Sophie’s Choice

Shot of the Month – February 2021

I have been wanting to post one my portrait oriented images of a jaguar for quite a while but found myself on an endless merry-go-round.  I will post this image.  No, this one.  Hmmn, perhaps this one.  Repeat ad nauseum.

I found myself faced with a “Sophie’s Choice.”

Sophie’s choice refers to an extremely difficult decision a person has to make. It describes a situation where no outcome is preferable over the other. This can be either because both outcomes are equally desirable or both are equally undesirable.

To be clear, I am not complaining — having three pretty decent images of a jaguar to choose from is a lovely conundrum to be faced with.

Our kitty carousel looks like this:

Sophie's Choice

 

All of these images were taken in the Pantanal in Brazil.  We had the good fortune of watching this female as she stalked the river’s edge in search of a meal.

Image #1:

Jaguar, Pantanal - Brazil (8041)

The eye contact is pretty good but the kicker is the raised paw just about to enter the water.

Image #2:

Jaguar, Pantanal - Brazil (8017)

We trade full eye contact for a menacing stare, but we do get a wonderful full-body view of those gorgeous jaguar markings.  And the powerful, yet lithe, almost serpentine shape of the body – it just oozes lethal predator on the prowl.

Image #3

Jaguar, Pantanal - Brazil (8055)

We find ourselves face-to-face with a jaguar. I could lose myself for days in those big ol’ eyes.  And we have another good view of that stunning fur coat.

 

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Which one would you take home?

 

Until next month……m

 

 

Settings for #1:

Nikon D4S, Nikon 600mm, f/4, 1/800 sec, ISO 2800