To understand what makes this a stand-out photo for me, you must head to my professional photo website and check out this image in greater detail. When you zoom in on the eye of the leopard, you can see a clear catchlight of the sunrise.
It was when I got home back to Vancouver, Canada, from the paradise of Sri Lanka and after several months, that on micro editing this photo, I noticed the catch light. I remember that morning clearly. It was our first morning in Yala and our first safari outing. 6:45 am, we are in the jeep and headed to the park when we notice the most fantastic sunrise. So spectacular it looked fake. That seemed to be the omen for what was just minutes later, this leopard.
She sat quietly on the side of the dirt road and stayed there for about 10 minutes. Then she ran off where we could not follow. The dirt roads/paths are the only places you are allowed to be in Yala, and you must be in the jeep. The trails cross around the various “Blocks” that make up the national park. To either side of the path is forest and strictly off limits.
When I finally got to editing all the photos I got of this stunning leopard, this wasn’t even one of the ones I got to first. This is b-roll stuff. She sat for so long that we got a lot of photos. When I finally did get to editing, I realized that the sunrise from that morning is beautifully represented in her eye, and it’s the only photo where it is sharp.