Bobcat Vision Quest

Good things happen when you push yourself to continue chasing a subject you have photographed many times.  Of the thousands of bobcat images I've shot in the oak woodlands of central California this is my favorite "face shot" of a wild bobcat.  Nikon D3s body, 500mm f4 lens, ISO 800, f4.5, 1/250 second, Indura tripod/head, raw converted to jpg in CS6. The color in the eyes comes from the reflected color of the oak tree bark - I've got other images with light blue eyes.

I've had 86 bobcat encounters so far in 2014, with 6 more safaris before the end of the year I will blow past last years 94 bobcats easily and set a new personal record well above 100.  Photographing bobcats in California has become a quest for me - they are elusive predators, but within reach for those of us that have come to understand their habits and traits.