Unbelievable shot shows lion milliseconds from attacking photographer

Courtesy Atif Saeed

Atif Saeed was lucky to escape with his life.

Atif Saeed is really lucky.

Not only did the nature photographer capture an amazing shot of a male lion in a safari park near Lahore, Pakistan — he lived to tell the tale.

This was almost the last photo he ever shot.

As Saeed tells the Daily Mail, he spotted the lion and decided he had to get closer.

"I was thinking — I must show the character and status of lion and this was the only way I could think of to achieve this," he said.

But some noise from the camera lens or shutter attracted the lion's attention, and, just at that moment, he charged.

Courtesy Atif Saeed

Saeed told the Mail he "was laughing at that time, but now when I think back about the incident I don’t think I would be able to do it again. It was a pretty close encounter."

The lion was about 10 feet away when Saeed managed to jump back into his vehicle.

It turns out the lion didn't want his picture taken.