Wow! Yet another case of "F8 and Be There". I was goofing at the zoo, standing in front of this leopard, when a zookeeper asked if I was getting any shots I liked. I was honest and said "Not really, he's in a terrible location in the cage, I can't get a good shot". He asked if I wanted the leopard closer and I said I did (duh!!) :D
Anyway, after explaining to me that this leopard has one pissy pissy personality and attacks at every possible opportunity, he showed me where to stand (on top of a bench in the viewing area so I got a clear shot). Then he crossed the barrier between the viewing area and the leopards cage fence, squatted down kinda low..... THEN TURNED HIS BACK TO THE LEOPARD! The second he turned his back, the leopard (who had been about 8' up in a tree) started stalking and I started shooting. This is the last frame before it leapt from the tree and threw all of its weight into its cage fence. The fence bowed out so far that it hit the zookeeper on the shoulder. It was soooooooo cool! A shot of a lifetime for me! :)
Do well you pissy boy! :)
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Place: 68 out of 625 Avg (all users): 6.3069 Avg (commenters): 7.5500 Avg (participants): 6.2432 Avg (non-participants): 6.5366 Views since voting: 1909 Views during voting: 308 Votes: 189 Comments: 27 Favorites: 7 (view)
Great story, Cindi! And an outstanding image! Maybe a little dark is why it may not have scored as high as it seems it should have. Still a good finish !
You definitely clicked the shutter at the perfect instant. That pose and the composition make for a great photo. You seemed to of found the perfect balance between the shaded and bright areas. Well done!
I think this would be somewhat better if cropped to lower half of the image. The body of the cat is distracting because of the dappled light. But that face! Terrific impact!
Amazing shot... The whites are blown out and distract from the piercing gaze. Maybe some burning on the hotspots could balance out the incredible lighting on the face...maybe even a landscape crop just above the ears, losing some on the right side as well. Great shot. :)
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