In time for the weekend here is episode 24 of my “Instant Inspirations”, my series for you if you look for something to overcome “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried, or at least not recently.
Today I want to inspire you to go on a safari. A fine art photo safari. Something everyone can do that has a zoo or wildlife park in the vicinity. All you need in terms of gear is a camera with a zoom. While enjoying a stroll through the zoo, look for wildlife in high contrast lighting situations. You are almost guaranteed to find such situations during any visit. Shoot with a wider aperture, to throw the background out of focus.
To find out how to shoot this type of scenes, a bit of post processing advice and some more high contrast fine art wildlife photos from my last “safari” continue after the jump…
If you want to go for a fine art wildlife photograph, try converting your images to black and white, or shoot in a high contrast black and white program most cameras offer, so you see right away what the results look like. Use center weighted exposure metering on the bright parts of the image, which should already produce nice blacks in the dark parts of the image. If you use Lightroom CC (or any other advanced imag eprocessing software offering adjustment brushes), take an adjustment brush and paint over the sides of the frame to throw them into total darkness.
So next time you want to do something against your photographers block or just want to try something new, take your camera with a zoom, head out to the next zoo or wildlife park and look for high contrast wildlife scenes. You are invited to show your results by posting a link in the comment section. Go out and have fun!
Make sure to regularly check out my free Learning Center for all of my tips and inspirations around photography.
Have a great weekend!
Marcus
Related Posts:
Instant Inspiration (17) – Flower Photography with Zoom
Nicely composed! Check out my article on survival tips in the wildlife! Unplugged Creations https://unpluggedcreations.com/survive-in-the-wild/
Just. Wow!! Stunning captures Marcus. Thanks for sharing the techniques as well.
Your kind words mean a lot, Amy, thanks! Marcus
Excellent animal portraits, Marcus. Zoos can be a wonderful resource. (although, a real safari sure is life changing!) Terrific post.
Thanks, Jane, this coming from you means so much. I had my share of real safaris in Southern Africa, but to bridge a visit to the zoo ain’t so bad 😉
Fantastic images! Stunning wildlife portraits. Mood, gesture, composition, quality of light and, indeed, b&w help make these images fine art images. Amazing work! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Alina, this coming from you means so much!
Sehr beeindruckend!!
Danke sehr!!!!!
Wow, great photos
Thank you so much, it means a lot! Marcus
Reblogged this on From 1 Blogger 2 Another.
Thanks for the reblog 🙂
You’re Welcome!
Yes Marcus the Meerkats are stunning 🙂 Can’t get to a zoo, but I do have four dogs I could experiment on 🙂 Lynne
Thanks, Lynne, so much appreciated! Do some fine art dog pics!!
Ha ha I will give it go 🙂
Outstanding photos, especially the meerkat one!
Thanks, Péter, very much appreciated! Marcus