Look Up. No, Higher.

Look at the tree. Now look again. There is a leopard in it, and you have not seen it yet.

Big grey branches. Leaves. Long strange fruit hanging down like sausages on strings. Nothing else.

That is how leopards win. You can stare at one for a full minute and see nothing but bark.

Then the shape clicks into place.

A long golden body lies stretched along a thick branch, belly down, as relaxed as a cat on a sofa. Black rosettes cover the coat, a thousand tiny dark rings. A leg hangs down off the branch, loose and lazy.

It is almost cheating.

The vehicle goes very quiet. Somebody whispers and points. Half the people on board still cannot find it.

You find it. Your stomach does a little flip.

The leopard does not care. It has climbed up here so it does not have to care. It does not lift its head. It does not even look round.

You wait. The sun is hot on your arms. The cameras click, then stop, then click again whenever a paw twitches.

Later, in another tree, the light is behind it. Now there is no colour at all. Just a black shape on a black branch against a pale sky. Legs dangling. A tangle of thin thorny twigs all around it.

Back, legs, branch.

You would know that outline anywhere.

For the rest of the trip you will look at every tree differently. Most of them will just be trees.

That is what makes the one that is not so special.

Driving on, everyone is suddenly an expert. Every branch is a leopard. Every shadow is a tail. You laugh about it, but you keep looking, and so does everyone else.

That is what one good sighting does. It changes how you see the whole day.

So why do these photos work?

Because they make the viewer do what you did. Search. The eye travels along the branch, through the leaves, past the hanging fruit, and then lands on the cat. And there is a little thrill every single time. That is a picture people never get tired of.

The silhouette works for a different reason. It is pure shape. Black and pale, almost like an ink drawing. It looks modern and clean and very calm.

On a wall, that is gold.

Hang the silhouette in a smart office or a hotel corridor, where its clean lines suit plain walls and good lighting. Put the leopard on the branch in a lodge style bar or restaurant and watch guests point it out to each other. Use either one in a campaign about patience, focus or seeing what others miss.

And if you want to feel that stomach flip for yourself, go on safari in East Africa. Ask to stop under the big trees. Look up.

No. Higher.

Give your guests a leopard to find on the wall. License these photos.

Want readers to look twice at your brand? Paul can write words that do exactly that.