48.9

Wildlife photography is about enjoying nature and all that, but it is also about those rare moments when it all just "clicks" (excuse the pun)...when what you've seen in your mind, what you've planned and prepared for meets with that stroke of good fortune that is needed for magic to happen in the bush...This was one such occasion. I knew where the kill in the tree was, and also knew the leopard had not returned since the previous night. So I staked out the tree. Picked the spot where I could photograph the ascent. The leopard would have to return before sunset for me to get the shot. If it even decided to climb the tree, it needed to ascend it from the left, right or front and not from the back. It came...and it did!! The light was very poor (completely overcast at sunset time) so I had to push the Nikon D3s to its limits. It did not disappoint me. I traded some shutter speed for ISO and hoped to get a few frames sharp. I did. Needless to say I am very happy with this sequence of shots, and like this one the most. This shot was taken last week in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.