Lion Pictures Pg 1

Whenever I return from an African safari with one or two reasonable lion pictures, I count myself lucky as these magnificent predators are often spotted only in the distance.

Even when you do see them at close range, there's a good chance they'll be fast asleep!

This selection of photographs was taken in South Africa's Kruger National Park, and also in Botswana's Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve.

Although this is only a 2.1 megapixel camera, it has an amazing image-stabilised 10x zoom lens, giving you the equivalent of a 38mm to 380mm lens on a 35mm camera. When you add the Olympus B300 1.7 converter, you are armed with the equivalent of a 640mm lens.

That's what allowed me to get a full-frame picture of the lion with the bad eye.

I've since graduated to digital SLR cameras, moving through the Canon EOS Rebel range and now use a Canon EOS 50D and old but sturdy Canon EOS 1D Mk II.

For wildlife photography, a reasonably powerful telephoto lens is essential. Most my lion pictures have been taken with various Canon lenses I've owned, including the Canon EF 300mm f/4 L USM, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, and Canon 400mm f/5.6 L USM telephoto lenses.

The Canon 100-400mm zoom is popular amongst wildlife photographers because of its reach, versatile zoom range, and image stabilization. When fitted to a digital SLR body that has the smaller APS-C sensor giving you a 1.6 crop factor, it's like using a 160-640mm lens on a 35mm film camera.

It's a great lens when on safari in Africa, particularly if you're restricted to photographing wildlife from a vehicle, as is normal in the national parks and luxury safari lodges of South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania.

More About Lions
If you'd like to find out more about lions and their behavior, see Lion Information, Lion Facts, or try the search box further below.

Row 1:
1.Pair of lion males, Kruger Park, South Africa
2.Male lion, Kruger Park, South Africa
3.Lioness and cub, Mashatu GR, Botswana

Row 2:
1.Well-fed lion male, Kruger Park, South Africa
2.Lioness close-up, Mashatu GR, Botswana
3.Lion yawning, Chobe, Botswana

Row 3:
1.Lion male resting in shade, Moremi, Botswana
2.Lion drinking, Chobe, Botswana
3.Young lion side view, Mashatu GR, Botswana

Row 4:
1.Lion male with injured eye, Kruger Park, South Africa
2.Male lion standing, Kruger Park, South Africa
3.Lioness portrait, Tuli Block, Botswana

Row 5:
1.Lion male, Kruger Park, South Africa
2.Lion pride relaxing in shade, Savuti, Botswana
3.Lion stretching, Chobe, Botswana

Use of Gallery Pictures
The Lion Pictures on this page are published for readers' enjoyment. They may only be downloaded for personal use and non-commercial educational or conservation purposes. Please read Terms of Use.

See also Lion Pictures Pg 2, or
Baby Lion Pictures for cute baby lion photos.