The Leopard Rocks

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 6, 2011214 views7 comments

This image was captured in February 2010 in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, South Africa. This young leopard was strolling through the bush with her mother on an overcast morning. At one point they went down into a riverbed and got onto a very large plate of rocks. I liked how this elusive cat's coat even blends well into an "open" terrain like this rock.

All comments welcome.

Techs:
Nikon D3s with 70-200mm f2.8 VR @ 200mm
f4.0 @ 1/1250 SS @ ISO-500

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on July 7, 2011 at 12:30 AM

Terrific Image ! What an awesome looking cat ! That tail might have constrained your composition options, but i think you nailed it.

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on July 7, 2011 at 10:59 AM

Cool setting n nice pose ! In smaller version, leopard and the tree appear slightly mixed up, but when I opened the large version, the confusion clears.

Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on July 8, 2011 at 7:28 AM

I agree about how beautifully a leopard can seem to be camouflaged even against a rock. The subject seems to be a tad over-sharpened, at least on my monitor, though.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Runco on July 8, 2011 at 2:15 PM

Really cool shot! Just incredible that the cat blends in so well with the rock. I can see how that long tail drove the composition here, nice crop.

Registered on September 9, 2008, 77 Posts, 705 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 8, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Thanks for the comments guys. This was a totally wild leopard.

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

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on July 9, 2011 at 9:25 PM

Beautiful scene Morkel! The rock is wonderful and works well with the Leopard as you point out. I like the dead tree in the composition, it adds a lot of interest and isn't confusing to my eye. I'm curious how others feel about the dof, is it desirable to have everything in focus like a landscape type image, or is it better to have the focus clearly sharpest on the leopard?

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

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 12, 2011 at 6:01 PM

Thanks Gary. The DOF here is misleading. I was on a very shallow DOF setting aperture-wise, if you look carefully you will see the FG and BG rock face is slightly OOF.

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