Acclaimed nature photographer, SeaLegacy co-founder and Sony Artisan Paul Nicklen lives in British Columbia, where you’ll find the highest density of puma in the world. “I can say that in my 40 years of living here, hiking here, mountain biking here – I’ve seen one puma in that entire time,” says Nicklen. “They are extremely elusive predators.” Watch below as he takes us on a trip to Patagonia for an attempt to photograph a puma
Product Preview – In This Article You’ll Find:
–Sony Alpha 1 II
–Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G Master
–Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master
Pumas In Patagonia
When a friend invited Nicklen to Patagonia to hike with the pumas of Torres del Paine, he was pretty skeptical. He’s spent many years looking for a big cat with no luck, so what would this trip be like? Turns out, it would be a dream scenario for Nicklen to witness and capture. “As the light came up, beautiful diffused light – I see the distinct shape of a puma. She’s on a kill. She’s out in the open with her kittens, in this beautiful grass. I could not imagine a more beautiful location.”
He patiently waited for the right shot to come together, when the kitten laced its tail over its mother’s neck and glanced over at him at the same moment. He caught the moment with his Sony Alpha 1 II and Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G Master. “When I took this shot, I was sort of like, ‘Did this just really happen?’ I had to scroll back through my camera quickly to make sure we got it. The beautiful gaze of a kitten staring right through me while it’s embracing its mother with its tail.”
The beauty of the entire scene blew Nicklen away. It was about so much more than just the big cat. “It’s one thing to see a puma,” he says, “it’s another thing to see a puma out in the open in Chile. And it’s another thing altogether to see these elusive pumas with their epic and dramatic mountain range striking as the background.”
G Master Zooms For Wildlife Photography
This wasn’t even Nicklen’s favorite part of the expedition – that would come later when he looked up in the mountains and saw a puma sitting up in the cave. They hiked to get into the proper position, and Nicklen was prepared with his Sony Alpha 1 II and Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master.
“I realized I was shooting a scene that I had been dreaming about since I was a kid,” he says. “And I had what I call a Walter Mitty moment. I put down the camera, and I just took it in – all of it. The rocks, the snow falling, the valley floor below, and most of all, I stared into the eyes of this cat and just gave thanks for this incredible gift of nature.”
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