In Makalali Game Reserve, SA, a young lion rests in the bush.

Here is a photo I took earlier this month using my Canon R6 (f2.8, 1/500, ISO100.

I was fascinated by the intricacy of the bushes framing the cub and the texture they created. Often in wildlife we are told that a clean and smooth background is best for portraits but sometimes breaking the rules works well. For me the extreme chaos of the bush adds a sense of calm to the cub and dimension to this image.

Clearly living in the middle of the UK, I dont regularly take photos of lions but I chose this one to try to demonstrate my style (and because Im still basking in that African glow :-) ). I try really hard not to take close up wildlife portraits all the time. They've almost all been done before. I aim to add story to an image by including action, environment or interaction. Sometimes I take just one lens (usually 70-200, my favourite) so that I am forced to work harder to get the shot and to prevent myself going in for the portrait shot, which is what I did here.