Leopard cub @ 4 weeks.

[Marc Mol]

5.51pm.
One of the highlights of my recent return to the Sth Luangwa was our discovery of this leopard cub den site tucked away in heavy croton thicket inside this large fallen log.
Not venturing too far from their hide-out, but keen to investigate their new surroundings,
the 4 week old cubs spent some time tumbling over logs and each other as their mother was out on the hunt. Certainly the youngest cubs I've had the privilege to observe.
The branch has some bark removed as the cubs were using it as a teething ring, :bg3: so even though a tad distracting it tells a story. Also note the tiny claw marks upper left.
It took a while for the pair to gain our confidence, but when they did we were rewarded with some special images, a time not easily forgotten, especially when the very protective mother returned!

D3s 500VR 1/100s f/4 ISO6400. F/F. Sth Luangwa NP- Zambia.

C & C most welcome.

Cheers
Marc

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Love the framing and very cute cub. I would have maybe prefered it without the stick on the RHS. Great image quality even at such high ISO settings. Super shot Marc.

[Harshad Barve]

Would love to trade dozens of tiger images for this , feeling J

TFS

[Gen Benjamin]

What a wonderful experience that must have been. I love the framing as was said, the stick is unfortunate, but such a wonderful moment captured
Gen

[Rachel Hollander]

Huge cuteness factor. Can understand why the mom was so protective with such young ones. ISO 6400, wow.

TFS,
Rachel

[dankearl]

Cute as can be and very nice for iso6400!
I don't mind the stick but maybe would crop the highlight area on the RHS, or tone it down.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Very cute,for my taste the image looks too " crunchy" and too cool in color. i would add a little bit of warmth to it. and eventually remove that peace of wood because it destroys the diagonal lines of that big dead tree,where the cub is sheltered.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love the pose and setting here. Cute factor off-the-charts. Those eyes are really something when they're that small. High ISO well handled. :cheers:
I don't mind the protruding branch, but agree with Andreas that NOT having it would've taken the composition up a notch, and in the same "ideal world" wish I would have loved not having the OOF grey patch in the top RHS corner.

[Tom Graham]

I've never seen leopard cub this young!!!
Nice environment, like it much. Impressive techs, 500mm at 1/100 and ISO 6400.
Have you considered some crop?

112116

Tom

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Marc,
My immediate reaction was how cute the cub looked, as Morkel mentioned the cuteness factor is off the charts. A super image.
Thanks for sharing,
Mark.

[AdityaPadhye]

Super cute! The catch lights in the eyes look very nice

[Ken Watkins]

Marc,

A thing of true beauty, the fact that nature has chosen to put in a "pesky" branch is a nuisance but I for one do not care.

[Peter Seidel]

That's a great moment. As others have said - very cute shot. I don't think I would crop in tighter as has been suggested. If anything I would crop less tight (if possible) to really give a sense of how small the little cub is. As for that branch, I don't know if I would bother removing that. Along with the large log, it establishes a bit of a protective nook for the cub to sit in, so I don't find it distracting. I might add just a bit more noise reduction and warm up the colors slightly, but that's about it.

Would love to have an image like this some day.

Pete