Malini Chandrasekar

Camera: Nikon Z9

Lens: AF-S Nikkor 500mm PF f/5.6E PF ED VR

Aperture: f/8.0

Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec

ISO: 1000

Description: A male lion composing himself and taking a moment; a grand gesture.

Story from behind the lens: We stumbled upon this male lion who sheepishly moved away from a female who was keen to mate. Having done so, he took a slight beating for doing so and then composed himself in solace. Although the light was harsh, I noticed the gorgeous highlight on him and decided this would be lovely in black and white, so played with my EV settings.

Not long after this lion was quite poorly and threw up, so to capture this moment of solace, alongside grace and majesty was quite a stark contrast.