Protecting her food

[Stu Bowie]

We came across this female leopard lying lazyly in the grass beneath this tree. Her kill was stuck up the tree, and after a while she stood up and in no time, she was up on to her kill. You have to witness how fast and agile these leopards are. There is no time to try and capture them going up, they are too quick, unless you zoom out and cover the whole tree. Coming down, she took her time, and thought I would share her meal with you - an impala buck. Taken in the Sabi Sabi private game reserve last year.

Canon 20D
24-105 @ 35mm
1/250
F/7.1
ISO 400

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held from an open vehicle.

[peter delaney]

I know how difficult to capture a leopard descending from a tree ... have many blurred and tailess leopards in my archives...

well done on lovely image.Stuart

peter

[Geurt Bloem]

Sweet opportunity here and well used given the scenario you had Stu.
(I do think the ID of the prey is Steenbuck rather than impala though. No black markings on face to confirm it to be an impala)

[David Fletcher]

This is lovely Stu. The extra space and light quality make it extra special. Thinking Geurt has nailed the prey, :)

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks a stack guys.

Geurt, yep you are 100% correct. I did think it was a steenbok, but somehow it just looked a little larger. The head does give it away though, so thanks for the correct ID ( again ) Cheers.

[Marc Mol]

I know how difficult to capture a leopard descending from a tree ... have many blurred and tailess leopards in my archives... peter

Agree with Peter as well, the're very quick & unpredictable. Well done Stuart on this opportunistic capture!

[Harshad Barve]

This is fabulous shot , lovely angle and beautiful light
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

going wide was a good choice here. love the setting, action and exposure Stu. ditto Geurt on the ID :)
would love such a shot...

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Superb capture Stuart. Not an easy image to capture for sure and your timing was perfect. We never had the opportunity to see them with their kill let alone capture an image. Congratulations !!!!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Stuart,
I like the wider angle. It shows the habitat nicely. The kill is a huge bonus. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[philperry]

Lovely shot Stuart. It can be very tricky to capture a leopard leaping up or down a tree. Very nice light shows how the leopard looks in sun and shadow. Reminds me to use my wide-angle more often. It is so easy to get too set on using a telephoto.

[Steve Canuel]

Nice timing Stuart. I'd been to excited watching to take a picture. I like the line of the cat running parallel with the tree.

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all so much guys and girls. Much appreciated.