Giraffe

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This picture was taken in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, East Africa.

Minolta 600si camera, Sigma 70-300 APO Macro lens with B&W circular polarizer, beanbag support, Kodak Royal Gold film.

-- Ross Warner (ross.warner@East.sun.com), October 02, 1998

Answers

This is a very nice shot. The exposure is excellent and the composition is good. There are two things I would try and do if I were going to make a print to hang on my wall. I would like to see just a bit of space behind the animal so his hind end is not cut off. I would also crop a bit of the top of the image out to eliminate just a few of the larger dark branches above his head. These are minor things, and of course this is just my own taste. All in all, it is a beautiful photograph. I would have loved to have been there.

-- Glenn Swan (swan@ampex.com), October 02, 1998.

Ross,

The visual surgery of the hind-end of the giraffe is undesirable. As a rule, you should include all of the creature or cut it off in a place that looks to be intentional, this way looks like a mistake.

I think the framing would also improve if you had balanced the top and bottom more evenly. I usually don't like symmetrical images, but the way you've done it gives the image a feeling of the animal's legs having been been cut off, while the sky above doesn't contribute anything.

Frank

-- Frank Kolwicz (bb389@lafn.org), October 02, 1998.


I agree about the framing. If you would have included the whole body, it would have been wonderful. I think that you were probably concentrating on his head as you were looking through the viewfinder though, rather than also noticing the other things in the frame. I think thats so because:

a. the giraffe is looking in your direction, you probably had to wait or bait him to get that

b. in doing the above, you may have unintentionally centered his head (L-R at least)...

Just my two cents, still a great shot though....

-- Jason Fobart (jason@fobart.net), October 02, 1998.


Why is the sky so magenta? It looks un-natural.

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), October 02, 1998.

Thanks for the cropping advice...the sky is gone now.

After struggling with a 400mm lens on safari, it's a shock to come upon one of these guys and scramble for a medium-size lens. Giraffes are 12-18 feet tall! Standing in the grass, his feet were invisible, and I just missed getting his rear end in the frame. I'm still happy with this photo, in large part because I think the light is beautiful.

-Ross

-- Ross Warner (ross.warner@East.sun.com), October 14, 1998.



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