DECEMBER 2011 – A lioness stands near the shore of the Cuando river in Botswana. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
For the final leg of our trip to South Africa and Botsuana we stayed at the excellent Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane, Botsuana. Located right next to the Chobe National Park, the lodge is perfectly suited for visiting the park. They offer guided excursions to by boat and by 4×4, and we had booked both.
One afternoon tour saw us driving along the Cuando river looking for “something special”. This could be a colorful bird, a hippo, or – if we were lucky – a lion. But that would be a rare sight, the guide explained.
Imagine our joy when we noticed a lioness in the distance!
It approached a Kudu deer from behind, crouched into the grass, and suddenly started a sprint. The deer reacted instantly, started its own sprint and ran away from the lioness. The attacker slowed down after a few seconds, exhausted, and transitioned to a very slow walk.
This scene took just a few seconds but I captured the moment where the lioness was closest to the deer. An action-packed shot.
Now the lioness continued its slow walk – towards our location! It came closer and closer until it finally stood right next to us, maybe just ten meters away. We were nervous but also excited. Needless to say, I took a couple of shots.
A beautiful animal.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 05-DEC-2011, 16:26 |
| Location | Chobe National Park, Botsuana |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1D Mark III |
| Lens | Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
| ISO | 400 |
| Exposure | 1/2000 sec at f/5.6 |
| Digital Image Source Format | Canon Camera RAW (CR2) |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 3888 x 2592 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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