Straight Down the Track

the story

A tiger, walking the centre line of the track, unhurried, came straight on. Nothing about it suggested urgency. It simply owned the path. I kept the frame wide enough to hold the wall of grass, because that was the point of the picture: how small a tiger looks against the cover it lives in, and how completely it disappears the moment it steps off the track.

the encounter

The animal appeared at the far end of the track and closed the distance at a steady walk, head slightly lowered, eyes forward. I stayed still and shot into the low sun, which lit the shoulder and flank while leaving the thicket behind it dark. I made a handful of frames as it came on. This one held the balance I wanted, the tiger centred and small in the lower third of the picture, the dry grass rising above it like a closed door.