Luke Street
Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: Nikon 300mm f/2,9
Aperture: 5,6
Shutter speed: 1/2500
ISO: 1250
Description: A male lion capitalises on the pandemonium of a large wildebeest crossing on the banks of the Mara River.
Story from behind the lens: This image was taken during the craziest 45 minute of safari I have ever experienced. During a river crossing of the Great Migration, we were alerted to the presence of a lioness. As soon as I turned around there she was, mid air and tackling a wildebeest down into a ditch. Suddenly, the large male she had been mating with also appeared, he bound back and forth in the dust as he looked for the perfect victim. You could see the look in his eyes intensify as he locked onto his final target. As the dust settled, we could see he had hit his mark. 20 minutes later, during a different crossing happening 100m away, we were lucky enough to see a leopard appear out of thin air. And in another cloud of dust he hit his mark, not more than 5 meters from us. To end it off, the original lioness, decided 1 wildebeest wasn't enough and landed another. 45 minutes of safari, 3 river crossings, literally thousands of wildebeest and zebra, 3 lion kills and 1 leopard kill. The Masai Mara smiled upon us that day and really for the entire week. Life changing.