What has always intrigued me about cats -- big or small -- is that their mannerisms and behavior are so similar. All of the feline species play, stalk, hunt, crouch, and show affection almost identically. When I see lions in Africa or tigers in China, they remind me of my house cat, Ming. And when I watch Ming, he reminds me of his very large and wild relatives. These two Siberian tiger cubs were constantly in motion and were obviously having a great time. I photographed them in the 90’s with my Mamiya RZ 67 II medium format film camera, and unlike today with the fast frame rate we all enjoy, back then I was able to take one frame about every two seconds. I had to hand-crank the film. In retrospect, it seems ridiculous to attempt to photograph wildlife with this camera system, but the payoff was very sharp images that could stand serious enlargements. I used a 350mm lens, determined the exposure with a Sekonic L-358 hand held meter, and I used Fujichrome Provia 100 transparency film. My settings were not recorded but they were probably 1/400 at f/5.6 based on how I used to shoot and the available light. Note that on the Mamiya RZ, the fastest shutter speed was 1/400.
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