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Lion Family
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Lion Family

by Austin Thomas

Gallery: WildlifePosted October 31, 2010293 views13 comments
Taken this month, early one morning in the Masai Mara.

The whole family had been playing and chasing each other in the cool morning air. You can probably make out the wet feet as the dew had not yet evaporated.

They started to walk towards my vehicle, which caused other vehicles in the area to move, so I had to wait until they were out of the background before recording this image.

More images from Kenya 2010 are available HERE


C&C welcome.

Canon 1DMK4, 500mm, 1.4x, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO800

Cheers

Austin

Comments

13 comments
Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on October 31, 2010 at 4:55 PM
She is a handsome specimen and those cubs are adorable. Really nice capture!
Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on October 31, 2010 at 6:51 PM
Love this image ! - the 2 lions in focus, wiuth the 2 others behind and OOF works great.
Feels a little tight in the frame, to me.
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Teller on October 31, 2010 at 7:03 PM
I really like this image, especially having the lioness and cub both in focus. The comp. is great.
Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments
Comment posted by Joe James on October 31, 2010 at 8:13 PM
Can you tell who the next leader of the pride is? Wonderful shot Austin! I just love the composition and the cub right next to mom just looks like a future lion king/queen in the making. Well done!
Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments
Comment posted by JACK NEAL on October 31, 2010 at 8:56 PM
Good picture! Hard to get one animal to cooperate, much less four! Good work! I agree that a little more canvas would make a stonger picture.
Registered on September 26, 2009, 131 Posts, 554 Comments
Comment posted by Danny Laredo on November 1, 2010 at 3:10 AM
This is real nice Austin. Love the low angle and eye contact.
Registered on March 18, 2008, 71 Posts, 332 Comments
Comment posted by Brad Hill on November 1, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Hi Austin,

Very nice...all the different poses of the cubs adds a lot of interest to the image and almost implies a little about their differing personalities. Nice use of selective focus. I saw the other's comments about the "tightness" of the cropping - for me it works just fine (but if I was going to hang it on my wall I'd probably argue for more room to0, but for online presentation this is just fine for me). My only very minor nit is something totally out of your control - if there was just a tad more separation between the female and the cub to the left of her (her right, our left) I think the image would be slightly stronger. But that's really a "perfect world" comment!

Cheers...thanks for sharing this...

Brad
Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments
Comment posted by Austin Thomas on November 1, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Hello everyone,

Firstly thank you for giving me this feedback. I have to say that I am very impressed by the quality of the critique given and it matches my own thoughts precisely.

I will endeavour to be a little more active in this section of NPN in the future. Since joining in 2008 I have spent all of my time in the UK/Europe regional section.

Thanks again,

Austin
Registered on March 7, 2008, 45 Posts, 207 Comments
Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on November 1, 2010 at 10:37 AM
A terrific frame of the family with all the subjects very well placed.
Just love the symmetry of raised paw of mother and front cub.
Jagdeep Rajput
Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on November 1, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Hi Austin, welcome to the 'international' section of NPN :wavey: This is a lovely image indeed. Techs and processing look spot on. Further I echo the comments made by Brad. Hope to see more from you in this gallery.
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Archer on November 1, 2010 at 3:06 PM
Welcome to NPN Austin!!! This is a sweet photo, love the eye contact of the lioness along with the alert attitude of the nearest cub.

Ken Archer
Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments
Comment posted by Andrea Marzorati on November 2, 2010 at 2:22 PM
Really a good picture! :toast:
Registered on December 1, 2005, 86 Posts, 589 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Gulash on November 4, 2010 at 1:43 AM
Would love to see a seen like this in the wild. Nicely captured, I like the way you caught the mother in clear focus and the cubs in varying degrees of focus. Great job catching them mid stride.
Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments