Capture an environmental big cat portrait
Following a briefing with Alma Leaper, the Big Cat Sanctuary’s lead photographer, we venture out to the enclosures. The cats react noticeably to Alma’s presence – especially when she’s brandishing a bucket of meat to feed them with. Alma is adroit at getting the cats into ideal positions for being photographed, tossing meat into particular parts of the enclosures and cajoling them verbally. One of the cats happy to pose for Christine was Atara the North Chinese leopard.
“With her beautiful markings, Atara was my favourite cat to photograph,” says Christine. “I wanted to convey the feeling of a cat watching and stalking its prey and tried several different kinds of shots – this one was my favourite.”
Expert opinion
Adding some foreground by framing in the wooden log gives a sense of depth and layers. It’s also a pleasing nod towards this cat’s natural environment when living in the wild.
Sumatran tigers are the smallest subspecies of tiger, and are critically endangered as a result of poaching. Puna was clearly happy to see Alma, who encouraged her to mosey around the small pool for us, collecting targeted parcels of meat along the way.
“I was keen to capture the reflection of a big cat in water, and Puna was in the perfect location to be able to do so,” says Garry. “Puna is normally apprehensive around water, so
I was lucky to capture this shot.
“The light was ideal and lent itself to a clear reflection, so I kept track of Puna until she was in the right spot.”
Despite Puna’s richly coloured coat, with more frequent, thinner, stripes, Garry wasn’t completely satisfied with the image while he was editing it.
“Looking at the image later on, I wasn’t happy with how it came across in colour, mainly due to the background, so I did some experimenting in monochrome, and the result was something far more pleasing.”
Expert opinion
The choice to shoot with a horizontal orientation leads the viewer into the image and downwards towards to a well-captured reflection in the pool. The rocks and detailed fur give the image texture, tone and contrast, which could perhaps be pushed more in post-production.
For our second challenge, we’re dispensing with the ‘environmental’ aspect for more of a conventional portrait. This time, the participants can concentrate on the face and try to tease out more of the character of their subject. Christine’s study of a puma looking straight into the lens is titled ‘Fierce’, which seems very appropriate.
“With their striking faces, I wanted a full-face image because I thought that would be the best way to show off the symmetry of the facial markings,” Christine explains.
“I wanted to make sure I had eye contact, too. I kept the aperture wide to keep the main focus on the face, but it was quite frustrating, as most of the time she wasn’t looking my way.
“Eventually she came straight towards me. There wasn’t much time for me to react, but I managed to get the shot I wanted.”
Expert opinion
This is exactly what a portrait is all about – bold, strong, up-front and centre. The eye contact is hugely engaging, and the pleasing fall-off in the focus towards the back of the image only enhances the portrait further. We’re sure the Big Cat Sanctuary will be impressed with this!
Female North Chinese leopard Atara has the longest and most beautiful whiskers of any cat at the Big Cat Sanctuary, and has lived there for 13 years. She is certainly one of many photogenic subjects at the BCS.
Thanks to their black and golden spotted patterns being similar to the copper coins that were in circulation in ancient China, North Chinese leopards are also called golden coin leopards.
“Atara has some fantastic markings, so I really wanted to capture those, says Garry. “I kept good and low so that my lens was level with her, and waited until she was walking in my direction before pressing the shutter.
“I wanted to capture her mid-step so there would be a sense of motion, and also to maintain a natural feel by waiting until she was looking away from the camera. The lens was pressed up against the mesh to remove distracting lines, and I used a wide aperture to further this effect.”
Expert opinion
This is a beautifully captured image, and is lovely and sharp on the leopard’s eyes – this is not easy to achieve, especially when you’re shooting with a shallow aperture and a moving subject, as Garry was here.
As it stands, this composition is strong – but we suggest that it could be made even stronger with a slight cropping to the right-hand side, to isolate the face and front leg. Keeping the edit natural really highlights Atara’s inherent aesthetics. Good work, Garry.