Weekly High Five #7

I have just finished watching the rugby match between South Africa and New Zealand.  I could carry on about this but all I can say is UNBELIEVABLE match!!! :)  



Anyway, back to business.  This week has been one of the slowest as far as uploaded images goes but there were still a great number, more than forty,  of amazing images added during the week.



As you might know I have been in Johannesburg which has not been the most conducive thing when it comes to Wildlife Photography and the weather has also been miserable which kind of canceled the idea of photographing birds in the garden. 



Have been missing being out in the field and that influenced my decision for this week's High Five.  The following images show a lot of the moods and scenes of Africa.  I enjoyed them and hope you will too.



Image 1 -  Old King by Gavin Tonkinson

Beautiful sepia tones bring the contrast out in this male lion.  Even at a slightly advanced age you can still see how proud he is.  There is perhaps a little bit too much space at the top of the frame but not enough to detract from a great lion image.

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Image 2 - Colour by Bradley Leighton

 Colour.  Plain and simple.  For any macro you want to make sure that you do not have a distracting background and that you subject is in perfect focus.  This image is a great example.  The colours on the petals lead your eye into the middle of the image perfectly.  The only issue I could find is the little highlight of white on the right side of the frame which is slightly distracting but something Photoshop could get rid of quite easily.

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Image 3 - Hyena at Carcass by Gavin Tonkinson

Great African scene.  The stance of the hyena captures perfectly the awareness shown by Spotted Hyena and the background allows for the focal subject to stand out.  It is a very 'usable' image as even though you can see that it is a kill there is no red blood and guts which detracts from the overall scene.  There is a time for blood and guts in an image but it is not something you want to overuse.  It is a scene like this that, if you have not been for a while, makes you miss being out in the field.

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Image 4 - Kill Chaos by Bradley Leighton

As with the previous image another scene that captures the mood and action of the scene.  At a scene like this you might have more than a hundred vultures all scrapping for the last bit of meat.  I like this image as you get the feel for how busy it is around the carcass and you cannot really see how many birds there are as they all seem to blend into each other.  Not sure if the bird on the right hand side of the frame bother me... Nah.  All over a great image.

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Image 5 - Golden Zebra by Gavin Tonkinson

Stunning use of light in this image!  A moody, almost abstract scene that works very well.  How many times have you tried to capture wildlife with back lighting?  It is not the easiest thing to pull of successfully.  And then you subject does not want to hold still.  By making the focus of the image the actual light and not the animals this image shows what photography at the beginning and end of the day can be all about.  The rim lighting around the zebra's mane and the way it catches the grass is perfect.  It does not even bother me that the zebra at the back has been cut off.  The fact that there is no direct light on him and the way in which the body creates a very nice depth to the image is brilliant.  Absolutely beautiful image!  Without a doubt - this is my image of the week!



A much simpler selection then some of the previous weeks but it shows how diverse Wildlife photography can be.  You don't always need the lion chasing a wildebeest or a leopard up a tree.  The challenge is to capture the beauty that is around you all the time!  I look forward to your comments on these five images.



Well, I am off to the Kwa Maritane in the Pilansberg Game Reserve tomorrow morning.  Nothing major.  Actually just going to join my parents and sister for lunch and then staying over for one night.  Only one day but hopefully I will have some new images of my own to upload when I get back.  Watch this space!  



As previously mentioned, I will be uploading the Blogs on Composition and Exposure sometime during next week.  In the meantime, you can view all the new images that has been added this week by visiting the Photo-Africa Stock Library. 



As always I look forward to hearing from you! 





Gerry