Photo Of The Day By Timothy Van Minnick

Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Bariki’s Leopard” by Timothy Van Minnick. Location: Serengeti National Park.

“While on safari in Tanzania several years ago, I had the good fortune to hire an expert guide named Bariki Laiser,” says Minnick. “He was very excellent at finding and identifying wildlife. Bariki knew I was there for photography, not just to see the animals, and he always tried to position the land cruiser in the ideal position for the light. In the Serengeti, we had seen lion and cheetah up close but no leopard. They are uncommon and often difficult to find. We were searching down a lonely track when Bariki stopped the vehicle, peered ahead and then said, “There is a leopard in that tree.” The tree was very far away by the side of the track and I couldn’t believe he could see anything in it. As we slowly drove closer I could eventually see that there was indeed an animal in the crotch of the tree and it was a leopard. We stopped as close as we dared and I was able to photograph for about 15 minutes until the leopard went down the trunk and slowly sauntered away in the tall grass. Finding, observing and photographing this magnificent predator was an experience of a lifetime, and I owe it all to Bariki.”

Canon 7D, Canon 500mm FR IS L lens + 1.4 teleconverter. 1/400 sec., f/6.3, ISO 400.

See more of Timothy Van Minnick’s photography at tvminnickphotograpy.com.

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