Lion Cub

This photo was taken a few weeks ago and a photograph that I instantly ear marked as a candidate for my “pic of the week”.

This young Southern Pride cub had its eyes fixated on a Vulture not too far away, however, any animal trying to steal a meal is an enemy. I loved the juxtaposition of the cuteness of the cub with the intensity of the stare. Both of these elements enhanced by a short developing mane, transitioning this cute youngster into an animal which will hopefully one day be a protector and dominant individual over its surroundings.

Equipment Used

• Camera - Nikon D4S
• Lens and Focal length - Nikkor 200-400mm F4 VRII @330mm

Settings used to capture this image

• ISO – 1000
• Aperture –F4
• Shutter – 1/4000

Editing used on this image

Well there was not really much I needed to do with this image. The aperture of F4 and a very clean and clear background gave this portrait the creamy look I wanted to accentuate the features and the clarity of the cub. The White Balance was great - I shoot in RAW as this gives you much greater control in post processing but the camera most often gets White Balance right. The only thing I did was to increase the contrast which invariably affects the saturation too, but I wanted to make sure the darks gave the image a little more of a 3 dimensional effect.

The most important thing was to try and get it right first in the camera. There are times when people feel that they need to do some form of editing, however, there are times when the light is great and the subject is just as good. These don't come along all that often in wildlife photography but when it does, you feel that you have reached photographic nirvana, and it is something to cherish.