View allAll Photos Tagged leopard
Snow Leopard at Binder Park Zoo, Battle Creek, MI
Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 1/15 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
35 mm Equiv Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO: 400
Took me ages to get him to look at me. He was a depressed thing that just prowled around the perimeter not looking up.
I also learned something today about these guys - the little rock area he was laying in - heated. He loves to sleep there, and the zoo made sure that the place he loves to sleep is one that is visible to guests.
Not the best leopard pic around, but a good illustration of how close you're sometimes able to get to these animals.
When we arrived, the leopard was lying in a tree several meters above the ground. We were the third vehicle to arrive, and the leopard must've known her classics, thought 'three is a crowd' and elegantly walked down from the tree, passed our vehicle (at not more than 2-3 meters distance from where we were sat) and hid in tall grass.
It turned out I made the wrong choice of lens that morning: I brought a 300m tele, which was A) too much for the close distances we managed to reach to most animals, B) a pain in the rear end to focus on shorter distances and C) 'interesting' to hand-hold for a 4-hour trip. We were in an open landrover, and the sides were too low to trust my favourite photography accessory: the rice bag.
A shame about the branche and leaves in front of the leopard, but still a good sample of how sharp Nikon's 2.8/300 lens is...
Once again, the Mrs. made a better decision and used a 70-200mm without convertor, her pics give a much better view of this majestic animal!
Four days spent in the heart of the Serengeti were not nearly enough. It is a place of wonder, of delights and of incredible moments shared with spectacular creatures.
Photos were taken during a 9 day safari in partnership with Fed Tours and Safaris (fedsafaris.com) who provided an absolutely incredible experience.
Learn more about the trip on virtualwayfarer.com.
To buy prints of these photos visit alex-berger.com. For licensing requests, please reach out directly.
The leopard is a solitary animal which hunts mainly at night and hides during the day. The Amur leopards, also known as the Far Eastern leopards, are the northern most subspecies of leopard and are well adapted to snowy winters. They inhabit an area to the west of Vladivostok. The Amur leopards prefer mixed forest where there are sufficient numbers of deer, hares, badgers and raccoon dogs that form the bulk of their prey. They often make their dens in caves and bury their prey under fallen leaves. The cubs are born in a den and suckle for three months.