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Image Description
When a lioness needs to give birth, she seeks a private place in the bush. Here her cubs will be born in secrecy, and every few days she will move her cubs to a new place so that it’s difficult for other predators to catch the scent. The day before we found the lioness and her newborns, she had been seen moving them in the area. We looked around all the bushes in the area and found them. We discreetly moved into the bush, making sure not to disturb the lioness and the cubs, or to attract attention from other vehicles. Well camouflaged and very quietly, we observed the young family. It being the 7th day after birth, this happened to be the first day they opened their eyes. There were only small ‘windows’ in the bushes through which to observe and to photograph, which meant I had to use manual focus a lot of the time.
Masai Mara, Kenya
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I agree with @David_Bostock comment. I, too, love it. A remarkably wonderful image. Inclusion of the other cub moves it to another level. Its expression invites different interpretations.
Wow. That sure scores high on the emotional impact! Who doesn’t love a wild baby kitten???
That little kitten in profile just makes this shot.
The depth is great, you feel like you’re spying on a family moment.
Amazing. Congratulations!
Ingrid, this is an excellent image, but I would like to see your techs here. From the perpective of looking down into the den and right into the cub’s eyes, it seems you were exceptionally close - possibly far closer than allowed. please clarify.
Thanks
Hi Sandy, thanks for your concern. When it comes to animal ethics, I’m the first to get upset at people’s behavior, and I can’t stand to see an animal in distress.
The photo is shot with a 500mm on full frame, but it’s a 40% crop.
The lioness and her cubs were totally at ease and didn’t change their behavior in the slightest when we were with them. Our guides are passionate about wildlife and they have been working with me for years. They know my point of view on animal ethics and sticking to the rules. And what is more, they share this opinion. They are respected and trusted by the park rangers. They also know the Mara lions individually as they see them so many times. This lioness in particular is known to be totally relaxed. Nevertheless, not everybody has the same ethics, so it’s extremely important to make sure there are absolutely no other vehicles around that can see you, even in the far distance. The location is not disclosed to anyone else when you see a potentially vulnerable animal.
A few years back we saw a lioness carrying her cubs in the distance. As we approached (we were still about 100 meters away), our guides said we had to stop as they could tell the lioness was not comfortable. I need no more than that to explain to my clients that we’re not going to go to this wonderful photo opportunity and as I explain them why, they all agree and there’s never any regrets about the experience/photos that they missed. In fact, it gives them a proud feeling of having done the right thing and it’s something they will remember and tell other people about. It’s all about being responsible.
I hope this puts your mind at rest, but please let me know if there’s anything else you would like to know. As you can maybe tell, this is something I am very passionate about.
Grt, Ingrid.
