Like many people, I reached a milestone birthday during the pandemic without any major celebration or party. However, my family weren't to be outwitted by the restrictions and gifted me a wonderful photography experience day at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent. It may have taken well over year and a couple of cancellations to complete my visit, but it was worth every minute I waited. It was a privilege to get so close to these magnificent creatures and spend a day with them.
Some of you may have heard of the Sanctuary as it was featured in the BBC documentary Big Cats About the House. It isn't open daily to the general public like a traditional zoo but rather it is a place where you can visit on special open days or book experience days or overnight stays. My workshop was a full day, including lunch, and I worked 1 to 1 with the Lead Photographer, Alma Leaper. As well as being an excellent photographer, Alma is extremely knowledgeable about all the cats, their species and their personalities, plus she was a superb teacher. I learnt so much on the day, not only about photography and camera functions but also about my beautiful subjects.
One thing that Alma encouraged me to do was to play around with under and over exposures and embrace the 'dark side' of photography much more. This was quite a new thing for me and definitely something I will look to explore further in my photography. I also experimented with the dark side in the digital dark room and so the images I have selected below are not always as vibrantly colourful as some of my previous work.
One thing that sets the Sanctuary apart from other zoos is the range of different cat breeds in one place and despite the name, they also have a collection of small cats. During my visit I observed various different species of Lions, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars, Cheetah, Snow Leopards, Puma, Lynx, Caracal, Serval, Fishing Cat, Sri Lankan Rusty Spotted Cat and Pallas Cats. Of all the cats, due to their colour and the light, black jaguars were the most difficult to capture. The smaller cats also presented more of a challenge given their twitchier, speedier movements.
I appreciate that some people may have reservations about wild animals in captivity. Whilst I understand those concerns, the role of zoos has changed dramatically over the years. Reputable establishments such as The Big Cat Sanctuary do amazing work to conserve endangered species through research, breeding programmes and education workshops. Their role in protecting our wildlife has never been more important than in these times of major changes to global environments and the many threats to animal's habitats.
Click on any image to see an enlarged view.
