Learning wildlife photography – The power of simplicity
Posted on 01. Apr, 2009 by Paul Burwell in Everything, Techniques, Wildlife photography
I’m extremely fortunate in that my passion for wildlife and photography has evolved into my full-time occupation. As part of my work, I get to review and critique quite a number of wildlife photographs. When I think back over the images that stand out from the others I am reminded of the power of simplicity.
On the surface, it might seem that a simpler image would be a less interesting image. But the reality is usually different. To simplify an image is to concentrate the image as much as possible on the central subject of the image. Distracting elements are eliminated, backgrounds don’t have distracting elements and the image is well composed, exposed and focussed. These elements make it easy for the viewer to quickly connect with the photograph and when the animal’s eyes have an all important catch-light (glint or highlight in the eye) the connection is that much more intimate.
Consider the following photograph of a common Richardson’s Ground Squirrel. These industrious rodents are extremely plentiful on the Canadian prairie and are commonly referred to as gophers. I found this little critter perched on the end of an old fence post, carefully keeping an eye on a couple of hawks perched on fence posts within a hundred feet on either side of him. I was fortunate that there was enough seperation between the fence post on the grassland behind that the depth-of-field in the shot (the amount of the image in front of the focus point and behind the focus point) was very shallow. This causes the background to blur and seperate from the subject.
Richardson's Ground Squirrel surveying a field from on top of an old fence post
When I first looked through the viewfinder for this image, I noticed that the horizon was visible just above the animal making a distracting line of blue. By repositioning the height and angle of my camera, I was able eliminate this distracting element and make an interesting portrait of a common critter that exemplifies the power of simplicity.
When you’re out making your own images, try to look for opportunities to simplify your image. Simplicity leads to more powerful, compelling and interesting images.
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11 Responses to “Learning wildlife photography – The power of simplicity”
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02. Apr, 2009
[...] Source and Read More: paulburwell.com [...]
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03. Apr, 2009
[...] check out this short post on Simplicity in Wildlife Photography. Great little article, read it here! Posted by tutvid Filed in Uncategorized No Comments [...]
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03. Apr, 2009
[...] Keeping it simple is a great way to get better results out of your wildlife photography. So if you shoot birds and other animals (with a camera) then this little tip would be of some great use. [...]
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11. Apr, 2009
[...] Paul Burwell: The power of Simplicity. [...]
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Reno Martin
01. Apr, 2009
Very good point. Cute photo made the better by the simplicity.
Donna Ridgway
01. Apr, 2009
Enjoyed the thoughts and the photo.
Sherri Meyer
02. Apr, 2009
Paul – great photos and write-up. I so agree with you about simplicity. Keeping compositions simple is an example of “when less is more!”
Sherri
Auburn, California
Joel Jackson
02. Apr, 2009
Can be true in any photography really! Thanks for the thoughts.
Steve
02. Apr, 2009
Great shot, it works very well. Was this with your 600mm f4?
Paul Burwell
02. Apr, 2009
Thanks Steve.
That was with my 500mm with a 2.0x teleconverter on my 1Ds Mark II so an effective focal length of 1000mm at F9.0.
Lynn Smith
03. Apr, 2009
Thanks for keeping me focused, I always come and see what advice you are giving to photographers. Spring is here in Southern Ontario, I’m looking foward to a produtive season.