During the second week of this, my fifth wildlife safari, I photographed my first leopard. It was high in a tree, not far from our Puku Ridge camp. Leopards are frequently seen in South Luangwa National Park, generally at night, but there are no guarantees of a sighting. During the first week, we briefly saw a leopard running through bush in the glare of a spotlight during a night game drive. But this one was sitting high in a tree in late afternoon. It was a difficult shot at best -- the leopard was in deep shadow, and sun was coming directly into the lens through the leaves. I exposed for the leopard, and extended my zoom lens to nearly 700mm to bring it close enough to look us in the eye. Extremely shy, this leopard would take flight even as I pressed the shutter button. This image is compelling because of its context and its intimacy. It is more than a closeup of an animal. It tells us where it lives, and reflects its wary, tense response to my presence. The green eyes are enormous, aware, and dramatically outlined in black. We don’t see all of it – just enough to integrate its body with the branches of the tree. It seems to be protecting itself, framed in bark and vines and leaves. A study in reclusiveness, its the story of the leopard itself.


After posting this image, viewer Alister Benn suggested cropping it to place greater emphasis on the leopard itself, and less on its original leafy context. It is the cropped version you see here. You can compare it to my original full frame version which is posted at http://www.worldisround.com/articles/271122/photo7.html