Leopard- Danger Camouflaged

[Shyamala Kumar]

At Bhadra, in the evening, the quiet silence of the jungle was suddenly rent by the the warning calls of the langurs, taken up by the a single chital call.A predator was on the move.We saw something that looked like a wild dog dash across the track to the forest on the left.Our driver turned left to cut off the progress of whatever it was and stopped the vehicle on the side.We waited with with bated breath straining our eyes looking upwards into the foliage of the trees.Imagine our consternation when we espied this beauty seated right on the edge of the track, confident, of its camouflage, staring balefully up at us.Canon 60D+100-400mm.1/320s f/7.1 ISO1600 FL200MM.Late evening feb 2014.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Sighting this stealth predator is always nice. I like the eye contact. I think a bit more brightness would be enhance this image. Are you shooting in raw or jpeg? Thanks for sharing.

[Debasis Bose]

Tracking down a predator and then recording the sighting with lovely eye contact is some satisfaction, which no one else can understand more than the photographer and enthusiast oneself. Superb sighting and thanks for sharing

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice eye contact. Cat like behaviour, close watch, ready to rush back into the jungle in seconds......nicely captured. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Mrudul Godbole]

Lovely stare. Quite rare to sight a leopard sitting so close on the ground. Good details and composition. Very well photographed. Thanks for sharing.

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

Wonderful image........

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Amazing stare. Can see right through you, it feels. Nicely captured. Thanks for sharing Shyamalaji.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Super sighting. nice to see one from Bhadra. Love the eyes. sightings of big cats in the smaller reserves is always a special experience.
TFS
Roopak

[Shyamala Kumar]

Thank you all for valuable comments.Sabyasachi, I am shooting in jpeg.I wil be posting another image of the same sighting and will take care to brighten the lighting a bit.The whole undergrowth was dry,faded,and colourless probably contributing to the the impression the impression that I was shooting in raw.