Tiger Mating: Disengaging

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This image depicts the mating behaviour of tigers. After the coital act is over, the male releases his hold over the lady (you can see him earlier holding her by the scruff of her neck) and gives vent to a roar while the lady gives a copulatory cry. The lady then takes a swipe with her paw at the male and the male instinctively takes evasive action. During the initial few times of the mating period, there are chances of fights between the female and male and a bit of sparring is also seen at times.

Canon EOS 1 D Mark II, Canon EF 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS lens, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/80 sec. full frame.

Look forward to your comments.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Aditya Panda]

I can almost hear that blood curdling roar with which she must've swiped at him!

[Aditya Panda]

You cold have pushed the ISO higher to get some speed... just enough to freeze her face while showing the paw's movement

[Sabyasachi Patra]

You cold have pushed the ISO higher to get some speed... just enough to freeze her face while showing the paw's movement

To freeze the tiger I would have had to use ISO 800 and I am not comfortable at that. So in this image, I tried panning along the movement of the male. Else, you would have got completely blurred tigers and background sharp in this image. All this thought came when I first saw the tigress moving towards the tiger. And in a fraction of a second, I decided to use the slow shutter speed.