Sneak Attack

Often when observing lions you’re lucky to capture them with their eyes open, or interacting within their environment. That’s what makes this image special for me, to see the young cubs, less than a year old playing was exciting, and to capture the exact moment where the siblings began to play was amazing. I know according to the zoo there is a male and female cub here. Maji and Anga, taken from the Swahili according to their twitter post. Maji is the male, and Anga the female, adorable and amazing to watch them even from a distance.

Lion cubs are adorable, though these are much larger than the photos make them look. The event was fast,. but I was expecting an interaction as one approached the other. I kept my eye to the viewfinder, finger on the shutter, drive mode on high speed. Action often happens fast, and you need to be read for it, in this case my shutter speed was a touch slow, and my drive missed the full impact of the play, but still, this is a shot worth taking home and would appease most photographers.

I have gone over this previously in some of my other posts, but it bares repeating. Yes, these animals are in an enclosure, and as a photographer your initial reaction may be “let me get as close as possible to the animals” but this can be a mistake. Despite how accustomed the animals are to people, being further back, and less in their face can help the animals act more natural within their environment. We should strive as photographers, or even the viewing public to avoid stressing these amazing animals out.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f4.7
ISO: 250
SS: 1/250th
Focal: 199mm

Fujinon 100-400mm