‘’Wake up everyday with a desire to succeed.’’ – Anonymous

It has been a while since I last saw this big male leopard and fortunately enough for me, on this day he stalked and killed a warthog piglet and started feeding on it at the base of a tree.

It was not long before a Spotted Hyena pitched up smelling blood and hearing bones being crunched. The big male took his warthog and made a run for it with the hyena hot on his heels! He eventually found a beautiful Marula Tree and hoisted the kill nice and high up.

With the hyena lurking below, waiting for something to drop, Maxabeni stood over his well-earned kill cleaning his face.

I was ready and waiting for the moment where he turned his head just a bit more towards the sunrise and with his tongue out, cleaning his mouth.

It all came together just as I had hoped! You don’t always get what you want and that’s why you as a photographer appreciate every second out there.

Equipment used

• Camera – Canon 7D Mkii
• Lens and Focal length – Sigma 150-600mm F5 – 6.3 DG @232mm

Settings used to capture this image

• ISO –500
• Aperture – F 8.0
• Shutter – 1/500

In Lightroom I pushed Shadows up with +30 and got my Whites up to +20. I also dropped Blacks just to get some more contrast.