Kalahari King

[Morkel Erasmus]

Seems like the Wildlife forum caught a dip during the 4th of July celebrations!! :eek::D

Maybe this regal Kalahari lion will spice things up??

Taken on our recent trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park...we had few decent lion sightings but the cheetah sightings more than made up for it :)

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 380mm
f7.1 @ 1/1600 SS @ ISO-400
Exp +0.3

[Russell Johnson]

Great low perspective.

Undecided on the water infront, appears more a distraction as it takes up such a small portion of the frame.

I guess a crop would make the image very tight overall?

[Marc Mol]

Nice lighting, stare and his mane blowing in the breeze, might be tempted to crop out the water also Morkel.
TFS

[Stu Bowie]

Believe it or not, havent been this close to ANY lion in my viewfinder. Good to have him in the open, and looks like the wind was blowing pretty hard. Another vote to remove the water.

[Danny J Brown]

That is an amazing beast, Morkel. Looks like it must have been 110 F when you made the shot. I always enjoy your work.

DB

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the comments guys...

Stu I am going to say again - one year you just have to trust me and stick it to the Cape over December, endure the scorching heat (make sure your car's A/C is topped up) and head out to the Kgalagadi...:)

here is a repost with the water cropped - the OP was pretty much full frame. also toned down the highlights some more...

anyone notice the full tummy? this guy was stuffed - was walking towards the water here, had his drink and then went right back to the shade, flopped down and stayed like that until we had to leave them at sunset.

[Ken Watkins]

Morkel,

The repost is a vast improvement, especially the toning down of the highlights.

[Austin Thomas]

Agreed, the repost is much better. Great eye contact and I like the raised paw.

tfs

Austin

[Harshad Barve]

excellent pose by King and re post rocks
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Ken, Austin & Harshadbhai, glad you like him :)