Cheetah Stare, by Bashar Alaeddin

While on a 4-week photography volunteer program in South Africa in Sept, 2011, we were on safari and stopped by two male cheetahs who had just had a huge meal and were basking in the sun. I kept asking our guide/driver to bring me closer and closer to them since I felt (and so did the guide) that the cheetah’s were not a threat and didn’t mind us getting closer since their bellies were full. As close as I did get, I asked the driver to hold my belt as I leaned all the way to the floor from the side of the open 4×4 vehicle, put my 24-105mm f/4 on full zoom and kept snapping so as to get a portrait-style shot from the ground. A few missed shots and out-of-focus angles, I managed to capture this.

Canon 7D with 24-105mm f/4 | Exposure 1/500sec @ f/4 | ISO 160 | Focal Length 105mm
Cheetah Stare, by Bashar Alaeddin

Award Winner: Photo of the Day | June 27
Award Score: 70 (Value 13, Clarity 13, Composition 18, Style 13, Skill 13)
Photo of the Day Award Category: Wildlife Photography
Photograph Location: Mkhuze | South Africa

Photographer: Bashar Alaeddin (Amman, Jordan) Registered
Born in Kuwait City, lived between Jordan and Lebanon most of his life, Bashar has over 9yrs experience in digital photography since he picked it up as a hobby for a course during his university years. Starting from a 2mp Samsung, he is now the founder of a photography & video studio based in Amman, Jordan where his time is split between his commercial day job photographing food, interior, products and portraits; and his night-time job traveling around the middle-east region capturing landscapes, the culture and his favorite genre, long-exposures of the night-sky. He is an amateur astronomer and tried to combine that with his love of photographs showcasing the beauty of the Arabian landscapes under starry nights.

Website: http://adasat.co/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34413965@N02
500px: http://500px.com/balaeddin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdasatStudios
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BAlaeddin
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101875611169083322729