ralph_harvey_286

Lion in Profile

Taken at Bristol Zoo

Taken at Bristol Zoo
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Canon EOS 70D

settings

Aperture f/5.6 ISO 100 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 138/1

upload_date

Dec, 2015

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208

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on a trip to Bristol Zoo, i have been using cameras since my 18th Birthday and i am still learning over 35 years late, i am self taught but consider myself more an experimental photographer. i will try something to see if it works as a self teaching method.

Time

The image was taken late in the afternoon and the Lion was in a large enclosure with the sun shining on his face, so it was easy to play with aperture to keep the back of the enclosure dark whilst focusing on the lions face. the rest was all about editing at home on the computer, something else i am self taught at, and still very much learning.

Lighting

As i said previously i was very fortunate with the light, being the end of the day, late afternoon which happens to be the active time for these Lions the sun was in just the right position, i still had to contend with the wire so needed to keep my camera as close to the glass as possible without picking up the reflection of the sun on the glass, then it was simply a case of playing with the aperture until i had the right balance of light on the lion and a black background. The final editing was done on Gimp at home, a simple to use free tool that i do a lot of my editing on.

Equipment

Canon EOS 750D Mk2 with a Sigma 18-250 1:3.5-6.3 OS, I didn't use a tripod, although i sometimes use a monopod but walking round a zoo its often easier to find something to lean against or rest the camera on.

Inspiration

I love photographing animals, theirs something about the unpredictability of a creature its definitely not the same as shooting a model in a studio where you can set everything up, but i work for a charity so i cant afford to go on safari or take trips to see wonderful creatures in the wild? and i live in the south of the UK not even near a coast so we don't have too much here and definitely nothing exotic.So i go to zoos and safari parks, where i try and replicate the images i see from safaris and exotic places.

Editing

Nearly all my photos will have some post-processing work to hide the parts of the zoo or enclosure i cant hide with my camera. I do most of this on Gimp a free to use package easy to download.

In my camera bag

my main camera is my Canon EOS 750D Mk2 with a Sigma 18-250 1:3.5-6.3 OS, but i always carry my Tamron 150-600 very usefull for the shots where you want be right next to your subject. Other than that i don't carry too much kit my monopod, a Samsung WB Series WB50F 16.2MP Digital Camera its a great little compact for a backup and my mobile phone, probably a quarter of the photos in my folder are stitched from multiple shots on my phone.

Feedback

The one piece of advice i would pass on is the rule i live by when it comes to photography, in order to get the perfect image most people consider there are a lot of rules we must observe when taking photos? well i say "Rules are made for breaking, or at the very least bending" so go bend some rules break them if you feel like it. If you want to try something have a go it will either work or it wont and if it dose not then you have learnt something, the best way to learn is to try and try again after all.

See more amazing photos, follow ralph_harvey_286

ralph_harvey_286

ralph_harvey_286

Lion in Profile

Taken at Bristol Zoo

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ralph_harvey_286

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