This was in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. the cub was falling asleep when suddenly a bird flew over. the eyes flickered up and I took the shot. I just love how alert and curious these little kings are...
canon 5D Mark III
Canon 500mm
iso 500
f/5
1/500 s
This was in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. the cub was falling asleep when suddenly a bird flew over. the eyes flickered up and I took the shot. I just love how alert and curious these little kings are...
canon 5D Mark III
Canon 500mm
iso 500
f/5
1/500 s
Carole I love this shot.
Exposure looks good to me and the colours appear very natural.
I am happy with your composition but feel that it could also work as a vertical crop.
Nicely captured
Beautifully composed frame, Carole!
Nice overall brown tones...
Love that look on the cub.
Hi Carole,
very nice image. I would "unsharpened" the tree trunk, that nearly competes with the sharpness with the cub.
Since the cub looks straight up I would as well suggest a vertical crop.
Have a great day
Ciao
Anette
Hi Carole - Excellent IQ and I like the tones to this. I also like negative space in images so am ok with the comp. First thing that drew my eye though is the sharpness of the tree so I would back off on that a bit. Overall, well done.
TFS,
Rachel
Thanks Rachel, you are right about the tree. never even crossed my mind! will try it!
Love the inquisitive look on this cub Carole and how it is resting it's head on the small mound , agree on a portrait crop if you have it. Small nit is the crispy tree, but like this a lot regardless!
TFS
Fantastic shot. I like the composition. The small branch is great as it looks like the Lion is looking at it.
I agree with the others that a vertical crop might also look great but the horizontal is also very good.
Markus
Your Little King image is heart melting, Carole. Makes me think of a story book, I can just imagine tall ancient trees and a little lost lion somewhere in the shade...A beautiful image well composed and presented-I actually like this crop very much, I like the space and the mottled BG. I agree with "unsharpening" the tree trunk, but that's about all I would change in this image if it was mine.
Very beautiful, Carole. Saw this while at work the other day and it stayed with me, I wanted to take a good look on the big screen and I am really enjoying viewing this image-congratulations!!!
Kind regards,
Gabriela Plesea

Love the moment and mood captured Carol!
Can almost picture a Bumble Bee hovering above him.....
Crits dealt with above...
Congrats!
Hi Carole, I like the placement of the subject and the tone of colours, they marry well. I also like the way you have used the tree with a hard edge on the LHS trim. I agree that the tree does look overly sharp, likewise the cub does look a little 'grainy' which is surprising based on the ISO, is this FF or cropped? Having a diffused BKG works to separate the subject and reduce any distracting objects, but the blur or NR has made it very smooth, but this is all personal taste.
TFS
Steve
Just a small note, but would appreciate if the © could be placed more discreetly within frame, as it does dominate the image, and perhaps a tad smaller, thanks.![]()
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Lovely frame for all the reasons mentioned Carole.
I agree on the over-sharpening of the tree and reducing the watermark
Now I miss Mana...a friend who was just there had 8 wild dog hunts which included 2 kills start to finish, on foot!![]()

Great image carol, very well captured with stong comp and well exposed with good detail. Agree in the tree sharpness but more than that this is a great image!
just love the comp here. excellent exp & details as well.
Great shot from a dream destination! Was this taken on foot?
Agree that you could use some unsharpening on the tree, but not a deal breaker for me. The expressions on the cub are priceless :-)
TFS