Oops
by Marsel van Oosten
I have been traveling in the desert of Northern Africa for the past weeks with no internet access, so I found out about this rather late: my charging lion picture was commended in the 2010 Travel Photographer of the Year Awards.
As with most wildlife shots, there was quite a bit of luck involved to get this shot - after all, with wild animals you never know what's going to happen. Most wildlife photographers use long tele lenses to photograph potentially dangerous animals, and that is probably a wise thing to do. However, wide angle shots are often more dynamic, more in your face, so that's what I wanted to try in South Africa with lions. I used a radio controlled remote and shot from a handheld monopod, turned upside down, without getting out of the car. It's my secret (well, not anymore) technique to get low level perspective shots with wide angle lenses, while remaining flexible and without running the risk of getting eaten. This male lion did not appreciate the clicks coming from the grass very much, and decided to charge the D3. I guess he was more the Canon type.
Greetings from the Sahara.
Comments
35 commentsGreat shot, really like your not so secret anymore technique of low-angle wildlife images, and no suprise this was commended (why didn't it win? Another flying wolf?). Really original stuff, and a really imposing Lion!
Reminds me a little of the shots one guy did while being submerged in a pool in Africa, but this seems much safer (also less chance for diseases I guess
Looking forward to your images from the Sahara, you're back on the landscape tour I guess?
David
TFS
Steve
Dramatic shot - congratulations on the award! And...many thanks for sharing your technique - always great when good photographers are willing to do this (and I'm sure you know as many as I do that aren't quite so willing to share!). I have to admit my personal preference in wildlife shots is more towards those shot with the longer lenses (in pure aesthetic terms), but this is completely an "each to your own" issue and it's a healthy thing that we (collectively) have different viewpoints and styles, otherwise things could get pretty darned boring!
Thanks again for sharing this and your technique - have a great holiday season and good luck with your shooting in 2011.
Cheers...
Brad
I think I liked your story just as much as the photo! Smart lion, preferring Canon.
Should've won!
Max
Blown away by this first-class image.
Congrats
Ken Archer
Wow. That is stunning!! I definitely feel like the Lion is charging right at me. The wide-angle accentuates this since it emphasizes the nearness of the foreground, which in this case are those teeth.
Could have been someone's last frame
Jagdeep Rajput
Tube ( I think that's where it was). The details of the exact presentation are now sketchy to me, as you can tell, but he basically said that if you are planning to shoot unique and original wildlife images in Africa with a super telephoto lens you are lost; it's been done a few times. I think this is an example of the sort of novel approach he was suggesting was necessary today. I'm not an authority, haven't even been to Africa, but I thought his statement was rather interesting.
cheers
@Jorne - In 2009 I decided to do more landscape work in 2010, and so I did. I had been shooting primarily wildlife for a long time, and I noticed I was sometimes doing it on auto pilot. In many ways I think that landscape photography is much more difficult - from an artistic point of view - than wildlife photography. I guess I just needed to reboot my system and force myself to do things in a different way for a while. I'll be back in NL by the end of this month - first I have two more weeks of eating sand in the Sahara.
@Steve - I don't have the hi res files with all the exif in it with me, but I think I shot this with a 24-70 lens, with an aperture around f/8. Shutter speed was fast, ISO probably around 400 or 800. I always want to be prepared for action, and this shots proves why.
@Ron - to be honest, I don't recall whether I had set the focus manually or used autofocus in continuous mode - I've been using both.
@Sally - no damage, it turned out to be just a mock charge.
@Gary - I think Art, or whoever the photographer was, is right.