occasionalclimber
FollowA contemplative Orangutan, Melbourne Zoo
A contemplative Orangutan, Melbourne Zoo
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People's Choice in Orangutang Photo Challenge
Winner in Fine art wildlife photography Photo Challenge
Peer Award
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Absolute Masterpiece
Magnificent Capture
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occasionalclimber
October 30, 2016
Thanks Mike. I'm glad this one got some recognition actually. His wistful look can be interpreted many ways. Sad that he's imprisoned in a zoo, but also sad that he's probably a lot safer in there.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
At Melbourne Zoo, at the Orangutan enclosure, through the viewing window.Time
Early afternoon.Lighting
Lighting wasn’t great. This guy’s face was in shadow and contrast between light and shadow quite harsh, but it did give that dramatic halo effect around sunlit edges.Equipment
A Nikon D7000 with a new Nikkor 55-300 lens I had just purchased. For this shot the zoom setting was 187mm, ISO 200, F6.3 and shutter 1/160 sec, hand held.Inspiration
I was trying out a new lens and this Orangutan was glancing in my direction every now and then. They are magnificent animals.Editing
This shot was only possible using RAW, so that I had lots of room to move in the shadows back at my desk. This let me bring out his face and also, using an adjustment layer, back off the background so that emphasis on the face further increased.In my camera bag
At present a Nikon D750 camera body, a Nikkor 24-120 small zoom and the 55-300 bigger zoom, a spare battery and beaten up lightweight tripod - good for hiking. If I'm going for a summit then it's less - a compact Nikon P7800 with mirrorless through the lens digital view finder, full manual operation and RAW file capture - absolutely great when you still want to control your photography but need to keep moving and can't afford to have stuff hanging off you.Feedback
If not already, get familiar with RAW files and how you can work with them post shooting. RAW lets you take your photography to a whole new level, beyond documentation to artistic creation.