Tough Skin
Went to the zoo and decided to try Canon's 70-200 f-2.8 IS II with the 2x III Extender. This lens is crazy sharp even from that distance!
Check o...
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Went to the zoo and decided to try Canon's 70-200 f-2.8 IS II with the 2x III Extender. This lens is crazy sharp even from that distance!
Check out my website at www.krisfarruggia.com to see what else I'm into...
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Check out my website at www.krisfarruggia.com to see what else I'm into...
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May, 2014Views
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Legendary Award
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Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Jaw Dropping
All Star
Superior Skill
Exceptional Contrast
One Of A Kind
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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janvanheerden
September 20, 2014
These poor animals are being destroyed in my country. It is a big concern. Soon we may only have photos to look at.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this photo inside the pachyderm building at Denver's Zoo (Colorado). It was a ridiculously hot day and so these guys were all just trying to cool down a bit.Time
While I don't remember the specific time, I do know that it was taken during the hottest part of the day (so I'd say something like 1:00pm or so). It was July of 2014 as well...so the photo is a couple years old but still one of my favorites I've ever taken.Lighting
I think the lighting here really makes the image. Zoos are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sad at the same time...and I think the stark overhead lighting really captured the sadness of what's essentially an animal in captivity. What's not shown here is the HUGE pile of food that was next to the guy along with fresh clean water...so it's not as if he was suffering as far as I could tell...but still sad nonetheless as it's not exactly the African plains.Equipment
For this shot I used my Canon 5DM3 body along with my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS II lens...AND I rented the 2x III extender...so I was a good 50 feet away from him but with a 400mm equivalent it was like I was right next to him. I've been hugely impressed with the sharpness of the 70-200...and the extender really did the lens justice overall as well. Shot handheld and without anything but natural light.Inspiration
I think it was really the juxtaposition of something as imposing as a powerful rhino with just being kind of worn out...sort of showing its vulnerability despite its powerful nature. I realize the location (a zoo) makes that comparison incredibly obvious but the dramatic lighting really exacerbated the effect I thought...so I snapped the photo :)Editing
I processed this one in Photoshop and Lightroom...essentially slightly adjusting the exposure and increasing the contrast to further intensify the shadows created by the dramatic lighting. There were bits of hay and a couple of chewed up carrots in the foreground that I removed as they were a distraction to the eye but otherwise not a *ton* of post editing done.In my camera bag
The two lenses I always carry around are the 70-200 and a 24-70. Primes are always my favorite but in terms of a "general purpose" they make it really hard to shoot especially in environments like a zoo where you might not have a ton of room to zoom with your feet. With these two lenses basically I have 99% of shooting needs covered...and even though they're both *extremely* heavy it's not nearly as bad as multiple lenses can be. Otherwise I always carry a speedlight just in case and a mini reflector.Feedback
I've said this before but the best advice I have for shooting things you can't control is to simply take a BUNCH of exposures. Digital film is cheap...as they say...so continually changing focal length (wide, medium, tight) really helps mix up the potential and increases the possibility of shooting something awesome. This is one of probably a hundred photos I shot of the rhinos that day...and in this one in particular his expression, the lighting, the focal length: they all just clicked :) Shoot shoot shoot...that's basically it!
