Out of the Dark Green

the story

The undergrowth here holds light badly. Everything behind the track was a wall of green going black, and I had been watching that wall for a long time without seeing anything in it. Then a shape came closer. Shoulders rolling, head carried low, tail curled up behind. The only real light was a thin band lying across the sand, and the tiger walked into it. I kept the frame wide enough to let the darkness stay dark. It felt truer that way: a small, bright animal and a great deal of forest.

the encounter

A tiger emerged from shadowed undergrowth onto a sandy forest track and walked toward the vehicle, head low, mouth slightly open, tail raised in a curl. The light was minimal and directional, a single warm strip across the road with the green foliage behind falling away into near-black. I framed the cat loosely so the scale of the surrounding forest stayed in the picture. The tiger held its line down the track and looked straight into the lens as I released the shutter.