A Pakistani photographer has captured a stunning picture of a lion milliseconds before it tried to pounce on him. Atif Saeed, a 38-year-old photographer from Lahore, took the picture in 2012 when he visited the Lahore Safari Park. It was a magical moment for him when luck and skill collided to give him this once in a lifetime photograph, and more importantly, he lived to tell the cautionary tale.
The image goes viral on social media
This chilling photo of lion can scare even those sitting behind the safety of a computer screen. Though it was taken in 2012, the image is going viral only recently. Saeed shared the photo on his Facebook page in December 2013. People on Facebook and Twitter are describing the image as both scary and beautiful. Atif Saeed told NDTV that it was an adult male lion.
The photographer, Atif Saeed, took this moments before the lion charged him! pic.twitter.com/pSli844TUd
— Ripley's Believe It or Not! (@Ripleys) April 13, 2015
When asked what he liked most about the king of the jungle, he said it was the dark, beautiful hair on the lion’s neck. Atif Saeed stepped out of his car and sat on the ground just a few meters away from the lion to click the animal. He said he wanted to show the “character and status of lion.” So, this was the only way to achieve this.
A ‘pretty close encounter’ with an aggressive lion
Within a matter of seconds, noise from the camera lens or shutter caught the lion’s attention. The beast noticed the trespasser and pounced towards Saeed. But he managed to reach the car, with his life and this amazing picture of the beast that he can be proud of.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Atif Saeed described the incident as “a pretty close encounter.” He said he could not explain in words what it felt like to watch an aggressive lion approach him through the camera view finder. “I was witnessing every minute detail that no photograph or movie can show,” he said. However, he seemed a bit skeptical to do it again.
