I would say this lioness has a smug smile on her face. I have a fondness for photographing animal expressions – usually intimate photos that would resonate with the viewer but sometimes I have some fun slightly anthropomorphising them, like in this case.

This is one of the pride females roaming the Mabuasehube Game Reserve, which is situated in Botswana and is also part of the more well known Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The vegetation here is very conductive to photography, in this case I tried to make use of the beautiful muted shades , wide aperture and negative space to make her stand out, but at the same time show how superbly camouflaged she is. When she was napping completely flat on the ground we couldn’t see her, even when knowing her exact location.

Techs: Canon 7D | Canon 300 2.8 IS II + Canon 1.4 Extender III | f 5.6 | 1/800s | ISO 100