Leopard on hunt!

Gallery: WildlifePosted May 5, 2012662 views11 comments

Visited Yala National Park in Sri Lanka last week and was lucky to spot 12 leopards during the nine trips I made there! This was taken close to 11 am. A male leopard was hiding in a bush about 50 yards or so from a small herd of spotted deer (chital) that was grazing, totally unaware of the predator. Unfortunately for the leopard, that was as close as he could get without being spotted (pardon the pun). There was open area between him and the deer, and he decided to make the charge. I saw the scene developing, and quickly changed the lens from the 500 mm to my 70-200. As soon as I had done that, he charged, but missed his target, which was possibly a fawn. Sorry I cut off his tail, but the head was so sharp, that I decided I would keep this image. Hope you enjoy it, too.
Location: Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Date: April 2012
Equip: Canon 7D, Canon 70-200 f2.8 at 200
Specs: ISO 500, f6.3, 1/200s, hand-held from a jeep.

Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Oscar Benavides on May 5, 2012 at 5:22 AM

WOW. I think to get this picture is very commendable. It had to be a great experience. It is difficult to see the leopard and much more to see it hunting. I like the blurry BG that gives you a great sensation of movement. It's a shame that you cut his tail but there is nothing you can do now. Well done and thanks for sharing.

Oscar

Registered on January 2, 2011, 12 Posts, 141 Comments

Comment posted by Sally Wood on May 5, 2012 at 8:10 AM

Beautfiully caught! to show off this amazing animal........... I think all 4 feet are off the ground here! lovely!

Registered on March 8, 2012, 39 Posts, 509 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on May 5, 2012 at 8:55 AM

Great image IMHO! The larger image really shows the intensity of the leopard as it charged. Glad you got this shot, must have been very exciting, thanks for sharing. I do think you could crop just abit off of the bottom.

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

Comment posted by Rick Turner on May 5, 2012 at 9:41 AM

Very well done Ajit. tail would be nice but a perfect world this is not...

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on May 5, 2012 at 9:45 AM

You have got a terrific image here !
Although it's a personal taste, but I may prefer to clone out the twigs, pointing towards leopard's head and feet.
Jagdeep Rajput

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

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on May 5, 2012 at 4:11 PM

Whoa!!!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on May 5, 2012 at 9:00 PM

This makes me remember I hope to attempt more panning shots this year! Cool.

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

Comment posted by Max Waugh on May 6, 2012 at 12:38 AM

Ajit, you pulled it off pretty well. First, nice job getting the head so sharp at 1/200th. Second, I can't say I've seen many shots of sprinting leopards before... congrats on the rare capture.

Max

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

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on May 6, 2012 at 5:05 PM

Sharp where it needs to be - excellent panning technique here Ajit.
I can live without the tailtip...it's a hunting leopard in the clear for goodness sake

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

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on May 8, 2012 at 9:59 AM

In response to Jagdeep Rajput's observation that there are some twigs pointing to the running leopard's face and feet which are distracting, I am reposting the image without the offending items. Is this better?

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

Comment posted by Sachin Rai on June 3, 2012 at 6:34 AM

WOW again :)
How do you manage to pull off the pan shots so precisely :)

Registered on February 29, 2012, 15 Posts, 26 Comments