Leopard Pad

Everybody loves an image of a leopard, a secretive animal seen by few but here at Sabi Sabi, you have one of the best chances in the world to see these elusive cats.

As photographers we often get caught up in the idea of capturing the perfect leopard shot. Don’t get me wrong, I love an idyllic leopard in a tree shot just as much as the next person, however are we not missing out while waiting for that to happen? Dominant male leopards like this one are extremely confident in their territory and the heat of the day can often be spent sleeping. Rather than just waiting for your subject to start moving in golden light, use that time wisely to get something a little different in your photography portfolio.

With this image, it starts first with a thought process. I wanted to focus on the leopard’s pads - a key feature of this cat. Evolutionary developed for stealth and often seen on morning game drive, merely as footprints along a dusty dirt road causing rangers and tracker’s heart rates to quicken in excitement.

Secondly was to blur out the background enough so that the viewer can still know what animal this was. The blurring is key, however the dappled sunlight through this large Sycamore Fig tree also accentuated the golden coat of the predator. Incorporating the dark green foliage around the peripheries of the image draws in the viewer and gives the leopard a sense of place.

Equipment Used

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

Settings used to capture this image

• ISO – 4000
• Aperture –f4.0
• Shutter – 1/8000

Editing used on this image

With the thought process and not under time constraints, you can afford to take the time to get things right in camera - after all, don't we want to spend more time behind the camera rather than behind a computer screen? I pushed up the contrast, giving the pad some texture while also dropping the highlights to accentuate the head of the leopard. The harsh light will often render an image rather flat in tonal value, so pushing up the vibrance and saturation in Adobe Lightroom allowed to restore the colours of the scene, most notably the greens and the gold. The only thing left to do was to add a little noise reduction, as there was some noticeable noise in the shadows.

So hopefully this has given you a little motivation to think creatively about your images when not much else is going on. Always remember – it’s a privilege that we have to see these elusive creatures. Rather than hoping and wishing for your subject to do something else, live in the moment, be creative and capture it.