First wild lion

This was the first lion I saw and photographed on my South Africa trip. There were 7 lions in the pride in heavy underbrush. Took this shot from the safari vehicle. The lion was only a fee feet away but didn’t appear to be concerned.

Specific Feedback Requested

Does this photo have any appeal to others? I like the lion centered in the OOF greenery, not sure others will.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon 7D M II
Tamron 18-400mm @ 400mm HH
1/250 @ F-6.3 ISO 1250

A first wild Lion picture is a bit of a “right of passage” John, so they are always great!
I do find the OOF foliage a little heavy here to be honest… but I’m sure that other sightings await you.

They did Ryan. I was going through my files, looked again at these first lion photos and was not sure about the appeal. Thank you for your comments.

A nice look inside the bush, lioness with a relaxed pose!
I agree oof foliage bit heavy and would have preferred clear eyes.

PS. I think you’re posting big files, you may post smaller size, around 1500 pixels size should be enough.

Hi John, I like the fact how relaxed the lioness was. The framing is nice, but the foreground grass blades are obstructing the eyes which is bit distracting; although, I understand that you didn’t have much control since you were shooting from the safari vehicle. Thanks for the sharing the image.

Thank you for your comment. I also wish there was no grass in front of her eyes. You are right not much I could do about. I think I got a bit carried away when we first found these lion. I must have taken 30-40 similar shots! Most of which have been deleted. But, you only the one time to see a wild lion for the first time.