Taking a portrait of an animal is in many ways the same as taking a portrait of a person.
Eye contact, the slight tilt of the head and soft lighting can take a good image to the next level. All too often people will have the opportunity to photograph a lion in the wild, take their photograph and move on.
You have to wait. Wait for your subject to look at you. What for the slight tilt of the head. Wait for that special moment.
Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200 @200mm, 1/1000, f/2.8, ISO 200
I photographed this young male a few days ago in bright, overcast conditions – ideal for photographing lions. With Africa’s largest cat being very easy to expose correctly, the overcast conditions makes the difference to the highlights in the image. It makes the whiter, lighter areas pop nicely without killing the pixels and leaving burnt out parts in the photograph.
When you are out on safari and have the opportunity of photographing a lion up close – hurry up and wait. Get your camera and settings ready quickly and then wait for the right moment. The right look. That very slight downward tilt of the head. Meter off the area between the large cat’s eyes and nose and you cannot go wrong.
Remember, you can click on the thumbnail for a larger view of the image.
See you tommorow!
Gerry
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