This lion cub had claimed a dead tree limb at Tswalu and wasn’t in any hurry to move. The morning light was coming through the branches in broken bars, and for a few minutes it landed across the cub’s coat almost exactly matching its own natural striping.
I had maybe two minutes before the light shifted and the moment closed. Field photography is mostly waiting through long stretches of nothing for windows like that one, and knowing enough about light and behavior to be ready when it opens.
This lion cub had found a piece of bark and was not about to let it go: claws dug into the trunk, teeth locked on, eyes fixed somewhere past the camera. I photographed him at Tswalu, with his mother, three siblings, and another lioness with her own four cubs all resting just out of frame. What struck me was how much concentration he brought to something so small. No prey in sight, no real stakes, just a stick and the full attention of a growing predator. His mother kept glancing over now and then, the kind of watching that lets a cub get away with a little mischief.
This lioness had a kill to herself when we found her at Noka Camp in South Africa, and she was making the most of it. Every minute or two she’d raise her head, scan the grass, and check on us, a quick, unhurried look before returning to her meal. I caught her in one of those pauses, tongue mid-lick, blood still fresh on her muzzle, eyes straight into the camera.
There’s nothing pretty about a kill site. The sounds alone are something you don’t forget. But sitting quietly nearby while a predator simply gets on with her life is one of the most honest experiences the bush offers.
This is one of those Kalahari mornings that started slow and ended fast. Five African wild dogs surround a lone gemsbok (Oryx gazella, the ones with the long straight horns), and for a while, nothing happens beyond circling and posturing. Then the oryx makes a break for a stand of bush nearby, and the dogs go from testing distance to a full sprint in an instant, yelping the whole way as they close in. The oryx made it to cover. The dogs didn’t get there first. I sat with this scene for a long stretch, not knowing which way it would break, and then it broke all at once.
I went out early that morning and found not one but four roe deer moving through Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof: a little family sharing one strip of morning light.
This cemetery keeps surprising me. It’s one of the largest in Europe, and between the old trees, the quiet, and the lack of foot traffic before mid-morning, it’s become a real refuge for wildlife: deer, squirrels, crows, kestrels, even the occasional wild hamster if you know where to look.
Mornings like this are the reason I keep coming back to this cemetery with a camera: the light, the quiet, and animals that have made this ground their own.
Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof isn’t where I expected to spend an afternoon photographing squirrels, but the old trees and thick ivy along the paths have made it one of the more reliable places in the city to find them undisturbed. This red squirrel climbed a trunk a few feet from a headstone, stopped to get its bearings, and gave me maybe four seconds before it disappeared into the canopy.
Working in a cemetery changes how you move: slower, more deliberate, aware you’re a guest in someone else’s quiet place. It’s also taught me to look past the obvious subjects. The wildlife here isn’t hiding from the city; it’s found a corner of it that nobody bothers.
It’s strange how often the animals show up somewhere you weren’t looking for them. I’ve had more luck with squirrels, foxes, and deer in cemeteries and old parks than in places actually set aside for wildlife.
📸 All photos were taken with Canon R5 Mark II & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM, except the deer family, taken with Canon R5 & Canon RF70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM.
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