Camera: Sony A7RV

Lens: Sigma 135 1.8

Aperture: 1.8

Shutter speed: 1/5000

ISO: 100

Description: A lone cheetah seeks out the shade of a tree to get away from the mid day sun.

Story from behind the lens: In a landscape like the Mara, shade can sometimes be hard to come by. The trees can be few and far between and the tall grass is often not enough to create shade for cheetahs to get enough shade to avoid overheating mid day. We were lucky enough to come across this cheetah taking a moment to rest under the shade of a tree, as it got up to continue on I captured this image as the cheetah stepped into the light. While it's normally not optimal to shoot under harsh lighting conditions, I felt like the illuminated cheetah in contrast with the long shadow of the tree created a great dramatic contrast.