The Impossible Shot
See more images at PhotoHunter: Wild Africa.
This leopard was photographed with a Nikon D200 in JPEG format, in low light, using a 300 mm lens with a focal length of 300mm. It was raining and near dusk. It is one of the most challenging shots I've taken in my nature photography. Of the dozens of photos I captured, only these three could be edited (in Lightroom Classic) to publish here on this blog.
These photographs were taken in 2017, at a time when I was just starting my journey into nature and travel photography. Needless to say, I was inexperienced and didn't have the right preparation. I was adventurous and eager to take on a challenge.
See more images at PhotoHunter: Wild Africa.
When we spotted this leopard, I was thinking to myself that I wished I had a tripod, monopod, or small soft pillow to rest my lens on. I had none of these tools, just my camera in low light. I took this picture with an exposure time of 1/90 sec and an F-stop of f/5.6. At the long telephoto length, camera shake was a big enemy.
Seeing this leopard in a rainy, low-light environment was an indescribable experience. At this stage of my photography journey, I was just excited to have such a unique chance to capture the leopard in a tree. I knew deep down that inexperience could be my worst enemy but also my greatest motivation—it pushed me to do my best to capture at least one good image of the leopard that might be a keeper.
See more images at PhotoHunter: Wild Africa.
The leopard sat on the tree for about 5 minutes. Fortunately, my guide was patient, allowing me to capture this unique moment. Moreover, it was only our guide, Peter, my wife, and daughter on this safari, and there was no other tour or safari expedition in sight.
I am happy to have been able to photoblog the African leopard, no matter how imperfect the shot…the memory is reignited each time I see these photographs.