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Gorilla closeup

Gorilla closeup



upload_dateFeb, 2017

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12 Comments | Report
p_eileenbaltz
 
p_eileenbaltz April 02, 2017
Stunning!
Merlot
 
Merlot May 06, 2017
Great image Volker!
JDLifeshots
 
JDLifeshots May 18, 2017
Amazing capture! Congrats.
Pamelabole PRO
 
Pamelabole May 18, 2017
Wow.....amazing capture! Congrats on your challenge win!!! : )
edandaniphone Premium
 
edandaniphone May 18, 2017
Wonderful.
jonwarren
 
jonwarren May 18, 2017
Great capture!
barbarabrock PRO+
 
barbarabrock May 18, 2017
Wow!
Tommyshot
 
Tommyshot May 18, 2017
Just simple amazing shot.....
derxphoto
 
derxphoto November 05, 2017
expressive look
landscapephotographyworld PRO
 
landscapephotographyworld November 09, 2017
Amazing
DeepaksharaaClicks
 
DeepaksharaaClicks March 30, 2019
eyes speak everything
ronjudyluv2travel PRO+
 
ronjudyluv2travel November 15, 2020
Very cool closeup! wow!

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Tags

#gorilla #animal portrait #Zoo Hannover

Behind The Lens

Location
I took this photo at the zoo in Hannover, Germany
Time
It was past 5pm in late August, but the spot where the Gorilla was sitting was already in the shade. As I used a very strong tele, so I had to bump ISO to 3200, to get a short shutter speed.
Lighting
As the Gorilla was sitting in the shade, I didn't have to deal with those strong contrasts of the harsh summer sun, so the raw picture had nice details.
Equipment
I used a Nikon D700 full format DSLR with an old manual 400mm/f3.5 lens and an 1.7x Teleconverter. So the effective focal length was 680mm. Due to the extreme focal length and the fact that the old lens didn't have any vibrarion technology, I had to use a sturdy tripod.
Inspiration
I like animal portraits in general, so when I saw that the gorilla was sitting in the perfect distance for a portrait shot, I quickly adjusted my tripod and took the shot.
Editing
The photo is a crop (about 25%) of the original photo (which shows the complete head). I found the "8" like structure of the face interesting, so I cropped to show only this central part of the face. Afterwards, I converted to black and white and bumped the contrast to further emphasize the structure.
In my camera bag
As my full frame equipment got too heavy (camera + this lens + tripod weigh about 7 kg) for my taste, I switched to the Micro Four Thirds system. I now use an Olympus E-M1 MkII. My longest lens is currently a 50-200/2.8-3.5. Combined with an 1.4 teleconverter, I get a full frame equivalent max focal length of 560mm. A bit less then what I had before, but I can just juse the lens and the camera without a tripod, so I end up with about 1.5 kg instead of 7kg ...
Feedback
When going to the zoo, do not rush from animal to animal. Take some time and watch the behavior. I got my best shots often after waiting for maybe half an hour or more. If you live nearby a zoo, think about taking a yearly ticket if available. So you can go early to the zoo just for one or two hours before the main mass of visitors is coming. The animals are less stressed, and you have less people around you, so you have better chances to get into a good position.

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