UK Safari

On the wild side

terry hewlett arps

A day with the family

There is nothing more satisfying than spending a day with the family and grandchildren, to see the delight in the little one's eyes when they look at the animals not seen before and savour the joy when their inquisitive minds ask questions.

Afie and Katie - his mum
A little fill flash to complement the ambient from upper left
and some reflected light from Katie's top.
EF70-200 @145mm f/2.8 at 2.3m
Metering - Evaluative

That was me last weekend when I went to the Cotswold Wildlife Park with my wife, little Alfie, Bobby and their parents, providing me with the opportunity to photograph both them and the animals.

Now here is the question, when you are a professional photographer on a day off, do you switch your brain out of gear and just shoot "snaps", or do you go the whole nine yards and shoot creative, memorable images? I think that is a no-brainer as any photographer will tell you, its in the blood and when you understand the basic principles of composition and lighting, the process becomes so much easier to produce images that are much better than just "snaps".

Don't get me wrong, shooting snaps for most people is all they want to do with their cameras, capturing those special moments, however with a little targeted training those "snaps" could be so much more.

Lighting is a key consideration when taking an image, after all it's the reflected and direct light that forms the image - with the help of a decent lens. In the shot with Alfie and his mum there is nothing more than considered positioning of them both coupled with a very small amount of flash, controlled with Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC), something that all DSLR cameras are capable, even a small compact can achieve a similar result.

The day was a casual walk around the park taking in the exotic and not so exotic animals, some offering the opportunity for great imagery, with a little patience added to the mix.

Meerkats always make for photogenic subjects.
EF70-200 @ 400mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 3.8m
Metering - Evaluative

When shooting animals it is not advisable to use flash so all the images were shot with the available light, waiting for the furry friend to be in the right position. Using a wide aperture will give you a shallow depth of field that isolates the subject from the background, a key element when producing images that captivate.

There are times when your patience can bear that little extra fruit as in the second Meerkat image I was in the right place at the right time and  he performed on queue.

A small hover fly came into view and captivated the Meerkat - a moment in time.
EF70-200 @ 340mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 3.8m
Metering - Evaluative

One of the problems shooting animals in captivity is that some are behind bars, wire or in the case of the Lions, behind a double layer of toughened glass. This presents a particular problem in that glass will reflect you the photographer unless you place the lens tight to it, which is what was done with this shot of the sleeping pair. The image has suffered a little because the inside of the glass was not as clean as I would have liked it and none of my family offered to go and clean the it for me!!!!

The couple
EF70-200 @ 310mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 13.8m
Metering - Evaluative

The image was processed in Filter Efex Pro "wet rocks" to help add a little edge and contrast. The shot was taken straight on as any attempt to shoot through the dual layer of glass at an angle resulted in a distorted image.

The shelter roof they were lying on was at an angle helping to add a small amount of energy to the shot.

These observations are just some of the few tools in the photographers armoury that help produce a pleasing image that so easily could have been just a "snap".

Composition plays a huge role in creating an image that stands out from the page and something I regularly notice when I am teaching the workshops, with delegates who do not visualise the image before they take it. So often, just getting in a little tighter with the crop can make all the difference.

The Rhino shot could so easily have been the whole body,
the tight crop produces a stringer image.
EF70-200 @ 400mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 13.8m
Metering - Evaluative

If the diagonal in the image is coming from the lower left to the upper right it will produce a more balanced and stronger image. The line you take will invoke different emotions in the viewer and diagonal lines are more dramatic. With the Rhino shot I kept the camera horizontal as the horn produced the diagonal, with the eye on the left hand rule of thirds, I the image works. The 200m lens with the 2x extender would only open up to f/5.7, however it provided sufficient shallow depth of field, combined with my viewpoint to  produce an unobtrusive background.

There is nothing cuter than a Red Panda, notoriously shy creatures, that spend most of the day in the tree canopy, so it was a joy to see this timid little animal venture down to its feeding station, and just after we had fed ourselves, impeccable timing. However a large crowd soon developed, all wanting to catch sight of him, so a long lens was vital, coupled with a large serving of patience.

Red Panda
EF70-200 @ 400mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 3.8m
Metering - Evaluative

Animals will not normally pose for you so you need to be quick with the shutter release, capturing  the right expression at the right moment, as with all animals you do not always get what you want. In circumstances like this there is generally no opportunity to use a tripod, hence the use of a monopod to provide some stability.

Finally we have what are probably one of the cutest animals on the planet, the Ring Tailed Lemur who are in a netted compound so you can walk amongst them as they leap around the enclosure. On this occasion there was an adult and two young that makes such a nice grouping, there is a rule about odds and evens in a photograph and in this case three was ideal.

Ring Tailed Lemurs
EF70-200 @ 140mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 2.3m
Metering - Evaluative

The fact that we were in the cage with them eliminated any netting or wire fencing in between, allowing me to get real close. They were so captivating that I took a huge number of shots from different angles and they were constantly changing their position.

Ring Tailed Lemurs
EF70-200 @ 140mm with 2x extender on a monopod
f/5.7 at 2.3m
Metering - Evaluative

I will leave you to judge which is your preferred image..

A full day with so many opportunities, however rain curtailed the day slightly so maybe another visit is called for.

Our next workshops:

19/20th September  ........... 2 day wedding
12 October ......................... The Big Posing workshop
19 October ......................... DSLR supercharger
26 October ......................... Film Noir

Book online at:
photographyworkshops.co.uk

Hope to see you on a workshop sometime.