close iframe icon
approved icon bylifeconnected avatar
bylifeconnected
Are You Looking At Me?
Banner

Are You Looking At Me?



behind the lens badge

Only the bush separated us from the lioness. She was calm though, eyeing us while we slowly drove by.

Only the bush separated us from the lioness. She was calm though, eyeing us while we slowly drove by.
Read less
cameraNIKON D3300

settings Aperture 63/10 ISO 200 Shutter 10/800 Focal Length 3000/10 

upload_dateMar, 2018

Views

1108

Likes

Awards

Featured
Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 15
Peer Award
Jaspa MarkWJohnsonwyo RickL michaelcalderwood Paul_Joslin foqusfoto keithart +160
Absolute Masterpiece
rwcphoto photosue50 josephineloveday shelleytemplelarter steffoto nickgeorgevdwesthuizen KP_newbie +2
Superb Composition
iwangroot Giginthesky gloria085 OBRonTyan ClaritaBethCanlasMiller Plymchris roberthayes +1
Outstanding Creativity
James-Evans JayneBug keb whitedeer David_Pavlich jaimgirl
Top Choice
lemmondave TamWilliams thetylermorale rachelhelenhudson crystalboggs KevinGPhotography
Magnificent Capture
jensendann tomdurkin JLWitham bob666
Genius
AntonioMarchetti
Virtuoso
nikoncameraman
All Star
myerscreativearts

Emotions

Impressed
rachelhelenhudson

Top Ranks

Faces Of The World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Faces Of The World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Shades Of Green Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Shades Of Green Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Moody Portraits Photo ContestTop 20 rank
View more
Moody Portraits Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Expressive Faces Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Expressive Faces Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Looks Mysterious Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Looks Mysterious Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 15Top 30 rank
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 15Top 20 rank week 2
Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 15Top 10 rank week 1

Categories

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#lion #eye #animal #nature #wildlife #zambia #africa #close-up
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

It was taken in Kafue National Park, Zambia. As two fresh out of university nature conservationists, we are currently at the stage of finding funds to start a nature conservation and development aid project around Kafue National Park. It is our goal to create business opportunities for, and together with the locals that live around this park. Through this path we aim to improve both the quality and sustainability of their livelihoods. As a result, we believe that the negative impact on wildlife will decrease and nature will flourish again.

Time

A few hours after midday. The sun was relentlessly hot that day and all creatures, except the Tsetse flies (the most horrible biting flies you can imagine), were making most of it in the shade. This included the lioness, who was watching us very carefully from the bush...

Lighting

The light was really harsh at the time of day we found the lioness. Because she was in the bush though, it did not really mind. Most of the effort went out to taking a sharp photo of the lioness and keeping my underpants clean... =)

Equipment

A Nikon D3300 with a 18 to 300mm Sigma lens. Ooww, and Sisi (our 98' Toyota Landcruiser Prado) drove us around.

Inspiration

The shivers that run down my neck. I think this lioness was less than 2 meters away from us! We drove by a bush in our car, and there she was: staring me right in the eyes. I opened the window as far as I dared and slowly took a picture. It was hard to get the right shot as my sight on most of her body was obstructed by branches and leaves. So I decided to take a shot of just an eye.

Editing

Yes, definitely. The eye of the lioness was partially obstructed by a leaf. The camera however was focused on the eye of the lioness which resulted in making the leaf a bit translucent. To make sure that eye of the lioness would pop out of the picture I increased the blacks, contrast and clarity (used Lightroom) of the picture. In addition, the lioness was hiding under a bush so I increased the exposure a little bit.

In my camera bag

My girlfriend and I traveled through Botswana, Zambia and Namibia for three months to find a location to start a project related to Nature Conservation and Development Aid. In between the "working" part of our trip we also visited some of the most amazing wilderness areas in southern Africa (Okavango, Chobe, Etosha, Kaokavelt, Kafue, etc). As this part of Africa is mostly a desert, it was a challenge to protect our camera as good as we could (fine dust is the worst). One of the measures we took was to buy a all-in-one lens (18mm for landscape to 300mm for zoom/macro) so that we didn't need to swap lenses all the time. This prevented fine dust to accumulate on the sensor of the camera. In addition, we always carry the usual lens and body cleaning kit. And that is it for most of the time. Sometimes we bring a MeFoto Roadtrip tripod if we want to shoot a prolonged exposure.

Feedback

- I think the most important thing to do in such a situation is to keep your cool. Any unexpected moves from us could have resulted in the lioness attacking us. - As with any picture, you have to be there. We could have easily stayed in camp during the hot hours of the day to chill. So, although you always need luck to witness anything great, you will eventually be more lucky if you invest more time and effort in what you want to achieve. - Be with a friend or lover. The road conditions can be bad in parts of southern Africa, which require a lot of your attention while driving. If I would have been on my one during my travels I had probably missed out on this lioness because I was too occupied with driving. In addition, I always prefer sharing these experiences with the people I love.

See more amazing photos, follow bylifeconnected

User photo
It’s your time to shine! ☀️

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Already a member? Log In

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, and acknowledge you've read our Privacy Policy Notice.