Lion Charge

An excellent image Marsel,  and the story line makes it even more interesting.  I've used remotes but not in Africa.  When I have a Nikon to feed to the lions I'll give you a call.. :-)

Your modesty in stating that luck is so much a part of wildlife photography, right up there with patience, demonstrates your honest  professionalism. 

The sky with clouds, the wide angle and pov and the light on the contemptuous kitty make the such a wonderful shot.  Congratulations on a well deserved award.

Wow, awsome.

Fantastic shot, and all of the above comments.  The wide angle perspective makes this shot really stand out and grabs the attention. Regards, Erik

One of the best wildlife shots I have ever seen!

Amazing wild-life shot, one to be very pround of :)

A truly fantastic wildlife shot Marsel! An innovative technique carefully applied goes a long way. A superb image well desering of an award. Well done man!

All the best of the Season to you,
Neil

One of the most amazing images I have ever seen. I was taught a long time ago to use imagination and just keep shooting and luck woill find its way into your viewfinder: you have certainly achieved that!

The best scariest lion photo I have ever spilled my coffee from. Thanks for the wonderful moment! ps. Most canon users I know look like this when there is a D3 nearby...

of course, everybody knows this is a great image in every sense... great colors, exposure balance between fore and background, point of view, dramatism.... etc.

but by sharing your technique with us, and the reasons to use it, you are giving us material to reflect and improve our own pictures, regardless they may or may not be about dangerous wild animals. thanks again.

Perfecta.

Breathtaking shot ! Excellent !!! Are you still alive ?!? ;o)

Please note the following:

• This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.
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I'll have to think about the artistic merits of the shot, but wow.

I trust this is not one of those "the last thing seen" pictures!

The blue sky presents quite a contrast. The lion's snarl is quite scary. I wonder where the photographer shot from. This looks like quite an angry creature.

Wow indeed. I'm pleased to see that the images is credited to Marsel van Oosten, and not "the late Marsel van Oosten." No equipment details listed with the image, but the visual clues suggest this wasn't even a particularly long lens. Marsel, you should be getting some sort of Free Underwear For A Year sponsorship from Nike or something. Whew! Great work.

If you scroll to the top of the page Marsel gives a detailed account of his most inventive technique for wide angle nature shots.

Wow #3.

Does that count as intelligent commentary? The 'Wow factor' removes any other consideration in my mind... I can hear the National Geographic theme music playing every time I scroll up to look at this again.

Brilliant work indeed!

I can't help but wonder if this would have even more impact if it had been shot with a fisheye... :)

Wonderful photo!

The Lion looks stuffed in a diorama.

Sounds like he's a wimp, not getting out there himself!......I hope you know I am kidding.

Personally, I like the wide angle approach and I do think it personalizes the images much more than the traditional telephoto image. It is a very nice photograph and a unique approach it seems to me.

Louis, the best way to tell if it's just a stuffed lion is to go up and stroke it's mane. If it's stuffed, the fur will feel very wiry. If it's not stuffed, you won't feel anything.

It's the rarity of this kind of shot that's most striking to me. Seldom do we see such up close and personal photographs of wild lions in this aggressive posture.

The wide angel effect do work for me, this is one of many great wild life images in Marsel profile and I am glad also that the this image did find its way on the first page.

Talk about capturing the moment! The artistic value is in its immediacy and drama. I'm glad to read that only the camera and the end of monopod were outside Marsel's vehicle, although there was still risk. It's amazing to have held the camera on the lion during this.

Interesting technique leading to a very peak moment documentary shot

I think I wouldn't have had the nerve to take the moment to click the shutter. ooooo! 7