Professional wildlife photography starts with a smaller lens...

Most special moments don't go as planned, but this one did.

We had my photo tour in April. Two winners from a giveaway I did last year, in collaboration with a local camp called Olkinyei Mara tented camp. And a good friend of mine, Hugo, also joined the trip. We had four nights of safari there.

I remember at the beginning of the safari, when we were reaching the Maasai Mara, I asked everyone what they were looking forward to the most. Two of them answered everything. One said cats. And I answered leopards.

Me being the most experienced safari goer, I knew that leopards are among the most rare animals to spot in the Mara. I've been to the Mara a lot, and some things do feel repetitive for me. But a leopard, it hasn't felt repetitive yet, because of its elusiveness. I love that animal.

So we all hoped to see one.

First morning, no leopard.

In fact, the very morning we arrived, a leopard and her cub had been spotted, but we weren't on safari yet. We were on our way there. The next day we drove all around.

Found lions. Cheetah. Still no leopard.

My guests were excited, understandably, the Mara can be very exciting due to the frequency of sightings. But no leopard.

Second day passed. Third day passed. Still nothing.

Fourth day. 5:15pm. We were watching lions, close to wrapping up the entire trip.

One car passed us and my guide Dennis casually asked, any sign of leopards? No.

The last three days, no one had spotted any. Another car passed five minutes later. He asked again. And that car said yes.

A leopard was just sighted, right now.

Dennis knows the value of a good experience. And mind you, this was the last hour of the entire trip. The park closes at 6:30pm. And it was very far.

Dennis and I didn't even discuss it.

We telepathically communicated that we have to go for it.

We left the lions and decided to take this bet.

For about fifteen to twenty minutes, we drove really fast to where the leopard had been spotted. Knowing how elusive leopards are, I was just hoping it hadn't disappeared into the bush. The grass was quite long that time of year. I was hoping it was still in the open, or up a tree.

When we got there, it was there just sleeping on a tree. Phew!

A few vehicles were already around it, positioned better than us since they'd arrived earlier. We started moving around, trying to find the right light, the right angle. It wasn't easy. But with time, some of the vehicles started heading back as the park was almost closing, and that gave us a bit more freedom.

That's when I noticed a branch sticking out from the tree.

Clean, separated from the background. I positioned us against the light. For those of you who know me, I'm a silhouette guy. And in my head I started anticipating. When this leopard comes down, I want it to stand on that branch, look at the horizon, and then go.

We weren't even sure it was going to move. But then it started waking up a little. We got so excited, only for it to just change its sleeping position.

Cats.

While everyone had their long lenses locked on the leopard, I looked up and noticed the sky. Stunning. The whole tree in frame. No vehicles in the background, they'd all left. I had a vision of this shot, wide angle, the leopard silhouetted against that sky with the full tree.

I didn't have my wide angle on me.

I turned to Hugo, who was completely locked in, eyes and camera on the leopard, not moving an inch. I quietly asked if I could borrow his lens. He didn't even look at me. Just said 'yes, take it from my bag'.

I quickly changed the lens, hoping the leopard wouldn't move. Because that would have been a nightmare.

It didn't move.

We waited. It yawned again and this time, it meant it. It scanned the horizon for a minute or two, checking for danger.

I stuck my arm out of the vehicle, got as low as I could, and waited for the moment I had imagined.

And when it was ready, it did exactly what I'd anticipated.

It stood on that branch.

Stayed for a good minute.

This is one of the very few shots I have ever planned that panned out exactly as I pictured it.

Most wildlife photographers zoom in. Isolate the animal, clean background, sharp subject. Technically correct.

But a wider lens gives you something else - context.

Clouds. Foreground. Sky. Space. Direction. The animal inside its world, not removed from it.

The leopard on that branch, silhouetted against the Mara sky, the whole tree in frame, that image only exists with a wider lens.

A 600mm gives you fur. A wider lens gives you a feeling.

And maybe that's the lesson beyond photography too.

Sometimes you're so locked in on the subject that you miss the whole picture.

Life is stressful, and it's very easy to be locked into a single and narrow perspective.

When you're lost, zoom out.

You'll realise how far you've actually come, how much space you have, and how much is in store for you.

Until next time,

Dhir