Rica, the female Jaguar
Jun, 2015Views
1443
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Legendary Award
2020 Choice Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 30 rank
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
I remember it very clearly! It was such a good day my boyfriend and I were in Edinburgh for a week, we were celebrating our anniversary and we went to Edinburgh Zoo on the day of our anniversary.Time
To this day this image is my favourite I've ever taken, Rica (the jaguar) is so beautiful and it was an honour to be able to get a picture of her. It almost never happened because when we arrived in the morning it was raining (typical Scottish weather) until about 2pm. I think we walked past Rica around 12-1pm and she wasn't out or anywhere we could see her. Then as the day went on the sun came out and I really wanted to see the big cats so we decided to walk round again now it was sunny and luckily she was out and right up at the front of the glass. It was amazing to be so close to her!Lighting
I was worried that with it being sunny it would reflect off the glass and cause sun spots on the pictures but luckily the sun wasn't shining directly on the glass. It was sort of shining towards the back of the enclosure which I think helped to enhance my photoEquipment
This was shot using my Nikon D3100 with a18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
I love all big cats they are my favourite animals and it was too good an opportunity to not take. And I'm so glad I did!Editing
here really wasn't much post-processing to be done to the image at all. I turned down the brightness just a tiny bit and that was all.In my camera bag
In my bag I have my Nikon D3100 body, my 18-55mm lens, I also carry a 55-200mm lens which I had with me on the day but because Rica was right up at the glass I never needed it, a lens hood which came with the 55-200mm lens but I've never needed to use it and a spare battery incase the one in the camera goes low. I like the whole less is more thing.Feedback
I would say be patient, especially when photographing animals, but also be on the ball you never know when they'll surprise you! Get in a good lighting position. And enjoy taking the picture!
