South Africa, 2019

Shooting from a cage on land is uncomfortable, but is doable. However, shooting from a cage in water is a little extreme. Every time something rubs your leg, you imagine it’s a water snake or a small croc. On the flip side, it is the best way of cooling down on a hot African afternoon.

I wanted to be below the eyes of the lion and this meant that only my head and camera were above the water level. The 200mm lens I shot this with is not light and of course I could not put it down.

The clarity of the lion’s face and the water drops make the image, which is well framed. Adult male white lions are a joy to photograph – there is a sense of gatecrashing a fairytale.

This is a very big lion and no matter the fact that I was in a cage, the heart was beating for sure.