Leopard (Male)#1/Bandipur

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Posting almost after a 3-4 weeks, it has been quite busy at work. Sighted this male Leopard on the weekend at Bandipur on 1st mile JD. Infact this trip was very interesting sighted all three predators Leopard, Tiger & Wild dogs.

We were returning back from the safari when we heard Langur alarm calls and after a while we spotted this Leopard sitting in the open, very unusual. Thankfully he didn't disappear in the undergrowth as normally happens when we see this shy & elusive cat. It was late evening at 6:36pm to be precise when we first saw him & the light was very low. The sighting lasted for almost 10 minutes or more, so I had time to shoot with 40D and 100-400mm as well to get the full image, will post those soon. I also managed to use the 7D video for the first time and I am very impressed with the quality. This image is full frame with 500mm I could not cover the full body as this guy was too close, less than 25 mts.

Camera Model Canon EOS 7D, 500mm
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ) 4
ISO 1600
Focal length 500mm
Full frame
Bean Bag Support

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Tack sharp Praveen, amazing for the big 500 at 1/60. Maybe moving the vehicle a little bit to the left would have focussed more on the head and the forepaws.
Look forward to the 100-400 ones.
Cheers
Dipankar

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely! I love the low angle and the gaze. Lovely sighting. I love the eyes of the leopard. Light seems to be pretty low. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

Great eye contact. Its really rare to see a leopard out in the open and that to for so long. Nicely captured. Look forward to the other images from Bandipur. Thanks for sharing.

[Bhargava Srivari]

Everything almost looks perfect here! I love the whiskers..awesome shot! tfs

Dipankar,

We were together in the same jeep when this sighting happened and any more movement of the jeep- the leopard would have moved swiftly into the bushes as he did when he heard another jeep approaching!

Cheers

Bhargava

[V S Sankar]

Beautiful shot Praveen.Sharp as it can get and lovely looks from the animal.......

But the animal seems to be asking a question!

"Where have you been mate for the last 3 weeks?!"

They seem to have missed you rather than you missing them......

Regards
V S Sankar