Mother Cheetah and her 6 cubs

While on on safari in February, we came across one of the most special and amazing wildlife viewing moments. We were lucky enough to witness a mother cheetah and her 6 cubs, which were around 2.5 to 3 months old. Young cheetahs do not have very good odds at surviving in the wild, so I cherish every moment I am able to spend with them. The challenge is that we, as photographers, yearn for the most closeup and intimate photographs that we can capture, but this is at odds with what is best for the cheetah. They need room, room and more room. Never interfere with their hunting. I wasn't able to get too close, and some of these images are heavily cropped for web viewing purposes. That is totally fine with me.

 

Canon 1DsMkIII, 400mm f/4 DO + 1.4x, 1/320 sec @ f/8, ISO 800

Canon 1DsMkIII, 400mm f/4 DO + 1.4x, 1/320 sec @ f/8, ISO 800

Canon 1DsMkIII, 400mm f/4 DO + 1.4x, 1/400 sec @ f/8, ISO 800

This was easy photography and yet it was difficult photography. Easy from a sense of mostly non-moving subjects. So autofocus was fairly straightforward. But difficult because we were in failing light. The sun was right on the horizon, and also behind a large cloud. Depth of field was my primary concern, as I would have cubs running in front of the mother and behind the mother. So at 60 or 70 feet I was trying to hold anywhere from 6 feet to 15 feet in focus. This is difficult with 560mm of lens. If I stopped down too much I would have atrociously slow shutter speeds, and if I opened up I would have too shallow of depth of field. So I settled in on f/8 and ISO 800. Not too much noise, but just about right.

Comments

[Kari Post]

IP: 72.73.225.248EMAIL: kari@karipost.comURL: http://www.karipost.comAdorable shots Andy. I never think I saw a Cheetah with so many cubs. I hope at least a couple of them survive.