Gorilla in the Forest

This is easily the hardest shoot I've ever done. It took five hours of a ridiculously tough hike into the steepest and densest rain forest environment in southwest Uganda to get the shot. We were allowed to spend only one hour with the gorillas, then a three mile hike out of the jungle. Worth every second, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. I was wishing I'd done this 30 years ago. :-)


Nikon D300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 OS, shot at 150mm, f/4.5, 1/40s, ISO 400

Awesome, Diane. Great capture.

Diane:

Awesome! I wish I were able to make the arduous trek to view these spectacular creatures in person myself. A wonderful portrait.

Thanks for sharing.

Jim

Hi Diane,

Congratulations - this is really nice. I have a friend who did this a couple of years ago and came back with nothing as good as this. Well done.

James

Wonderful capture, and so well earned. When I worked in Kenya the politics were very unstable, I was never game to do that walk. And so many great shots on your site, hope the current exhibition is going well.

They say great things don't come easy great shot obviously not in the zoo.Thanks for sharing Randall

Wow- what an incredible shot and experience!

Love the expression! You sure captured it beautifully. Yeah, not sure about that hike either, but at least you have this beautiful image as a result!

Wonderful moment. Great shot!

Wow. I am first of all, so jealous you got to do that. And what a fantastic shot. What an experience.

Thanks everyone for your kudos. Ya know, when I got the shot, I knew I nailed it. But, what I didn't realize was exactly what I got, because all I thought of was the gorilla. However, this past Sunday I was watching a rerun of a PBS Nature show about Titus, the King of the Gorillas. It was shot on the Rwanda side of the Virunga Mountains, wherein I was on the Uganda side of that same mountain range. Anyway, the narrator described how gorillas tend to fold up and curl their leaves into neat little "salad" packets. That's what I captured!!! Wow!!!