Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Vantage Point

One of my favourite encounters in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda was watching this leopard use a large cactus tree as the lookout to survey the savannah. We first spotted her in the early evening resting on the outer limbs. She moved into the interior of the tree, making herself almost invisible cloaked in the entangles limbs of the cactus. We slowly moved around the tree capturing different images of this beautiful cat. Coming out of the shadows she would lock onto something off in the distance with the most intense stare. The tree was massive, providing the perfect camouflage for this stealthy hunter. I wanted to showcase the perspective and scale of the cactus, so I backed off my 100 – 500 to zoom capturing this image called Vantage Point.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 12.2023
Date Uploaded: 12.2024
Photo Location: Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda
Camera: Canon EOS R7
Copyright: © Jo-Anne Oucharek