Looking death in the eye.

[Marc Mol]

The leading huntress clamps her jaws over the windpipe of this daga boy her 15 member pride had taken down one morning in Selinda.

She virtually held this position for nearly an hour in between bouts of him rising to his feet 3 times.

Selinda- Botswana.

Not usually a fan of Instagram inspired square crops (in nature), but along with the dark vignetting I feel this works. Bean bag- front pax seat, curves, levels, TK adj's conv to a slight warm toned B&W in ACR & PS CC '17.

Nikon D4s
Nikkor 400 f/2.8E FL VR
1/1000s (yes could/should have gone higher, but happy with this speed)
f/7
ISO 1250



Cheers
Marc

[haseeb badar]

HI Marc -- Incredibly powerful image ! That eye says it all. Life and death in the animal kingdom is expressed so beautifully in this one single frame. hat off to you for the brilliant composition and the conversion works very well . Superbly done . A BBC WPOTY kind of shot IMHO , TFS !

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Marc - It's all about that eye which tells a compelling story and draws you into the frame. I'm not convinced on the conversion. I wish there was a bit more tonal variation. Any chance you would share the color version?

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Haseeb & Rachel

I'm not convinced on the conversion. I wish there was a bit more tonal variation. Any chance you would share the color version?

Prior to this submission Rachel, I would have made about 6 different tonal versions, so I can understand your indifference here, perhaps dealing with the harsh coats in order to draw the attention to the eye, has flattened the range. Always worth another look of course.

The colour version which I'm fond of also, here:

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi again Marc - I like the color version. I think it is that the fur on the body of the lion on the left looks muddied in the conversion. I totally understand about the multiple versions and tones.

[Marc Mol]

If I may:

Another B&W tonal variation:

[Rachel Hollander]

Marc - I prefer the second conversion. Let's see what others think.

Cheers,
Rachel

[Alex Becker]

A really nice (albeit brutal) frame Marc -- Haseeb summed up my thoughts well as I agree its a WPOTY type shot. I also like the second conversion more as I find it more dramatic with more silver tones. TFS,

[John Mack]

This is sure an interesting image here i think i like the black and white the most.

[Giovanni Frescura]

also for me the second convrsion is better; i like also the type of cut