His youthful golden eyes stare silently into the dusk, listening to the distant sounds of barking and the grunts of the wild echoing in the night ahead.

"Kovu" means scar in Swahili.

He watched as darkness fell. It was the start of hunting hour, and his attention was on the world around him. His recent battle showed, but he had a long day of rest, and his spirit was calm and focused. Nearby, a movement had caught his attention, but he was patient. With the squeeze of my button, the soft click of my camera drew his attention briefly. He watched me for a little while, and then silently turned his focus back to the sounds of the night.

Animal portraits sometimes capture an expression that can forever remain imprinted in one's mind. I took shots of this lion earlier, but this shot stood out to me a little differently. It seems to tell of a beautiful animal in his prime, fresh and invigorated by life, yet subdued and casual about his serenity and power. A true king in nature when in the wild, and his scared nose telling a story of some recent adventure I will never know. He is one of the Gijima brothers, whose territory spanned many miles and whose arrival at the time forced another pride to move further south. That is nature in its ever-ongoing cycles of life.

RAW AFRICA COLLECTION

Welcome to Africa - the wise, the restless, the life giving.

This soulful land of dreamers gives rise to the underbelly of a beautiful gentle beat that is only heard by those who listen for it. This photographic journey explores, profiles and captures what I hope is the heart and soul of Africa's true wilderness kingdom. From its deep bush to its dry savannah and desert, Africa remains a place where life is represented by timeless vistas that are distilled into moments to treasure.