Warrior King

[Morkel Erasmus]

This is Scar / Scarface from the Maasai Mara ecosystem. Usually part of the famous Marsh Pride, he crossed the Mara river with his brothers a few months ago and was hanging around our camp on the banks of the river in the Mara Triangle all through the Great Migration season, sowing his wild oats among the ladies and chasing away the existing dominant males with ease.


What a lion! Such presence...
The eye was apparently scarred by a Maasai spear in his younger cattle-thieving days. This is full frame bottom and left so I cropped tighter top and right. I've got others which have more space around, but liked the pose/expression here.


Techs:
Nikon D4s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0 | 1/320 SS | ISO-900

[Katie Rupp]

Morkel,

The eye and the other scars on his face testify that he is a survivor and it was thrilling to meet up with him. I like the pose, striding forward with confidence; the raised paw and being able to see the tail. TFS

Best,
Katie

[Morkel Erasmus]

Morkel,

The eye and the other scars on his face testify that he is a survivor and it was thrilling to meet up with him. I like the pose, striding forward with confidence; the raised paw and being able to see the tail. TFS

Best,
Katie

Cheers Katie - yes a real legend to see in real life, eh?
The tail is what made me post this frame instead of others that have more "breathing room" but less "oomph"...

Would love to see what you got as well!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - Wow, he looks big and the scar just adds to his mystique. Before reading Katie's comment I also noticed the tail and think it's inclusion takes this up a notch. I like the walking pose and techs look good but I do wish for more space at the bottom.

TFS,
Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Morkel, he looks ferocious & confident alright! The pose is majestic, comp is cool as I like the head-on walking pose at a nice angle. TFS.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Everything about this guy screams Beware, I'm a LION!, Morkel! Nice pic - glad he did not loose his eye and I hope he's going to recover 100% in time. Magnificent shot!

[Rudi van den Heever]

Eish that eye must hurt! Great image mate! Slightly more space to walk into would have added, but that is very subjective!

[Dumay de Boulle]

WQW...What a specimen...Thats what a Male Lion should look like. Colors look great. More room would be nice but not a deal breaker.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, like the almost head on POV, DoF & overall colour palette, colours are great. Nice to see a true 'Gladiator' of the bush. Perhaps as you had space within frame you could have moved the framing a fraction down, OK on the rest, but a tad tight at the foot for me, guess in both senses of the word .

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Yep Steve - a matter of lion moving swiftly and me not switching focus points swiftly enough to be able to place the eye higher in the frame...

[Steve Kaluski]

LOL, Morkel we have all been there.

[Steve Canuel]

Great character on this guy. I like how the mane covers the view of almost the entire body. The opposing directions of the raised paw and the tail provides a nice balance to the sense of motion.

[Carl Walker]

Quite a character Morkel - Mean looking and experienced. Nice front on approach with determined looking walk. TFS