Most people try to avoid dangerous predators like lions, but photographer Chris McLennan’s clever remote camera setup allowed him—or rather, “Car-L”—to get in the faces of a pride of lions in Botswana and capture some otherwise-impossible shots.
The setup, designed by McLennan's friend Carl Hansen, consisted of an AquaTech Sound Blimp mounted to a 4x4 remote control buggy.
McLennan placed a Nikon D800E camera inside and the blimp, equppied with an 18-35mm lens. He set the camera to manual focus mode with high ISO and small aperature for "great depth of field," and he set the lens to a wide 18mm, knowing that he would have crisp focus at 1m.
The movement-triggered aggression of lions and other big predatory cats may be frightening, but it guaranteed the success of McLennan’s shoot. Not only did McLennan capture crisp, close-up shots in the faces of one or several lions, he received the opportunity of a lifetime when an entire pride of lions began stalking and fighting over Car-L.
This bit of interesting know-how to capture wildlife up and close. McLennan has captured these lions in the limelight without risking too much except a camera on a little dune-buggy that was able to get as close as possible.