Mating Lions

[Ken Watkins]

Taken in Deception Valley, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana 5th March 2009

Canon EOS 1D MkIII

500mm IS hand-held

F5.6 EV +1/3rd, F5.6, ISO 500

[Stefan Jonsson]

Wonderful picture with some action from the lions.
Thumbs up!

[John Lowin]

Hi Ken, Beautiful light, I like the comp, maybe another slight sharpening of the faces. Great capture. Congrats!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Ken,
Lovely image. Nice action. The light is soft and enhances the image manifold. The soft light gives a feeling of softness. Increasing the contrast will give a feeling of more sharpness, however that would change the scene. I like the image as presented.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Alfred Forns]

I'm just having my basic Sensory Overload !!! Big Time Congrats !!!!

[denise ippolito]

Ken, Really nice capture and the interaction is wonderful-I really like that both mouths are open!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great capture of this moment and the setting works really well. Another vote for a bit more sharpening of the heads.

[Fabs Forns]

One of the best wildlife images I've seen in a while, BG and FG are phenomenal and so are the expressions.
I'm OK with the sharpening as presented. It goes with the mood. Adding more sharpening will increase the contrast in the beasts and will erase the overall soft light feel it has now. Just my opinion.

[Robert Amoruso]

Ken,

Great work all around - expressions, lighting, comp. The field they are in makes the image.

[Geurt Bloem]

Ken,
Lovely opportunity here and you really used it very well. Love the image.
I have yet to see lions in Deception Valley myself!

[John Ippolito]

Ken, this is simply wonderful-the light, action, open mouths and the grasses. Deception valley is a special place. Not sure how you could have improved on this. It looks very sharp on my monitor. Excellent work!

[Ken Watkins]

Thanks to everybody for the kind comments we had an amazing 45 minutes with this pair and in this time they mated 6 TIMES!
This was the first I have taken a good look at I hope to have a few more.
It is not very often that long grass improves a picture.

[Marc Mol]

Well done Ken, as you said the comp + the grass really make this.
I look forward to my 3 nights @ DVL in September, unfortunately there won't be any of this grass around by then.
I'd be interested to hear your report on DVL. Will you be putting one in over at Safaritalk?

Cheers
Marc

[peter delaney]

super image...Ken . one of the best that I have seen of mating lions..well done

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ken,
I'll echo Peter's comments.......This is one of the best mating shot's I have seen!
I have a few profile......but the angle and grass.....with the look back by the female.....just super!

[Steve Canuel]

Excellent image. Great expressions and perfectly complimentary head angles. The wispy FG grasses perfectly blend into the BG and provide a type of veil to the intimacy of the image. Wouldn't change a thing.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Fabulous image Ken. Love the hidden bodies in the tall grass. It looks so desaturated and I am positive naturally so pale yet adding excellent contrast against the fur of the mating lions.

Thanks for sharing. :)

[Nate Chappell]

Great expressions on both of their faces here Ken, a neat shot.

[Ken Watkins]

Given that I have received many good comments I feel that it is only fair to give credit where credit is due. This image was only captured because of the incredibly diligent spotting and tracking undertaken by our guide Ewan Masson. Ewan operates a mobile safari operation which will take you to any of the National Parks in Botswana, I can thoroughly recommend his expertise you can find all about it at

massonsafaris@dynabyte.bw