Although leopards are widespread across almost every habitat, they are one of the most elusive big cats making even split-second sightings a real thrill. I have lived in Kenya for several years and can count my moments shared with a leopard on a pair of hands. If you are lucky enough to see one, you may see only a flick of a tail or a blur of spots as they disappear into the dense bush. Interestingly, they are also the most adaptive of the big cats and are known to prowl the streets of cities during the late hours of the night. What I experienced was something out of a dream, a leopard in his realm, looking out into the distance beyond. I will never know what he was thinking or what he was looking at, but I like to think he was looking over his domain beyond his rocky outcrop.

Moments before I captured this frame, the leopard woke up from one of the low-hanging branches and started moving towards the vantage point on top of the rocks. I had no idea that the most fairy-tale or Disney animation-like scene was about to unfold in front of me. With a slight adjustment of the vehicle, I could frame the leopard perfectly between the branches of the giant rock fig tree. The leopard looking away makes this image work the most for me. It completely fits with the mythical nature of the species and the utterly unique and equally mythical setting. The dense vegetation punctuated by towering granite rocks and a sprawling giant rock fig tree provides the ideal environment to capture this half landscape, half wildlife image.

I don’t know if people will resonate with this image as much as I do, but one thing is for sure, this once-in-a-lifetime moment in nature will likely never repeat itself.