Lion Kill....my Mistakes

[Arjung]

5 years ago I made a lot of mistakes shooting a Lion taking down a Wildebeest. I thought I should share my experience as I did learn from my mistakes. These were not elementary mistakes such as a low battery or a full card; they are what I call genuine photography mistakes resulting in poor photos.

This episode dates back to August 2014 in the Mara. We spotted 2 Male Lions on the horizon eying a herd of Wildebeest a distance away at dawn. The herd proceeded to cross a ravine; leaving a solitary wildebeest behind. We then noticed the wildebeest had an injured leg.



We were able to line ourselves in the perfect way with the injured Wildebeest and the Lions, yet giving them space. We were on an incline, with the the Prey & Predator higher than us. I could not have asked for a better position.

Sunrise was quite spectacular. With the Lions lying low on the horizon, I was distracted. I was able to line up 3 balloons with the Sun rising in the background. This was my 1st mistake; I should have been focussing on the Lions instead of photographing the Sunrise. I was fortunate as the Lions did not stir...



My 2nd mistake happened exactly 9 minutes after my 1st mistake. I decided to go wide so I could get the Wildebeest and the 2 Lions in the background. I changed my focal length from 400mm to 80mm.



By this time the Lion decided to charge the Wildebeest. I was more interested in capturing the photo than capturing it right. I continued to shoot at 80mm; this being my 3rd mistake. The Lion was up on his hind legs facing the camera when he attacked the Wildebeest. I missed out on an excellent opportunity and kick myself even today as I rue my mistakes.



I finally adjusted the focal length. The Lion had already got hold of his prey's throat. This was my 4th mistake. When I was shooting wide, I was at 1/640 @f8. The photo of the Lion asphyxiating the Wildebeest was shot at 1/250 @f8. Notice how the Lion's tail has some motion blur.



I did learn from this experience - focus on the task at hand; don't get distracted and keep an eye on the info provided in the viewfinder (I am still struggling with this). What I do with my camera settings in terms of being prepared:
1. My settings are reset every time I change them for a particular situation. For example, if I give my photo a positive or negative EC, I make sure I reset them after taking the shot
2. My focus point is recentred after I am done with my shot.
3. And perhaps the most important, as Forests have different lighting conditions, I make sure I am ready to shoot without having to adjust my camera settings should the need arise.

[xpatUSA]

Thanks for posting your experience, Arjun - a lesson for most of us, I think.

Balloons shot is very spectacular!

[Manfred M]

A good commentary on "lessons learned". Lions hunting are not something that most people get a chance to see even once in their lives, so the opportunities for these types of shots are quite limited. I was lucky enough to see something similar a couple of times; with my first opportunity close to 40 years ago in South Africa's Kruger Park. Two lions were stalking a water buffalo, but there was no kill and the prey got away. Even so, even with a 400mm lens on a film camera, most of the action was too far away for a decent shot.

My "lesson learned" was that closer is better. A photographer only needs one wide shot to establish the scene but all the interesting stuff happens in the close up encounter. I did get a second chance at a similar scene about 8 years ago in Namibia's Etosha Park, but this time it was a leopard stalking impala. Again, no kill, but I got a lot better shots by concentrating on the action as it was unfolding.

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts and dialogue, your comments can apply to sports, dance, and any activity where the subjects are expected to move swiftly.

[Arjung]

Thanks Ted, Manfred & John.

The photo below is of a cheetah chasing a Warthog. The cheetah was in hunting mode and was eyeing some Tommy's at a distance. We decided to line ourselves up. I made sure my shutter was over 2500. Before we knew it the Cheetah was chasing 3 Warthogs. The warthogs got away.

My buffer gets me around 19 photos @ 4fps. By the time the cheetah gave up the chase my buffer was full. In a way I got lucky the Warthogs got away. This was another lesson for me - keep an eye on your buffer in action sequences