Wildlife photography is all about a lot of patience and a little bit of luck, and this shot by African wildlife photographer Greg du Toit going viral this week is a perfect example.

The night shot of a leopard out on patrol was taken last year, he described on his blog how the shot came about:

“It was a cold and nippy night in South Africa’s Mala Mala Game Reserve when we received a radio call to say that one of the dominant male leopards was on his night patrol and heading our way. Asking my guide to switch off and to wait in the dip it seemed to take ages for our subject to appear out of the dark night.

When the leopard got to the rise in front of us, he paused and turning his head to the side, his warm exhaling breath turned to steam. He stood there like a vision before us, with his outline made visible by another safari vehicle’s lights. Frantically throwing my camera into manual mode and pressing my shutter, I could only hope that the steam and dust had recorded in my exposure.”

Read more on his official website.

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