Leopard: Oops, How do I get down!!

[Ulhas Kalyanpur]

We spotted this handsome male Leopard around 8.30 AM on the tree. The direction in which he was perched on the tree was such that we could not go around and be in front of him. The sighting lasted for around 10 minutes where in he never turned back while he was sitting on the tree. Image taken from a safari bus which is not at all safari friendly (especially the windows). It was a normal mini bus which was being used as safari vehicle. Image has been cropped slightly.

Place: Bandipur
Gear: Nikon D7200 with Nikkor 200-500 f/5.6 VR
Exif details: f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 400 shot at 390 mm.

Critics & comments welcome :001_smile:

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely pose captured. The front paws gripping on while it estimates how much more distance before it can jump down. The wide composition gives a good idea of the habitat. Did you try any close-ups? I feel a slight narrower aperture would have been good. Thanks for sharing.

[Ulhas Kalyanpur]

Lovely pose captured. The front paws gripping on while it estimates how much more distance before it can jump down. The wide composition gives a good idea of the habitat. Did you try any close-ups? I feel a slight narrower aperture would have been good. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Mrudulji. Actually, half of me was literally outside the safari bus window with the gear waiting for the Leopard to either turn or get down. It never even turned. It was a very uncomfortable position. So I got back into the seat to give a break to my aching back. The moment I get in, the Leopard decides to get down the tree. So zoomed in as much as I could 390 mm. Yes, I could have zoomed in a bit more (to 500 mm) with a narrower depth of field and could have got a much better image. But everything happened so fast that I did not get a chance to fine tune the settings. :001_smile:

[Mrudul Godbole]

Tough conditions to photograph :(. I had a similar situation in Kabini. You can check the photograph at the below link -

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?15900-Leopard-Kabini-3&highlight=leopard+kabini

You have captured the moment well in the given situation. I think that is what is wildlife photography is about, you never who what will happen next :).

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Measuring the height just for safe landing at the earliest, aptly conveyed through the photograph. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Normally the leopards can climb down head first ie with head pointing down and the last few metres before the ground they jump. Here it is climbing down in a bear like fashion so it needs to turn its head to judge the distance before jumping down. The saturation is high and takes attention away from the leopard. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi