Lion Surprises Photographer With Scary Roar, Then Winks And Smiles At Him

A wildlife photographer Gren Sowerby got the ‘shock of his life’ when he came a little too close to a lion before it let out a huge roar and flashed him a cheeky smile in Kenya. Gren Sowerby, 69, leaned in and got close to the big cat when it suddenly flashed its pearly whites and let out a massive roar on a safari in Maasai Mara, Kenya, in September. While he was initially startled, he continued to snap pictures of the ferocious animal and was left astonished when it gave him a smile.

"I started 40 years ago photographing my daughter and I got the bug. It has stayed with me all this time and it's the thought of getting better images that keeps me going," the photographer revealed how his love for the art first started. "The new technology is part of it, but mainly it's to get the perfect image of your subject that makes you happiest." What's more, Sowerby told Bored Panda more details about the lion photo shoot and talked about he maintains his passion for photography. "He had just fed on a kill and was with his lioness. They both went for a drink at the stream, separately, before resting up."