Safari Photos

[_mollywobbles_]

Hi!

I went to South Africa last year and would like some feedback on some of the images I captured.

A little background on me - I have been interested in photography since I could pick up a camera, and it has always been a hobby of mine. Last year I decided to 'officially' learn photography so I started a degree through correspondence. The camera I use is a Canon EOS 1000D, with a 18-55mm and a 75-300mm lens. I haven't got a preferred medium, I like working with anything from animals to landscapes.

I have included a range of animals that cover my style, although on this trip I heavily experimented with focus. I would like feedback on these images, anything you can offer would be appreciated.

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This is a baby Impala, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a grown impala, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a Zebra, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a Monkey and it's baby, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a Monkey, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a Giraffe on the road, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park

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This is a Cheetah, taken at the Ann Van**** Cheetah Centre in Johannesburg

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This is a Wild Dog, taken at the Ann Van**** Cheetah Centre in Johannesburg

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This is a lion cub, taken at The Lion Park in Johannesburg

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This is a crocodile, taken at The Lion Park in Johannesburg

Also, while I was there I took over 5000 amazing photos, and I don't know what to do with them! Suggestions?

[Prendsmoncoeur]

I have to congratulate you, these are some amazing photos. I think you've captured those South African animals very good. You variated nicely between close-ups and photographs taken from a distance.

With which lens did you take these photographs? The 18-55mm or the 75-300mm one?

And just to let you know, your 'Giraffe on the road, taken at the Kruger National Wildlife Park'-photograph doesn't work. It says that the photographs has been deleted or moved on Photobucket.

Maybe you could make some kind of South Africa-style scrapbook with a selection of your photographs? You could use your photographs, some maps, your stories, some information about those animals you've seen and so on to make something interesting.

[_mollywobbles_]

Thank you for your kind words

I mainly used my zoom lens because the shots were being taken of animals out the window of a car, most of the time the animals were quite a distance away. There are a couple I took with the 18-55mm like the Giraffe on the road (which I think I have fixed - thank you for letting me know!) where I would do a quick swap (my partner was always sitting next to me and is an amazing lens-change assistant ), but for this thread I chose alot of the close-ups instead of landscapes etc.

I didn't think of a scrapbook, that could be a fun rainy day activity, thanks

[Hysteria]

Scrapbook sounds like a great idea

What editing software do you use? I think it might be worth tinkering with some of these a little to bring out the colours best. You have some great shots, and while photos that have been oversaturated or had the contrast turned WAY up look ridiculous, I think it'd be a shame not to experiment a bit to make the most of the photos you have.

Example 1:    

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Example 2:    

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Sorry if that's not the feedback you wanted. Btw I didn't touch the saturation in either of those photos (I never use it in mine either), just some basic tinkering that I thought really brought out the beautiful colours of the animals and surroundings I especially love those two above, beautiful animals!

[_mollywobbles_]

Originally Posted by Hysteria

Scrapbook sounds like a great idea
What editing software do you use? I think it might be worth tinkering with some of these a little to bring out the colours best. You have some great shots, and while photos that have been oversaturated or had the contrast turned WAY up look ridiculous, I think it'd be a shame not to experiment a bit to make the most of the photos you have.

I don't actually own any editing software due to cost, I use GIMP mainly, but I am dying to upgrade to photoshop. Before I use any photosI usually touch up the contrast/lighting/shadows etc... But these are all raw as i haven't decided what to do yet!

Originally Posted by Hysteria

Sorry if that's not the feedback you wanted. Btw I didn't touch the saturation in either of those photos (I never use it in mine either), just some basic tinkering that I thought really brought out the beautiful colours of the animals and surroundings I especially love those two above, beautiful animals!

I don't usually touch the saturation in images because it ends up looking fake and washed out, and its great feedback, thanks! They came out looking really good!

[fattoad]

Love the photo of the grown Impala. Beautiful

[_mollywobbles_]

Originally Posted by fattoad

Love the photo of the grown Impala. Beautiful

Thanks Fattoad

[Carrol]

Hi mollywobbles,
Awesome pictures. Wild life photography always fascinates me.
All are great but I like zebra and cheetah pictures most. Looks like they are posing for best shots. Do share more pictures with us.

[Goddess_Clio]

Oooh! :dying:

I want to go to Africa on a safari so badly it's outrageous... I'm so jealous of you!

Originally Posted by Hysteria

Scrapbook sounds like a great idea

What editing software do you use? I think it might be worth tinkering with some of these a little to bring out the colours best. You have some great shots, and while photos that have been oversaturated or had the contrast turned WAY up look ridiculous, I think it'd be a shame not to experiment a bit to make the most of the photos you have.

Example 1:    

---

Example 2:    

---

Sorry if that's not the feedback you wanted. Btw I didn't touch the saturation in either of those photos (I never use it in mine either), just some basic tinkering that I thought really brought out the beautiful colours of the animals and surroundings I especially love those two above, beautiful animals!

These are good examples, to me, of little, easy ways of boosting the impact of a photo simply by tweaking the contrast. It's so simple to forget that bring up highlights and making shadows deeper can really improve what is otherwise an average photograph, though I wouldn't call any of these fine examples of your "average!"

(Did I mention I'm so jealous of you??)

Originally Posted by _mollywobbles_

I don't actually own any editing software due to cost, I use GIMP mainly, but I am dying to upgrade to photoshop. Before I use any photosI usually touch up the contrast/lighting/shadows etc... But these are all raw as i haven't decided what to do yet!!

Did you camera not come with an image-editing software program? I have a low end DSLR (a Rebel XS) but it came with a program to post-process my photos, especially since RAW format is the best format to work in for high-quality photography. I don't think photoshop handles RAW files.

Personally, I don't have a good computer for image editing so I work in JPEG (I know, I know) so I just make sure to do a Save As whenever I edit a file so I preserve the original but also save the enhanced image as well.

:still dying:

[Fawkesfan1]

Those pictures look really nice, _mollywobbles_. Like how you shot them . You have a good eye.