Formerly known as the Siberian Tiger, the Amur Tiger is one of the biggest and rarest of the big cats. Unlike most other cats, tigers love the water, and are excellent swimmers. I picked this shot for the month because it was taken in a nearby zoo. More than once I have been approached by people who are going on their first photo safari and who want advice for getting memorable shots of the animals they see. My advice is always the same...go to the zoo and practice there. Learn what angles and composition work in that very controlled environment and use what you learn when you go out into the "real world" environment so that you will be ready for it. It is a great way to learn not only that, but to learn how the individual animals move physically and what they look like from different angles. In the wild, you often don't get to choose these things, and have to be able to work with whatever you are presented with. In addition, zoos can be challenging because they are often not lit with photography in mind, and there are visual hindrances like dirty glass partitions and fences that you need to compensate and adjust for, as well as awkward angles to deal with. That too is good preparation for shooting in the wild as you will run across similar situations in natural environments. Not fences or glass partitions usually, but rain, fog, trees and branches, and even other photographers and vehicles if you are on a photo safari. You have to be adaptable, as even though you will be safe and have a guide, you are ultimately a guest in the animals' home. You have to remain polite. :) The other thing to keep in mind is that zoos allow you to get much closer to animals than you should ever get in the wild. So practice from a distance similar to that which you will be seeing the animals in their natural habitats. This tiger portrait was taken from a distance of about 5 feet...a totally unrealistic distance in the wild, but it made such a fine portrait I couldn't resist.
3 comments:
Your composition is always so precise! I know that not every photograsph you take is so perfect, how do you deal with the ones that are so close that they are good, but are not ultimately quite "good enough"?
LOL!
That is a great question, actually.
It is extremely frustrating, to be sure!
While I do try to be very disciplined in my composition, I don't think I have ever made a "perfect" photograph.
It is nice that you describe it that way though, so thank you for the compliment!
I am a harsh judge of my own work, and find flaws in all of it.
The line for me is whether the flaws are insignificant enough to prevent or hinder someone from enjoying the shot fully.
If I think they would be such a hindrance or distraction, then I won't use it.
Yes, sometimes it is a really close call, and I spend days looking at an image trying to make my mind up about it.
Sometimes longer.
It is frustrating at times to have what would be a really exceptional shot be *so close*...but not close enough.
But if you do this long enough you simply get used to that happening and it doesn't bother you so much.
So I guess the answer to your question is that you just get used to it.
I think this would be a great topic for next month's blog post, so check back after the first of June and I will post an example and more comments.
Thanks, I will do that!
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