of your composition of this image, and the exposure looks spot-on to me (which wouldn't have been simple in this case). The focused look on the cougar's face helps tremendously as well.

Question: Captive or wild? If captive, the Fauna Gallery guidelines request that this information be disclosed (link at top of page, or go here: http://www.naturephotographers.net/naturephotos/wildlifephotography.html). If wild - WOW!

Cheers...thanks for sharing this and already looking forward to your next post!

Brad

Hi Phil,
Excellent first post. I think the black border is best for a subject in snow, but anything less than the full 720 wide will leave the borders uneven as noted above. Looks like an excellent scan. Would love to have seen this larger as well.
Welcome aboard.
Neil

What were the shooting circumstances? Is this a wild encounter!? The angles contribute nicely to the composition. What I like best is the view of that eye. Thanks for sharing and welcome to NPN. I look forward to future contributions!

Welcome to NPN!
Great body language, dynamic pose and eye contact !
I too am keen to know, if wild or captive ?
Jagdeep Rajput

Thank you all for your kind input and advice, I still getting used to the interface here and was not aware I could post this image @720 pixels wide as I thought 640 pixels was the max. These images were created in a controlled environment.

Very well done.

What a cat!!! Well compose, well shot. The downward direction complete the scene and the eye made the plus.

P.S. welcome to this gallery.