This image shows a male African Lion resting in the shade of an immense candelabra tree in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. This unique arboreal behavior is commonly exhibited by the lions of Queen Elizabeth National Park and the lion in this image rested in this tree for most of the day before departing in the late afternoon.
Specific Feedback Requested
There is a small branch that crosses in front of the lion and I wonder how distracting it is.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Canon 1Dx
Canon 200-400 with built-in x1.4TC along with an external x1.4TC
Gorgeous image! I love the eye contact! It is too bad about the branch, but at least it’s not in front of his face. And honestly I think the lion has such a commanding presence that my goes to him first. I’m sure others might have better advice.
The famous “tree lions”. That branch doesn’t bother me - makes the shot more natural in a way. Maybe crop a bit off the top to “raise” the lion and see him larger. I bet he climbs carefully as the tree looks very prickly!
Thank you for the feedback and I am glad you like it! Thankfully with lions they have such a mesmerizing gaze that your eyes are instantly pulled in that direction.
I Dvir
This is a vary interesting photograph, I was asking myself ( how did it get into the tree)? I think the second post is better and J Rajput suggesting of burning the branches around the lion will give the photograph more of a kick. Nice work.
Peter
So cool. The jumbled lines and obviously uncomfortable perch make for a very interesting image.
I don’t mind that small branch at all. What I do find distracting is the bright green patch at bottom left. I’d be tempted to crop that out instead of from the top… I still think you get the lion’s face in the lower third that way, with a big mess of foliage (in a good way!) above.
Thank you Max and Peter! The issue with cropping the OOF bushes in the bottom left is that it would clip the tail of the lion. I went ahead and reworked the image a bit toning down the brightness and saturation of the OOF bush as well as burning some of the brighter branches.
