Spot lit young Leopard

This young female which we dont see often was lying up on a mound in the more remote northern area of the reserve as the sun popped down. She isn't very used to vehicles but was remarkably relaxed in the gloomy light and gave us a great view before she moved off.

A little spotlight illuminated her and kept the scene looking very natural.
A beanbag was essential as I wanted to shoot on ISO 400 so there was no grain. A low colour temperature is important to keep the light looking natural when spotlight is used.

Show of Horns!

This pack of 7 Wild Dogs tried their luck at some newly born wildebeest calves which were shielded in the middle of the herd. A stand off ensued for a few minutes while the dogs tried rather clumsily to work out a way to get to the calves and past the horns!

They were firmly put in their place by a confident show of horns by the males and decided to head off and find something smaller to hunt!

Tail up attack!

Hlaba Nkunzi's cubs are now 11 months old and on a drizzling overcast morning were more active, stalking each other and practicing their hunting skills.

I like this tail up shot which captures the perfect balance as she launches her attack.

Heavily overcast conditions are difficult and I had to shoot on ISO 1000 to achieve a fast enough shutter speed of 1/800 sec to freeze most of the action and still show movement with the blurred left paw.