Namunyak II

Namunyak II, Mara North Conservancy, Kenya

A few frames before the leap in Namunyak I. Same branch, same evening, entirely different quality of moment.

Namunyak is walking — not climbing, not poised, not deciding anything in particular — simply moving along the branch with the loose, unhurried confidence of a young leopard who has done this enough times to have stopped thinking about it. The branch runs diagonally through the frame from upper right to lower left, and he follows that line with his body angled slightly downward, the evening light falling through the canopy above and landing on him in the broken, shifting patterns that only dappled light through acacia leaves produces.

That light is the making of this image. Dappled light on a moving subject in the field is genuinely difficult to work with — it shifts constantly, it flattens in the wrong places and overexposes in others, and most frames in a sequence like this will have the light landing badly on the face or blocking the eye entirely. This one had it right. The patches of warm evening light catch the rosettes on his flank, illuminate the side of his face without losing the eye, and leave enough shadow across the rest of the coat to give the image depth and dimension.

Colour was unambiguous here. The warmth of the evening light — that particular late-day gold that the Mara produces in the hour before dark — is inseparable from what the image is. It is also the quality that distinguishes this frame most sharply from the black and white image made just minutes later. Together the two tell the story of a single evening in full — the easy movement, then the focused stillness before the leap. In colour and monochrome respectively, they could not be better matched.

About These Prints

Every print is produced by Whitewall, voted the world’s best photo lab by TIPA for multiple years. The quality speaks for itself.

Fine Art Print — Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper, printed with a 1cm border. A museum-quality archival paper that renders tone and shadow with exceptional depth.

Framed Print — As above, with a 3cm passe-partout mount and a 2cm natural or black oak frame. Ready to hang.

Artbox — The image mounted behind glass in a slim aluminium frame. Clean, contemporary, and particularly striking at larger sizes.

Do visit my Prints and Framing page for more information on these products.

A note on sizing

All sizes refer to the image area only — the border, mount, and frame add to the overall dimensions. If you’re buying for a specific wall space or an existing frame, please factor this in. Not sure? Drop me a message and I’ll help you work it out.

Something else in mind?

Different size, different frame, different format entirely — I’m happy to help. Get in touch via the Contact page and I’ll do my best to sort it.

All prints are supplied without watermark or copyright overlay.