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chrisboyce

The Lion in Winter

White lion Casper, me... not a lot else mattered.

This is not my only photograph. In my opinion, which is the only one that really matters to me,...
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White lion Casper, me... not a lot else mattered.

This is not my only photograph. In my opinion, which is the only one that really matters to me, it is not my best photo. If you like it, the least you can do is check out my other photos.

Not that anyone will read this but the truth of this is that in the depths of a British winter this lion, Casper, had been laying down for some time and had just got up. He tried to move away but clearly something wasn't quite right. In short he had a dead leg and almost certainly and clearly had decided, "I'll just stand here for a bit and hope it wears off..." That's what this is all about. Nothing magnificent, proud, meaningful, a connection or even anything particularly dangerous, just a lion with pins and needles. It happens.
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OLYMPUS E-M5

settings

Aperture f/4 ISO 400 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 210/1

upload_date

Dec, 2015

Views

1899

Likes

+49

Awards

Action Award

Chatter Award

Zenith Award

Winner in Lions Photo Challenge

People's Choice in Zoo Animal Photo Challende Photo Challenge

Top Choice

+12

Absolute Masterpiece

Superb Composition

Outstanding Creativity

Peer Award

Magnificent Capture

Genius

Superior Skill

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Congratulations on your winning photo. Nice...Very Nice

Platinum

Wow! Soft eyes in the kind of the jungle!

PRO

Wow......beautiful!!! Congrats on your Challenge Award!!! : )

Congratulations on winning my challenge "Lions" Its a beautiful captivating capture! Nice choice in cropping! You captured this Lion so perfectly. Enjoy your new award!! ~Katie

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Behind The Lens

Location

The Isle of Wight Zoo: a small, local zoo in an old fort by the seaside, where every animal is an individual and treated like a princess or king, including this big lump of a lad, Casper.

Time

About two-thirty on an overcast mid-December day. The light was already beginning to go - it would be dark by four. There weren't many visitors to the zoo. I had all the time I wanted to compose, but even then I didn't get it spot-on.

Lighting

Dull overcast, with the sun somewhere in the background, so I was shooting into Casper's shadow. That meant his head was very evenly lit, allowing his eyes to be seen clearly. The flat winter lighting also made all the details in his mane stand out, without any being blown out or in deep shadow.

Equipment

Olympus E-M5 with 40-150 F2.8/MC-14 teleconvertor, supported by Manfrotto monopod: my then standard zoo kit. Shooting through a fence, in relatively poor light, I used maximum aperture for the lens/convertor combo, f4.

Inspiration

Casper the white lion (yes, that really is his natural colouration - he's not white anymore, as he was when born, he's now blond) is one of my favourite models. Though he doesn't work the camera like some of the other big cats at the zoo do. On this occasion he was just standing there as if to say, "Go on then, take my picture." So I did. This was the third of a sequence of over twenty. I placed him on thirds to my left, allowing his magnificent mane to fill the right of the frame. The more mundane fact was that he had been lying down, and as he got up he clearly recognised that one of his hind legs had gone dead, as they do when you lay on them, even for lions. So he got up and instead of walking around, he just stood there. So, technically this is a photo of a lion with pins and needles!

Editing

None to speak of. The exposure and colour balance is as shot. I levelled it and cropped it slightly to remove the worst of some fence shading at the bottom. That's it. The rest is all lion.

In my camera bag

All Olympus micro four-thirds. I don't usually take a bag to the zoo; just my standard zoo set-up, body, 40-150 pro and teleconvertor. I used to use E-M5s but have just gone over to E-M1. 40-150 and 12-40 f2.8 PRO lenses, and a 60mm F2.8 for macro. The 40-150 at the time lived on a body pretty much full-time. I also like to have an E-PL7 with 12-50 kit zoom in my coat pocket just in case. I use a monopod a lot for wildlife, but handheld is also important too. Since then, the 300 F4 IS PRO has become my go to zoo/wildlife lens, but I still use the 40-150 a lot, but now without the teleconvertor. Both are fantastic lens.

Feedback

I took this on a dull mid-winter day when few people would even think of going to the zoo, let alone taking photos. In many ways animals, especially big cats like Casper here, are even better in winter than summer. They can be more active (note: can...) and generally enjoy having someone around to play with :-) The cats generally don't mind the cold (though primates hate it), and even rain doesn't seem to matter that much. Strong winds do tend to drive them to shelter or indoors though. So I often find winter visits in unpromising weather to zoos surprisingly rewarding. Another major factor is the lighting, which in full summer sun can be very harsh and direction, giving deep shadows and dark eyes. I generally have to do much more post processing on summer photos, especially lifting the shadows and dealing with colour balance issues.

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chrisboyce

chrisboyce

The Lion in Winter

White lion Casper, me... not a lot else mattered. This is not my only photograph. In my opinion, which is the only one that really matters to me,... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow chrisboyce

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White lion Casper, me... not a lot else mattered.

This is not my only photograph. In my opinion, which is the only one that really matters to me,...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.