My experience with this lioness tells me, this is what she does for a living: mastering confidence, day by day. She does spend a great number of hours drowned in somnolence, only to awaken with a craving to kill. For that she won't let anything get in her way - I suppose she knows she is entitled to prey?
For the wildebeest she conquered early that morning, life had been a delicate and tender game that ended with a quick and merciless dance. We did not witness it, unfortunately my companions and I arrived at the scene a little too late. Its broken, muddied flesh was lying among tall grass and had already begun to release a faint odour. Two subadult lions were also present and devouring what was left of him - we could barely see their blood stained faces, bellies so full they had to lie down. The victim's face was somewhat visible and I could not help but notice its blank eyes. The slightly open mouth and visible teeth gave him this almost smiling expression, as though he had just been liberated from brief moments of suffering.
At some point the lioness's mouth swelled into a big yawn. She must have been satisfied watching her offspring tirelessly tearing at the flesh and sharing whatever was left of her kill. At times they growled and fought, but that was just part of growing up and confident. I too felt a degree of confidence, pressing the shutter and constantly checking histogram. Despite poor light and all sorts of obstacles present, my craving of capturing what I had seen was being fulfilled...
Not a great image from technical POV but I thought I'd share, together with my impressions. After some years of wondering "what is the point of spending so much time and money for the sake of photography" I finally understand. The bush is a house of happiness for me, and I will always have this desire to capture and take home what I see. And of course, tell the story. Unlike humans, my subjects are amazingly uninhibited and free, their pleasures fierce. They are always satisfied with themselves and the independent life they are living, something I really hope to achieve some day.
Gabriela,your words are so beautiful,spellbinding actually. Maybe, although I know not your country,I know of that place of happiness,that solitude that feeling of being at one. The place where I leave the world of humans behind and be with my mates,the guys who have always taken my breath away let me share their world and give me so much I simply do not have the words to share that ,so am now drawn to try with an image . Mate sometimes i'm really honestly in awe of how you can pull these feelings into script it's a fabulous gift, thanks for sharing this as well as your subject above . My chosen subjects are so different to many of yours,I live in a world where most of my country's top predators have been exterminated by man,but I know how driven I am to share what is here leastways my take on the ones I can access. We are both loosing treasures in our respective natural worlds ,if folks know more of them, see them in images, see who they are, can things change ? Maybe so, it IS worth trying,beyond my /our joy sharing these experiences be it words or pictures.......
Gabby when you don't know an animal it's so easy to misunderstand,this has happened here to me I felt she was roaring to tell someone off,maybe to say this is mine and my family's not a yawn of content while watching her children eat well from her efforts in the field. This must be comfort for any predatory mother who knows not where the next meal will come from or when for that matter.
It's a wonderful story Gabby and a wonderful image to accompany such words,I'm stuck by her tongue mate the detail caught beyond that strength a mother knows and holds dear that her offspring will be ok due to her efforts that strength is visible to me although I can't really read her.
Thank you Gabriela..... a wonderful set of words and a subtle soft palette to accompany almost offset her strength,
Thank you Marc, extremely subtle, your RP looks good to me
I am so taken with your Lion image posted tonight, superb frame! One of your best, love the mood
Gabriela enjoyed reading your introduction very enlightening ,must admit I could not see any problem with your OP but can see that Marc's repost does just give it a lift,smashing detail on the inside of the mouth and especially the tongue,lovely work.
Hi Gabriela - That's a "ferocious" look she gave you. She also cleaned up very well. From your eloquent description I would expect some remnants of the kill. Nice dof and sharpness. Marc's rp though subtle has taken this fine image up a notch.
I have a whole lot of images from this sighting, those include an entire sequence of this massive yawn. I agree it looks like a growl but I assure you it wasn't, I just chose the most ferocious looking pose because it was more striking.
Not sure she actually ate from the WB, Rachel. It was about 11:00h when we got there and the light was not favourable so we left the scene rather early, hope the youngsters left her a morsel or two...
Hi Gabriela your intro at itīs best ....reflecting very well your personality ,that i could enjoy myself in person .
Regarding the image , well love the expression you captured with this frame , wether it was a yawn or a growl .
Love the look she gave you ...quite intense . Wow that you get detail right down the throat ...., colors do look good to me .
The tonal range could be improved i think ....as the gums and the darker tones do look a bit flat to me even in Marcīs RP .But hey still a lovely shot and i enjoyed viewing this ....
Hi Gabriela, this is a wonderful shot ! Loved the expression and the details that you have got here, a bit flat and can certainly be improved easily .
One question comes to my mind, regarding the FP , where was the FP ? asking this quest because you have got nice sharpness throughout the face , including the eyes and the snout, where i have some times struggled if the subject is too close , off course dof matters but again FP plays an important role. It will indeed be very helpful if you throw some light on it .
Many thanks for taking the time to view and comment:)
Andreas, you might be right about the tongue, I will see what I can do.
Haseeb, the lioness was not that close so you are looking at a fairly large crop and consequently some pixel bashing. FP, I always try to aim at the eyes or between the eyes. If I remember well, it ended up on the bridge of the nose here, maybe due to movement of the subject or because I was shooting without support. As you can see, I had just about enough DoF. I should have shot at F8 to be on the safe side. The closer I get to the subject, the more critical DoF becomes. BTW I was using my new toy (200-400 F4) for the first time, zooming in and out as the lions were moving about. Just playing around for now, with a little practice I will get to understand its abilities and hopefully produce better images with it
Wow Gabi, that's a beautifull shot! First thing I feel when looking at it is that the lioness is showing off it's prowess as a hunter, as a provider for her cubs and pack. Like the wrinkles on her nose, though I don't think she'd appreciate a smothering (smotoceala, if you remember the term).
Mastering Confidence
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. My chosen subjects are so different to many of yours,I live in a world where most of my country's top predators have been exterminated by man,but I know how driven I am to share what is here leastways my take on the ones I can access. We are both loosing treasures in our respective natural worlds ,if folks know more of them, see them in images, see who they are, can things change ? Maybe so, it IS worth trying,beyond my /our joy sharing these experiences be it words or pictures....... 
