Its been a magnificent start to your early morning safari. So far you have photographed the grand opening of the magical sun rising with a stunning golden skyline, a herd of zebras crossing the red dusty road of Tsavo and a mighty lion; the king of the jungle with his jaws agape, as he greets you with a mighty yawn. All these perfect photo opportunities have you itching with excitement to play them back!
You have now retreated to the comfort of your lodge, enjoying a cup of coffee as you browse through the photos on the LCD screen of your digital camera.
Guess what? Those special moments captured don’t seem so perfect now as they did in reality, its like the photo just does not represent what you really saw...
Well, do not lose hope! For your next game drive, here are some tips that can help you improve your photographic skills by making your pictures come alive and seem more appealing.
The Rule Of Thirds:
Once you have found a subject of interest that you wish to photograph, look through your viewfinder and move your camera to try and place that subject at approximately one third of the way from the edges of your screen. By placing your subject in this position, it will generally result in a better composition and a visually rewarding shot.
 |
| An Elephant In Tsavo West National Park |
Focus On The Eyes:
The eyes are normally the first point of contact when you meet somebody or when looking at wildlife. Since the eyes express emotion, it will give your photographs that extra feeling of life and eyes that are in focus will capture the viewer’s attention. Even if the rest of the image is blurred, as long as the eyes of your subject remain sharp and in focus, the photograph will still remain interesting.
 |
| Staring at a pair of lions eyes in Tsavo East National Park |
Explore The Surroundings:
While on safari, you spot an interesting animal and are looking through the view finder to take your perfect shot.... Impulsively, you press the shutter in sheer excitement then quickly playback the image on your digital camera to see the result… lo and behold, the front portion of a safari van has also been included in the shot, ruining your perfect photo.
The best way to avoid this episode is to simply explore the surrounding background that you wish to photograph first. If you notice there is something in the frame that you do not want in the photograph, you can either change your spot, zoom in closer to fill the frame or you could also adjust the aperture on your camera to blur out and avoid the unwanted object altogether.
 |
| Capturing the entire scene with some flamingos in the background |
Imagine The Finished Product:
Try to get the shot with your subject looking towards you. If the animal is moving away however, hakuna matata, you can still tell a story by leaving adequate space between the animal and the direction the animal is travelling to. This will give something for your viewers to think about as they subconsciously explore the entire background of your photograph.
With these five simple tips in mind, lets us now put them into practice as we begin our next Wild Kenya Safaris game drive!!
Comments
Post a Comment