Weekly High-Five!

This is the first of the Weekly High-Five.

Every Friday, five of the images uploaded to the Photo-Africa Stock Library during the last week will be chosen and discussed briefly on the Blog. This will not only highlight some of the new work added, but also give you the chance to add your input and feedback on the images! Hopefully constructive, but please be honest!

So with that here goes with this weeks High-Five!

Image 1 - Baby Jackal by Bradly Leighton


This shot definitely has the cute factor going for it. Initially I thought that the placement of the youngster in the frame could have been a little bit to the right as one feels he is looking and moving into the open space on the left, but this is not a real worry. The fact that the grass stems on the right of the image almost frames the youngster fixes this very nicely. The highlights in the fur feels a little harsh, but not enough to really cause concern. Overall a great image!

Image 2 - Thorn Abstract by Gerry van der Walt


Nice macro image as it is a very difficult thing to get 'truly' correct. The focus in this image is obviously the thorn, but the little branch on the left of the image almost takes the eye away from the actual image. Nice idea on this image, but background could have been a little more non-intrusive and the main branch tilted slightly to create even more of a diagonal line across the image. Nice attempt.

Image 3 - Kudu Silhouette by Matt Jones


Potentially an unbelievable African image! The Kudu is an amazingly beautiful antelope and by combining this with a great sunset and awesome silhouette this image is definitely on the right track. The main problem, and that is a strong word in this case, is the branches that is 'growing' out of the Kudu's head. If you were to play with this image in Photoshop and get rid of the branches and perhaps push the contrast up just a touch, this image would be even better then it already is! Gotta love African sunsets.

Image 4 - Leopard in Spotlight by Grant Marcus


I really like this. Apart from the fact that an image like this has been taken in Madikwe should be framed immediately (due to the erratic leopard sightings) the overall image is beautifully composed. The diagonal line combined with the leopard staring in that direction makes you wonder what she is looking at and almost creates movement to the right of the frame. The two background colors also compliment the colors on the leopard very well. Great image!

Image 5 - Buffalo Bull by Matt Jones


My favourite. Great composition using the horn and face as part of the frame. Initially I was not sure about the splash of highlights on the ear but it works. Your attention gets drawn to the ear first, almost looking like an abstract, and then the whole picture comes into view and you notice the big guy is looking at you. Just like in the wild! A great image and my Pick of the Week!

Let me know what you thought of the images and which are your favorites! Also make sure to check out these and other images on the Photo-Africa Stock Library. New images are added almost every day so a lot of great African Wildlife & Nature images to browse through!

As always I look forward to hearing from you!

Gerry