jacksmith219

Samburu Nature Reserve - Giraffe

This shot was taken at the Samburu Nature Reserve, Kenya, Africa. Featuring a beautiful Giraffe crossing one of the dirt tracks of the reserve...
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This shot was taken at the Samburu Nature Reserve, Kenya, Africa. Featuring a beautiful Giraffe crossing one of the dirt tracks of the reserve
Read less

Aug, 2017

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in the breath taking Samburu Nature Reserve, located in Samburu, Kenya! I’ve been in Kenya for the last 7 months with work, splitting my time between my full time job and progressing my photography portfolio.

Time

I captured this shot whilst out on a midday game drive. It was the hottest part of the day so I wasn’t too hopeful that I’d capture anything, but when I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Lighting

As you can see in the image, the skies had started to darken in the background, but due to the light colour of the ground and the giraffe itself, the sunlight bouncing off the animals skin makes it look almost as if it was highlighted on the track.

Equipment

Like with most of my shots, I used the Sony a6000 to capture this image! Paired with a telescopic lens, this powerful camera allowed me to seamlessly capture this beautiful animal mid stride with minimal blurring!

Inspiration

I’ve had no formal training when it comes to photography, it’s always interested me. What interested me the most is the many different styles of photography that you can take part in. I’ve mainly focused on portrait, street and wildlife photography, and this shot was taken with the intention of progressing my portfolio of wildlife shots whilst I was in Kenya.

Editing

If you don’t have a great image to start with, no amount of post-production is going to rectify that and make it stand out. That doesn’t mean I don’t employ post-processing techniques in my work. I prefer to keep my editing subtle, with slight adjustments to contrast and highlights. I edit the majority of my shots with either Adobe Lightroom CC, or Affinity Photo Editor. Both of these programs have their own unique benefits and I find using s combination of both can produce some really stunning work!

In my camera bag

I actually travel relatively light in terms of equipment. I usually take 3 lenses with me; a standard kit lens, a telescopic lens and a prime lens. This allows me to adjust for whatever situation arises when I’m shooting! I’m also a big fan of film photography so I always take my Canon T70 with me to try and mix up the look of some of my shots!

Feedback

This image came down to a lot of luck. There was a herd of giraffe on one side of the road and when my car approached a couple stared to cross the track. I knew I didn’t have long so I jumped on the roof of the car and quickly primed myself to catch a photo of the last giraffe crossing. I guess from that I could say that when you’re out and about with your camera be prepared to jump into action at a moments notice, as you never know when a spectacular shot could appear in front of you! Also, take great bit of your surroundings. Try and use the environment to frame your subject. As you can see I waited till the giraffe was right in the middle of the track. The track was a perfect framing device drawing you attention straight to the subject! Id also recommend taking into consideration the lighting and atmospherics to add more excitement to your shot!

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jacksmith219

jacksmith219

Samburu Nature Reserve - Giraffe

This shot was taken at the Samburu Nature Reserve, Kenya, Africa. Featuring a beautiful Giraffe crossing one of the dirt tracks of the reserve... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow jacksmith219

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This shot was taken at the Samburu Nature Reserve, Kenya, Africa. Featuring a beautiful Giraffe crossing one of the dirt tracks of the reserve...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.