Salayexe's Cub
by Max Waugh
This was the highlight of our stay at South Africa's Elephant Plains Game Reserve in August. In general, EP was quiet during the three days we were there, so we spent much of the time tracking an elusive female leopard called Salayexe, which had moved her young cubs to a new den. She kept leaving confusing tracks for all of the rangers, so everyone had an impossible time figuring out where she had secreted the youngsters.
Finally, our tracker found the family. Because the cubs were so young (7-8 weeks old), the lodge had prevented visitors from seeing the cubs previously. We were the first group allowed to approach the den (only while mom was around). The cubs were still not used to vehicles, so they immediately ran into the den... and then very timidly peeked out. This was the only opportunity I had to get one of them anywhere close to out in the open, so I'm happy I came away with the shot.
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 500mm f/4 IS
ISO 800
1/800th
f/5.6
Max
Comments
17 commentsI've never seen them this small in the field
the blue eyes are the cherry on top
DOF is perfect for my tastes
I might be tempted to add a hint more midtone contrast?
Great timing and fabulous sharp image of such a young leopard cub . Loved the innocence captured in shinning blue eyes which makes this extremely delightful .
It’s seems that you are privileged in capturing leopard cubs.
I really missed the larger version and the only thing I find a bit distracting is the blur line on RHS.
Regards
Saurabh Singh
Those blue eyes are fantastic - love how they contrast with the rest of the quite homogeneous colour palette - for me they absolutely make the shot. Torn a tiny bit by the DoF - I really like how it makes the face pop, but feel that the out-of-focus band on the bottom distracts perhaps a bit. But those eyes...whoa...just excellent.
Thanks for sharing this great experience with us...
Brad
Great eyes, very cute. I share the concerns about the oof part - not so much that it's oof, but that it is so bright. Toning down the brightness will greatly improve this imho. As it is looking to the left anyway, I'd be tempted to crop a slice from the right to get rid of that painted (?) bit. Hope that makes sense.
Regarding that OOF stuff on the right, it certainly was a point of frustration for me. When we arrived at the den, the cubs were nursing out in the open. Then they dashed back into the hole, likely an old warthog den in a termite mound. If you're familiar with the layout of the Land Rovers used in many African reserves and parks, I was in the front seat (a.k.a., the lowest seat), and found myself staring right at a huge clump of grass blocking my view of the hole.
The cubs started peeking out, and everyone else in the vehicle was shooting away happily. Meanwhile I was absolutely helpless. So finally I asked our guide to back the vehicle up slightly. He did, which allowed me just enough space to clear most of the grass impediment when this cub crawled out this far. And good thing we moved in time, because the mother left immediately afterward, which meant we could not stick around with the cubs any longer.
This could probably work okay as a square crop in order to get rid of some of that stuff on the right, though I wanted to preserve the curve at the right edge of the hole.
Max
Leopards are my favorite animals so this really hits home for me! I love it! I think the others have already covered all the great things about it, I just wanted to chime in!
-Cam
Congrats on a fine capture!
Grt, Ingrid.
Captivating eyes, wonderful detail, and perfect DOF
Congrats on the WP!
Sandy
Well deserved!
Super Cute!!!
Ken Archer