Looking into the future

How to sum up my 5 magical years at Sabi Sabi with a single image.

I chose this image of a female leopard called Little Bush female and her cub (now independent) named Ntsumi meaning Angel in Xitsonga.

Little Bush was the first leopard I saw at Sabi Sabi. At the time she was very wary of vehicles and would occasionally charge them to show her discomfort. We would only allow 1 vehicle at a time to view her from a far distance. She had such character and I loved her for it.

As time passed, the well-trained guides were able to get closer and allow more vehicles to view simultaneously as she was realising we represented no threat. Now we can have 3 vehicles at a time with her.

This picture represents so much more than just a female leopard with her cub, she was finally allowing us to see her little ones and welcoming us into her world. To add the cherry on the top, they were relaxing on this beautiful rock where I asked my wife to marry me.

Equipment used

• Camera - Canon 7D Mkii
• Lens and focal length - Canon 100-400 Mkii f4.5-5.6

Settings used on this image

• ISO - 3200
• Aperture - F5.0
• Shutter Speed - 1/500

Editing used on this image

This image was taken in the early morning with the natural light just starting to appear so pumped up my ISO as it was bit dark. I kept a low F-Stop to make the two leopards pop out from the background.