Sublime grace!

[Ajit Huilgol]

To see a leopard you've got to be lucky; to see one in the open you've got to be lucky; to see one in daylight you've got to be lucky; to see one in Indian jungles you've got to be lucky; to see one with your family (my wife and our two sons were there when this image was taken!) you've got to be lucky! Now, how lucky is that! We came across this young female on a tree in a dense South Indian jungle in May last year. Ours was the only 4x4 open jeep there, and when another jeep, driven rashly by another driver appeared on the scene and skidded, tyres screeching, to a halt, the leopard decided to vamoose. I silently cursed the other driver for disturbing the leopard, but it was because of him that I got this image, much to the satisfaction of the judges of the Veolia Environnment BBC WPOTY 2009 competition. They decided, in their collective wisdom, to award me the runner-up award for this image in the Animals Behaviour: Mammals Category!
Location: Kabini, Karnataka, India
Date: May 2008
Equip: Canon 1D Mlll, Canon 500 f4
Specs: ISO 400, f 8, 1/80s, hand-held from an open jeep

Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques.

[Harshad Barve]

Hi Dr Ajit
What an image this is , As so much said about , instead of commenting on this I would like to seat back and enjoy
Thanks a ton for sharing

[Clement Francis]

You know that I love this image, due to the mild blur in the image we could almost see the leopard's run out here. Too good for words and congrats once again...

[DanWalters]

Very unique image! Like the sense of motion and the fact he is going down instead of across like most subjects!

[Kiran Poonacha]

its a very deserved award for a very deserved image guruji.. loved the effect acheived here, the blur adds so well here.. Big Big congrats..

[Fabs Forns]

What a wonderful image, the cat is totally sharp and the panning effect is just terrific.
Thanks for letting us enjoy it!

And congratulations!

[Carl Gandolfo]

Wow!! And handheld at 1/80s, too?? Wow!!

[Vivek Khanzode]

WOW!!! Spectacular.... I know what you mean by those "lucky" comments... VERY VERY lucky indeed. Chased a leopard that was reported in B'garh for a whole day and half with no luck!

Thanks for sharing.

[David Fletcher]

Wow. Can only add my respects and congratulations Ajit!

[John Ippolito]

Lovely, lovely panning image. Great impact, Ajit!!

[Robert Amoruso]

Well done Ajit. An exceptional image and congrats on the win.

[Morkel Erasmus]

spectacular...pops out nicely and the motion blur makes it. congrats on the award!!!

[Stu Bowie]

Having seen leopards go up and down trees, very agile and very quick - all I can say here is very well timed and captured. You have done exceptionally well.

[Doug Brown]

Congratulations on a fine image and on the BBC honor!

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Ajit...congratulations. I appreciate it a lot as I have ever seen a leopard in the wild...inspite of several visits to Indian jungles. Extremely well timed....the panning effect is superb...like a race car shot.

KD

[Marc Mol]

Before reading your description, I said to myself that I've seen this image somewhere before, now I know where!
Congrats Ajit on a superb image, taken at 1/80s is what really makes this!

[Alfred Forns]

Big Time congrats !!!! One fantastic image Well deserved win !!!

[Hendri Venter]

Congrats on this. Its fantastic. I like the sense of motion.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Congratulations! Great win!

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Wow talk about great timing. This is just superb. The action puts this one over the top for me. Love it Ajit.

[philperry]

Congratulations on the BBC award Ajit. Well deserved indeed. A beautiful pan shot.

[Nagesh Mula]

Congrats Ajit on the picture and nomination.

[arash_hazeghi]

Super panning. Congrats on this awesome photo

[Andy Biggs]

This is fantastic. How fortunate that you were able to be there at the right time! I would love to see the white puff at the end of the tail, but that is really asking too much for such a wonderful moment in time. Thanks for sharing with us.