A wildlife lover first, I always aim to convey the moment and experience. When using black and white, you pare the image back to its fundamental components – light, composition, and in some cases atmosphere or emotion. The latter of which is what kept drawing me back to this image. Even though the leopard is a relatively small part of the scene, the termite mound offsets the cub from the sky and makes the longing expression on its face stand out – waiting for its mother to return from the hunt. Leopards use termite mounds as elevated spots to survey their territory for prey or threats. In this image it has become part lookout, part nursery and part hideout. Abandoned termite mounds often provide shelter for mothers raising cubs. This mother’s previous litter of cubs had been killed by predators in the area, which puts into perspective the beauty, vulnerability and resilience even predators can possess.

The leopard population in the Okavango Delta is relatively stable compared to other parts of Africa, largely due to strong conservation efforts and the Delta’s status as a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. Although they still face the typical pressures resulting from habitat encroachment and climate change – this shows how much difference this kind of approach to conservation makes.