THE
MOUNTAINEERS

I staked out a spot in the cougar exhibit at Northwest Trek to practice wildlife photography techniques using my new camera. This particular cat teased me mercilessly by dashing all over the grounds faster than I could pan with my telephoto lens, and daring me to try to catch it in action. Despite the fast film, and high-tech camera features, the light on this rainy day was too dim and shutter speeds too slow for me to catch any good high-speed action shots. For a brief moment, perhaps just a few seconds, the cougar pounced on this log, like a housecat playing with a toy mouse, just long enough for me to grab this poised-action shot before it sprang from the log and dashed off again.

Image taken at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville, WA (http://www.nwtrek.org/contents.html)

Canon EOS-3 35mm camera (tripod-mounted)
Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens
Fujichrome Provia 400F (RHP III) film, rated at ISO 400
Exposure: Not recorded; ~1/15 sec @ f/4
Date: 4/28/2001