Lion in the grass

There are many advantages to shooting wildlife in sunrise and sunset lighting. One of them is the low-angled sunlight illuminates the eyes without the shadow from the brow obscuring the color and detail in the iris. In this shot of a lion I captured in Kenya, the eyes are orange and they have a dramatic intensity that holds our attention. I took this portrait with a Canon 500mm f/4 telephoto, and the settings were 1/2000, f/11, and 1000 ISO. What I especially like about this image is the way the tawny grasses blend perfectly with the colors of the cat as well as the no-nonsense expression of this apex predator.

1 Comments

Dec 15, 2025, 8:32:03 PM

Lorraine "Lolly" Piskin - Jim, I must say I tried to do something like that for my horses to blend in with your main and their face just like the cat you took a picture of which is gorgeous. Do you think you can teach the steps to create a similar look without having grass or wheat? The horses mane is not enough to cover each side of the face but something like it which my need a brilliant mind to come up with possibly a building that has sculpture on it that can be composite or maybe the illusion of having lots of forces on each side with their faces and mains blowing in the wind, and then perhaps blurring them and only their lead horse would be sharp. Oh Jim, what do I know. I just thought I’d tap your brain your autistic genius and offer me a private lesson that I could be your student and you can offer me assignments for me to try out with little hints of tools to use I’m asking or whatever it takes. I have a picture to send you. It’s in black-and-white because the coat that you’re wearing is the coat I always see you favoring. On all your trips ha ha ha ha ha ha, guess the color! Best wishes always, Lorraine LOLLy is my nickname. Sometimes people call me LOL.

Lion in the grass

Leave a comment

Archive