TheoShilton
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People's Choice in Wow! animal photo Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in The Black Color In Nature Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Living Creatures Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Monkey Business Photo Contest
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TheoShilton
December 31, 2013
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janoogee
February 01, 2014
Congratulations on your award. Great shot. Fine photograph, nice portrait of this primate.
mauropremi
June 14, 2014
L'espressività degli animali a volte sorprende, bellissima fotografia!!!!!!!
Dunner
March 06, 2015
Stunning portrait. Intense emotion. Love the strong connection from a masterful image. Great work Theo.
Abigail_Bankes
May 02, 2015
I love the detail in his eyes. . . . it's like he wants something more or he's trying to tell us something
cyrillinegoodman
October 03, 2016
Congratulations! Amazing capture! He is so unusual. His eyes are piercing.
Pamelabole
December 08, 2016
Wow.....those eyes! Wonderful capture and congrats on being a Contest Finalist!!
Eddieuuu071
April 25, 2017
Thank you for submitting your wonderful photo to this challenge! I have added it to my favorites so best of luck!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photograph on a trip to Bali in October 2013. Me and my partner had hired a driver for the day and we stopped for a break near Kintamani mountain. I was busy shooting the surrounding rice fields and mountainsides when I looked over the side of the road and I saw a monkey sitting peacefully on a ledge below. I quickly grabbed my gear and swapped my lens for a 70-300mm before attempting to capture the shot.Time
This image was shot in the early to mid afternoon so the natural light was at a premium. There were no shadows on the subject although getting the right angle was particularly difficult. I had to traverse down the side of a small cliff in order to get to the same height as the monkey and shoot him at face to face angle.Lighting
The lighting was just natural light on the day. However the light in Indonesia is much brighter and stronger than you would find in the UK where I originate. It is definitely a steep learning curve the first time you shoot in this area of the world as your trusted go to settings all have to be adjusted to compensate for the brightness of the sun. However you have a much better source of natural light as a starting point and the clarity of your images can be greater than those shot on a grey morning on South Bank in London.Equipment
I used a Nikon D3000 and a 70-300mm sigma lens to shoot this image. The exposure of 1/500 was to make sure I froze any movement, this guy was fairly lively and I didn't want any motion blur. To compensate the shutter speed I used a wide aperture of 5.6 and an ISO of 720 although in hindsight this was a bit of a gamble as the light levels in Indonesia are far higher than what I was used to back in the UK. The shot was handheld and a flash wasn't necessary due to both the distance between me and the subject and the natural levels of high light in Indonesia.Inspiration
I am always on the look out for animals whilst I am moving around and I particularly enjoy shooting monkeys as their expression and character is very human like. This makes it very easy for a person to relate to these animals and it creates a unique bond between the subject and the viewer as they are looking at features that are quite similar, but by no means identical, to those they see all around them on a day to day basis.Editing
I post processed in Lightroom to sharpen the image slightly and bring out the highlights on the monkeys face. This enabled me to really show his character as well as bring out his eyes, which is what I feel makes this image so special. There was also a slight increase in contrast but other than that very little post processing was done as the RAW file was already very sharp.In my camera bag
I am lucky to have a pretty wide range of equipment in my bag. The majority of money I make normally goes to new equipment whether it be a new lens, filter or accessories. I'm a bit of a fish-eye junkie as you might be able to tell by my gallery. My first fish eye lens was an 8mm Opton aspherical model which I still use regularly and picked up for a bargain 100 pounds in a second hand store in London. Since then I bought a 4.5mm circular fish eye which I like to use for city based shot's, these mainly cover architecture and street scenes. Crossroads are really good for the circular 4.5mm lens as you can capture all four corners of the road as well as the building people and traffic. This usually involves lying in a precarious position on a zebra crossing in the middle of congested roads in city centres. What I look like to other people is anyones guess but a lot of angles I shoot are not straight in front of me. After the fish eye's I have my prime lenses an 18-300mm nikon lens that I use mainly for street photography and portraits and a 10-20mm wide angle lens that I use extensively for architectural shots. The 18-300 is always mounted to my camera when I walk around the streets as it gives me great versatility. If I want to shoot a person in the distance I have up to 300mm to reach the shot and 18mm can also work for architecture and landscapes as long as you are a reasonable distance away from the subject. Having said that my partner knows the level of patience involved when I am constantly chopping and changing between lenses to get the right perspective when all we went out for was a pint of milk.....Feedback
If you want to shoot wildlife shots and especially close ups to portray the character of an animal you need at least a pair of zoom lenses to make sure you are sufficiently equipped. I carry a 150-500mm and an 18-300mm lens which covers me in almost every situation. If you are traversing mountains or plains however you may find you need something bigger to get up close to your subject. I have found instances where 500mm isn't enough for wildlife, but only once or twice in a year and a half of shooting animals have I come up short and not been able to get close enough to create the image I wanted. I am not saying this combination is foolproof but it gives you a very good starting point when you spot the animal you want to capture. Another point that I cant stress enough is to be patient. You have absolutely no control over a wild animal and it is up to you to wait for the right moment and/or move to a suitable point to get the image you desire. Also tact and patience is really important when moving towards your subject. If you go in fast and loud you will almost guarantee the animal will move away and the shot will be lost. Another good tip is once you see your subject have an idea in your head of what you want to express. If you know what kind of image you want to create you will be more patient and more likely to succeed. If you go in trigger happy you are leaving it up to luck to get a good shot. Finally compose with your eye and shoot with your heart. When you feel the moment when you are looking through your viewfinder capture it!