Cheetahs Running

In my previous photos of running cheetahs, I used a fast shutter to freeze the action and limit motion blur. Here's Bob in 2023, shot using a shutter speed of 1/2000s. The focus is good, there's no blurring, and we can even see his claws.

In the summer of 2024, I tried for a sense of movement and speed by using a slower shutter, panning with the cheetah, and zooming in further. On June 4, I started with a shutter speed of 1/125s for Dave and Adrienne. I suspected that would be too slow, but it was an experiment and I forged ahead. The shots of Dave were forgettable, with lots of blurry fur and too much distance thanks to only 92mm of zoom.

For Adrienne, I kept the shutter at 1/125 but zoomed to 220mm. Most shots were like this one, with too much blurry cat:

The next frame was a winner. The background and grass have streaks of speed, and her feet and tail are a little blurry with motion, but her head is pretty sharp. All four feet are off the ground and she's looking intently at the lure.

What would happen if I increased a shutter speed to 1/180s? Here's Adrienne again, a week later:

In July, I used a 1/350s shutter to capture this unknown cheetah:

Later in July, two more, also at 1/350s. I again failed to record the names so I could give them proper credit.

Adrienne's Run

After my cheetah run failure last time, I was determined to get some good shots. July 10 began with failure. Last time, a cheetah was introduced and a keeper explained its adaptations for hunting. Then the cheetah ran the course. This time, I was ready to write the name of the demo cheetah when Bob came shooting around the course while I stood with a notebook and a pen in my hands with the camera dangling.

If you like flipbooks like I do, have at it!

Fortunately, this was a twofer and I was ready when Adrienne chased the lure. My preferred spot was not accessible but I was able to stand near it. The course is U-shaped.

Here, she's outward bound.

She begins the turn and kicks up some dust. She also kicked up some grass that's visible against the background rocks in pics 8, 9, and 10.

As Adrienne continues chasing, she wipes out, recovers, and continues home.

Siblings Bob and Adrienne are notable because they are the first cheetahs to be born thanks to in vitro fertilization, and with a surrogate mom.