Share this article:

Monochrome Monday #82

on Jul 18, 2016

Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. - Matt Hardy

Composition is one of the single most important aspects of any kind of photography, but being that I focus mainly on wildlife photography, I’ll keep my commentary along these lines. Having the right kind of composition for the right photograph can lead your viewer into the photo, engaging them to look a bit deeper into the image and not just glance at it for second. The hard part is knowing when and how to do it. There are a few basic guidelines such as allowing ‘space’ for your subject to move/look into, or not cutting off legs or tails, but each scene is different and so the approach may change as well as ‘rules’ broken to suit each image. With this week’s selection of images, I have used composition in different ways to enhance the photograph that will hopefully make you pause for thought about what story you are trying to tell with each frame. Hope you enjoy it.

01Mike Palmer Charlie 290516 1

Simply put, this Charleston male was at very close quarters and I wanted to get him entirely in the frame, so I flipped to a portrait style shot to achieve this for full impact.

02Mike Palmer Ellies 310516 1

These two young elephants were playing together and locking trunks, which I wanted to highlight so I focused in on them and used a very heavy vignette to further focus your attention.

03Mike Palmer LBC Cub 260416 1

Natural framing is always best, especially with leopards in my opinion. This youngster was resting alongside mom in some dense bush and only a portion was clear for viewing. I find it lends to their secretive nature.

04Mike Palmer Lion 210516 2

Cats quite often pose like this, especially when scanning the area behind them for disturbances and so all that is needed is to wait patiently for the action to take place. In these scenarios I often go very close in on the face, but I wanted to still show part of the body and give more space for him to look into.

05Mike Palmer Lions 250416 1

Lions are formidable hunters and are often associated with power and ferocity. They can however, also be portrayed in a gentler light and that’s what I wanted to do with this image. Again I went for a portrait style to get in the bulk of the face and a tight crop to focus on the facial expression.

06Mike Palmer Wild Dogs 300416 1

This was a difficult scene to shoot due to the harsh highlights and dark shadows within it, but I like the way it turned out. I think here a tighter shot would’ve been great, but I really wanted to show the whole scene a bit more to highlight the predicament this hyena found itself in against this pack of wild dogs.

07Mike Palmer Zebra 230516 1

Zebra are not often associated with wooded vegetation as they are a grazing animal so this scene was interesting to me in this regard, as was the light on it through the trees. I’m not quite sure why I like this image, I mean it’s not clean in any way, but I just do.

08Mike Palmer Charlie 070616 1

This is probably my favorite lion image for this year so far! I so much enjoy night photography with the nocturnal animals and making use of spotlights to paint the subject. This one worked out a treat and it was completely black aside from the lion’s face, so to create space, I cropped it into a more panoramic composition.

09Mike Palmer Hippo 060616 1

Hippos in the water are not often going to make interesting images as they remain almost completely submerged during daylight hours. As night begins to creep in though, they become more active. Here I achieved a low angle by positioning the vehicle below the dam wall, waiting for a spout of activity.

10Mike Palmer Mazino 310516 1

This is probably one of the most recognizable lions in South Africa at the moment due to the tooth hanging off his lip and so I wanted to highlight this “flaw” with a close-up portrait. It’s amazing how much talk is generated around this animal’s tooth and most perceive him to be in pain, but he is perfectly fit and healthy with the tooth causing no hindrance to hunting or feeding efforts.

  • By Mike Palmer (Bush Lodge Ranger)
Share this article: