Looking through my catalogue I can put most of my images into three categories images: animal portraits, animals with environment or landscape, and groups of animals

Animal Portraits

These images have one center of interest; the animal. All other elements that can be distracting are eliminated and all the viewer’s attention is on the animal, its textures, and eyes.

Setting the Camera for the Portrait

When setting up for animal portraits try to include the following camera techniques

-       Include an uncluttered background of solid color. Best way to achieve this is by blurring out the background so it is monochromatic and has little texture leaving the subject in sharp focus.

-       Use apertures such as f2.8 f4.0 or f5.6

-       The background should be at least 2 feet behind the subject

Placement of the Subject in the Frame

Most portrait subjects will be too large in the frame to worry about Rule of Thirds placement (more on that below). If there is space around the subject, it should be in front of the subject or in the direct that the subject is moving or looking.

Get close and fill the frame – cropping can be done after the fact to add impact if the aspect ratio is not flatter or you just were not sure how to frame the shot.

Other Elements that add to the Portrait

Light and shadows enhance interest. Light from the side reveals texture and gives the 3D pop effect. Shadows can play down less important features. Light can create leading lines that help viewers discover all the details of the portrait.

Some external elements can enhance the portrait almost like props: a bit of fresh kill, flights buzzing around the head, a bit of the branch gripped in a talon.

The carcass bits in this image add to the portrait explaining the look of bliss on the lion’s face and tail attitude

Animal in its Environment or with a Landscape

The goal here is to show the animal interacting with its environment.  In these images there can be more than one center of attention. The smaller the animal is in the frame, the more importance lies in the composition and its success at getting the viewers attention on the subject

This image not only describes the shape of the young lion, but it’s hunting conditions and challenges.  The eye goes from lion, then up and across the open space.

Place Elements Using Rule of Thirds

Position the subject in one of the strong points of the  Rule of Thirds grid.

The subject should be walking, looking, or flying into the centre of the frame. If it is larger than the frame, there should be more space infront than behind it.  As the subject gets smaller the importance of correct placement increases.

Lead the Viewer Around the Scene

Leading the viewers eye to the subject,  especially when the subject is smaller relative to the  rest of the image is achieved through careful composition.

Make the subject easy to spot : in contrast to the background

Look for and use leading lines: these are straight or curved lines that lead from a corner or edge of the frame to the subject (rivers, paths, tree branches).

Present a Story. Begin to think in terms of a still image as a story with  a beginning (where the viewer’s eyes go first), middle  (what they will notice next), and end.  Think about what other elements should be in the image to complete this movement and discovery.

Leave some active space for the subject to move into.  Space also helps tell the story: it leaves the viewer space to use imagination to fill in off camera elements that complete the story . Space is good for anticipating and catching future action: leave the subject room to spring.

Light can serve as a leading line drawing a path from the light source to the subject.   The shadows that will result tell us what is not important.  If shaded items are important, consider using HDR techniques or open these areas in postproduction.

Resizing and Cropping is part of the toolbox. Don’t forget about vertical shots and consider how vertical can enhance the composition (emphasizing trees and giraffes).  Cropping can be done after the fact , but adding space back in to improve a composition is much harder so don’t squeeze your animal in a landscape images too much in camera or you will be removing creative flexibility.

Depth and Vanishing points tell a story. Use depth to place story elements such that viewers are drawn into the 3d scene. Depth and the correct lens can create movement, record proportions and distances. An element in the background can make the whole composition more interesting as long as it is part of the story and not a distraction (a lion moving toward the viewer  or shade tree with a carcass  in the background).

Animal Groups

These images are not tight enough to be portraits and do not show many elements of the environment. The center of interest is the group rather than any particular one animal.

Combinations of 3’s work well and have a harmonious balance. Symmetry  such as all looking the same direction or each in an opposite direction gives a balanced feel.  Odd numbers, odd shapes, triangles are more visually interesting and should be included.  This is a chance to show different poses and sides of the animal all at the same time (front, ¾, and side view all at once).  Mixing sizes (juveniles and adults) of animals  or species is  interesting content.

See the Negative Space. Negative space is the outline created by subject(s) as if it was viewed as a silhouette. African animals are perfect subjects for their interesting shapes.  Catch poses and groups that are creating an interesting shape and place them against neutral backgrounds for strong compositions.

Composition Does not Stop after the Shoot

Once back in front of the computer you can still enhance composition.  The following are all useful tools for furthering your compositional goals.

-       Use creative cropping: You may wish to make several versions of an image each with a different crop.

-       Use tonal adjustments to enhance the impact of the subject, downplay distractions, and otherwise lead the viewer as you intended through contrast and proper lighting.

-       Use color adjustment in a similar manner to lighting to  announce the subject (perhaps through saturation) and downplay secondary elements (desaturate or limit color variation and texture).

-       Use Blur to fade out distracting detail.

-       Clone or Heal elements that are really distracting and can not be cropped out.

Learn to quickly analyze a scene for story, interesting elements to include, what not to include, textures to highlight, light direction, and movement.  Good composition is mostly achieved in the field as you plan the shot and read the animal.

The next morning we were surprised to find that our morning walk would be escorted by cheetah! At mid day we had a yoga session by the pool with deeper practice in all areas including headstands. Our evening drive was full of lions with the large male roaring right close to the vehicle. The female and her 3 cubs were feeding on a kill. To complete our cat sightings we had a chance to see a leopard in action.

On our walk this morning we were escorted by lion cubs and we also had a close encounter with a caracal kitten – so cute and boisterous!. Unfortunately after breakfast it was time to depart for Johannesburg and the airport. Some of us are returning home and others are traveling on to more adventures. The food, staff , and wildlife here was terrific and we feel we have experienced some very special moments on this trip.

When we returned to the lodge we had some time to relax, enjoy those outside showers in the tree tops or catch up on journals. Again we were able to enjoy the quiet late afternoon on the deck during our practice and mediation.

As it was getting dark we assembled to go on a bushwalk. With lights and cameras we ventured deep into the bush off the trails. To our surprise we were really walking to an authentic South Africa bush braai complete with tribal dancers. Everyone had a great time trying to keep up with the energetic and rhythmic young dancers and musicians.

It was a great night, but our last at Bona Ntaba. We transfer to parts unknown (but nearby) for our last 2 nights.

After some early mornings and lots of animal viewing we were ready today to do something more relaxing and slow paced. Our day started with an uplifting yoga session which brought us all closer to performing handstands. After a large breakfast of eggs, oatmeal, fruit and toast we headed out toward the Blyde Canyon to travel on a boat. The boat captain told us about the trees, natural history, and special rock formation in the canyon. We had a view of the famous “three Rondovals” formation from the boat. Everyone had a very relaxing ride.

After we enjoyed a lunch at a quiet South African Style café at the base of the mountains. Heading back toward our lodge we stopped at a lovely pub perched high above the Olphants river and enjoyed some drinks. We took in the sunset back at the lodge and finished with a satisfying meal.

At midday we enjoyed a stop at one of the very nice rest areas. Here we did some gift shopping and found a shady tree under which to have a practice session. Some of the other park visitors looked on in curiosity, and some girls attempted to imitate the poses. As Laura lead us in practice, were able to work deeper and progress.

Back in the safari vehicle we found an elephant family wandering down to the almost dry river to get a drink and some mud.

I had a first ever encounter with a brown headed parrot.

Back at the lodge we were in time for the sunset and on this special evening: the moon rise. The spectacular full moon (the largest moon of the year due to it proximity to the Earth) Lighted our evening meal of yet another traditional South African favorite recipe. With some wonderful local red wines our evening was complete, though most of us were nodding off at a very early hour.

The path you travel to South Africa is a long one, but in some ways this journey helps you realize that you have come to a different place far in distance to your home. Our guests arrived after many hours of travel and began to experience the special wonders of our part of South Africa: the mountains, sunset, wildlife, and lifestyle.

Today we began with a Big 5 Game drive and witnessed 4 out of the 5. We were right up close to elephants who were resting in the dust and moving off to a cool place to snack away the day. A quartet of lions including a young male were already bedded down anticipating a warm day. A pair of white rhino also let us get really close – it is a very special treat to be so close to these threatened animals. A herd of buffalo with some young calves completed 4 of the big 5. Perhaps tonight we will see a leopard coming out to hunt when we return to the reserve.


After a large breakfast and a rest, Laura lead a session with the mountain view in the background. Though it was a hot afternoon, the movement helped remove the travel aches and revitalize. We had a short time to relax over high tea and venture out again into the wildlife reserve to see what we can find and to watch the sunset.

We look forward to another evening meal under the stars and full moon and in front of the fire.

Tomorrow we will visit Kruger National Park – one of the largest parks in the world. What we will see is always a surprise to anticipate.

During a morning bush walk we our guests made good use of their monopods: they are easy to walk with and quick to set up for a shot.

Our first leopard sighting! We also had a fun night shoot for porcupines.
The next morning, our last morning, ended big with a cheetah on a fresh kill.

We had a wonderful 10 days and I very much enjoyed the company of our guests Gene and Richie. I wish them the best and hope to see them on a future safari.

Black and white can envoke the classic and romantic notion of African safaris, but there  are some attributes that make some images better fuel for black and white than others.

Low Color Contrast:  Many animals have coloration that blends them into their surroundings and to be successful they must use this effectively.  An image of a lion in dry grass can be flat, but when treated in black and white, shape and texture that was previously washed out comes to life.

Neutral Color Subject: Elephants and rhino are more or less grayscale naturally and it is hard to make them pop out as a subject when surrounded by flashier colored skies and vegetation.  In monochrome they can stand out.

Animals with texture: Fur detail, skin texture, whiskers, and face features are often more apparent in a black and white. Details lost to our eyes because of color variations are easier to interpret.

Images with color or lighting issues: In many cases images with great composition and content that suffer from some lighting  or severe color cast problems can show better in monochrome.

Below I present 3 creative ways to use monochrome each of which goes beyond the desaturate slider.

Enhanced High Contrast Portrait

This style is characterized by  detail presented in an aged, almost studio style with a historic feel.

Features of this style include:

Portrait style subject with lots of texture and detail

Burnt edges

High contrast subject

Dark textured background

Start with a portrait with a neutral background.  Use Photoshop to clear elements from the background then open in Lightroom Develop Mode.  This technique works easily in PS using layers and masks, but I will work on this in Lightroom.

Mostly desaturate the image and add high contrast using the Tone Curve.  We want a dark background so lower the Exposure a little bit and add a pretty large Vignette.

Use the Graduated Filter tool to further darken from the edge in. Setting Exposure down while keeping Contrast high and Highlights way up will keep some texture in the darkened areas.  Drag several graduated filters out from the edges to frame the subject.

Now we need to finish darkening the background and add a “spotlight” onto the subject so it pops.  Use the adjustment brush with a large feathered brush set at a low flow to darken background around the subject.  Decrease the brush size to get in close to the subject while leaving a slight halo effect around.

Click New to start an adjustment brush to brighten the subject.  Paint all over the face and use the sliders to intensify the effect.  Add final touches like a crop, Dodging effect on the eyes and nose and it is finished.  Use Split Toning to add a color tint to the monochrome.

Duo Tone /  Split Tone

A duo tone image is one in which is printed in 2,3, or 4 colors. It is a way to get subtle richness to a monochrome image.  Lightroom supports using two tones (under Split Toning). The control allows you to set one tone for the Highlights and another for the Shadows and then lets you control  the balance between the two.  In Photoshop  the Duotone option lets you choose up to 4 colors.

In Lightroom, desaturate and correct the contrast of the image.  Under Split Toning , select a highlight color or use the Hue slider to set the Highlights. Saturation will control how subtle the effect is.   Next select a color for the Shadows.  Play with the saturation sliders and Balance until you are happy with the results.

In Photoshop, open the tonally corrected image either already in black and white or in color then convert to grayscale.  Make sure the image is in 8bit mode then the option under Image – Mode – Duotone will be available.

In the control box you can browse through  the preset to get ideas or find one you like.  Make your own or begin with a preset and modify it.  To switch to 3 tones or 4 change the value in the Type box.  The curve will control which range of tones is affected.  The possibilities are endless.  When you find one you like you can save it for easy reuse.

Hand Tinted Effect

Start with a image and convert it to black and white.  For this technique I prefer a conversion to black and white that is lower contrast.  I like the Lightroom preset called Creamtone” .  It uses a range from a dark in the the gray-green range and a light tone in the beige range.  Open the image for editing in Photoshop to finish the hand tinting.

For this effect you will want to use just a few highlight colors applied to areas that are part of the subject.

In Photoshop, create a new layer for each color you will use.  Create the layer and rename it for the color.  You will want to keep the original luminosity fo the image as you add color so a good way to do this is to put each layer in Color blend mode.  This will ensure that you wont get any hard-edged opaque looking patches of color. You might also want to start with each layer at less than 100% opacity. Use the airbrush tool or a soft edged brush at low opacity: you can overpaint to add intensity.  Perfect application is not the style here. Use the eraser if you make a mistake.

For the final balancing you can change opacity, add a saturation layer,  even do a bit of dodge and burn to the color layers.

In the finished image I used one shade of red to color the meat, a bit of pink on the tongue, yellow in the eye, and two shades of green lightly applied to the grass in the foreground.