Leap of Faith

[Gabriela Plesea]

Kalahari cats love water, but only to drink...When wet or dirty they tend to groom endlessly, which is what happened after my lioness here quenched her thirst at the waterhole. I remember it had been pouring with rain the night before. Early morning a large herd of wildebeest came to drink and wallow and in the process made quite a mess. Consequently, for certain characters access to clean water required quite a leap. Not a problem for a fit and healthy lioness, as you can see...

This image was captured on the 31st of October 2012 in relatively harsh light. Old gear but lots of experimenting in those days. Thought I'd share. Have not reprocessed as such, only added a bit of sharpening. Unfortunately no access to the RAW right now - this particular hard drive is stored in a dehumidifying room in my guest cottage temporary occupied by someone working for me.

So more of a fun shot really, but should you have any critique or suggestions do bring it on!

Techs as follows:

Nikon D3S
Nikon 500 F4
1.4TC
ISO 320
F6.3
1/1600s

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. Thank you so much for taking the time to view, I appreciate it

[Steve Kaluski]

Lovely timing Gabriela and the muddy rear leg makes it, although the outstretched from legs are a vey close second . The leap with the counterbalancing tail is a refreshing change, nice work.

TFS
Steve

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Great action Gabriela, love the leap & the pose is terrific with good colours, details and the muddy legs add interest. Well composed! TFS.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Gabriela - This works quite well. Nice sharpness and the timing is fantastic. I too like the extended legs and tails. It makes me wonder what she was pouncing on (though I know from your intro).

TFS,
Rachel

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear Steve, Sanjeev and Rachel,

This is such an old image and it brings back lovely memories. BTW I have more from this sighting, Rachel I will email them to you asap

Warmest regards,

[John Mack]

Really neat image like how all four legs are of the ground. Love the mud.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice timing an lighting, as you indicate it conveys a very fit looking lion.

[keith mitchell]

Hi Gabriela,really like the way you have caught this, your timing was spot on!love the mucky paws and the determined look on the Lions face ,great piece of work.

Keith.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you so much dear friends, as you can see I decided to go down the "memory lane" and share some oldies, more to come:) I really appreciate you taking the time to view and those kind comments

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Gabriela i would say a brilliantly timed shot ...could not get any better IMHO .
Love the Kalahari yellows and the clean frame with no distracting elements , good details and you handled the somehow harsh light really well .
Love it ....brilliant work

TFS yours Boetie