Praying t Get Out Of CAPTIVITY!! What a lonely place!
I went to the local Zoo and I had seen this Silverback Gorilla, This portrait really spoke to me in ways you can't imagine, or probably could being a fello...
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I went to the local Zoo and I had seen this Silverback Gorilla, This portrait really spoke to me in ways you can't imagine, or probably could being a fellow photographer, if you feel the way I do, please comment and let me know what you think. MY THOUGHTS ARE (CAPTIVITY? WHAT A LONLEY PLACE!)
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Mar, 2018Views
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Awards
Winner in The magical wonders from editing Photo Challenge
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
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FirstImpressionsbyBobby
January 28, 2019
thankyou to everyone who voted for me and congratulated me!
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at the Oklahoma City Zoo, because I had just gotten my camera, a Canon Rebel xti in 2015 ,but in my profile it says I used a Photosmart m415 Wich I did have one but this one photo came from my canon,I have them both on my computer filed as the same, so all say this? Don't know why maybe forgot to change it when changed format??Time
This was taken around the noon hour way before I knew anything about the golden hours of the sun, or the best time to use the sun for lighting.Lighting
The picture was originally colored which I will add to my profile, the lighting on the Gorilla's back was from high noon and natural ,so I wanted to emphasize that light by darkness around the corners and changing the photo to a monochrome, because when doing black and white or any portrait,you want the person looking at the photo to follow the light that highlights your subject. Don't bring all the shadows up, because when you do, I feel like that takes away from your subject matter, so that's why I edited it the way I did.Equipment
I used a Canon Rebel xti with a Quantaray 18mm-200mm f3.5-6.3 lens, which being a new photographer I heard the glass is what matters, not so much the camera type. I did not use a flash, but did set my camera to raw and full auto because at that time I was still learning how to use the different modes. I think it's always good to experiment when your learning and then if your not sure what to do in a situation go with full auto ,but if you find a setting you like stick with it. I currently use manual, because it gives me full control over the amount of info I want in my photo, but like I said use what your comfortable with.Inspiration
When I arrived at the zoo I wanted to catch the natural look of the animals as much as I could, but when I arrived at the gorilla exhibit and the chimpanzees, I saw this silverback gorilla sitting in the corner by himself looking down at his hands, and in that moment I had so many emotions coming over me that made me feel angry and sad and lonely and happy and scared, there was just a ray of different emotions that there's no words for. When I saw him I wanted to capture the true moment and the one true feeling that I had. And that emotion was (captivity) it's such a lonely place!! and how lonely he must have felt being the only silverback gorilla there. Today it has really helped me and inspired me to give back to the silverback gorillas, by getting the word out on how we enjoy seeing them, but it's sad that we have to put them in captivity to enjoy them and they can't live out their natural life in their own natural environment; for our amusement, but there are situations to where gorillas need our help and has no choice and in that moment I think that's okay because its the only way that they can live out their life. "Tatu" is the Gorilla in this photo, he was 42 when he died in 2016 right after this photo was taken!Editing
Like I said earlier the picture was naturally colored when I took it, but it didn't speak to me in the same way as it did when I took the photo so that's why I decided to take it to a monochrome level and emphasize the lighting on the Gorilla's back, by darkening the corners and sharpening it just a little bit. I did no other highlighting or Shadow raising, because I didn't want to take away from that light shining down on the gorilla as he looked at his hands kneeling down being the subject of my photo.In my camera bag
I don't have any equipment in my bag. I don't even have a bag to put my camera in, I almost died in 2014, by someone trying to kill me, so when I got hurt and couldn't work, photography was the only way for me to cope and try to make money raising my two boys being a single father. Its hard, so when I decided to do this it was on a budget of $200.00 and I could only afford the camera with the Quantaray lens it came with used, I also had to buy a battery. That's all I have. I will give it to my follower's and the photographers that I follow, because if it weren't for them and viewbug I would not be where I am today as a winner, you have all inspired me to do a better job and in that all I can say is thank you for choosing me to win. I have worked very hard to win, every photo I put in contest I have worked hard on and when you don't win,it's times like this that make you feel good about the work you do ,so don't give up when you don't win , look at me I finally won one and you can too!Feedback
All I can say is just do your best in what you're trying to capture and don't just take one or two or three shots take a bunch of shots because there are mynute changes in the details of every shot that you take, so when you go sit down and look over your shots you can see the different changes and then pick out the best one that you think will work. When you do shoot always shoot in raw mode you will never be sorry you did that because when you go to edit your picture then you're compressing the details and the amount of information in your photo so by shooting in raw you're going to have all the information there to work with and shoot in manual mode on your camera that way you have control over the amount of information you want in that photo I hope you enjoyed mine and please check out my profile thank you to everybody at viewbug and my followers I love you like somebody's always told me get out there and just do your best.
