This image was taken on a rainy day in Masai Mara, Kenya. We were on a game drive and animal activity just wasn't there. The weather was no cooperating, the skies were white the colors were dull. Suddenly, in the distance I noticed a lone giraffe walking towards a tree. I picked up my camera and took a few snaps. In post processing I increased the highlights to completely white out the sky and boosted the blacks to turn the image into the full silhouette. I really like how it turned out. Thank you for stopping by and as always; appreciate comments and constructive critique.
Post-Challenge: I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to all the voters and especially those who took the time to comment. I appreciate everyone's input. However, I also wanted to clarify that the decision to leave the composition centered and not tightly cropped was an intentional artistic choice (I wanted to show the vastness of the Savannah with the negative space). I am absolutely thrilled with my score and a new PB. Thanks to Anthony_D_Archer for suggesting that I enter this image.
Statistics
Place: 12 out of 429 Avg (all users): 6.7895 Avg (commenters): 8.2500 Avg (participants): 6.7658 Avg (non-participants): 6.9063 Views since voting: 2446 Views during voting: 329 Votes: 190 Comments: 36 Favorites: 6 (view)
Re: your post-challenge comments: well, *I* would have liked it better cropped tightly :) but then, you can't please everyone, and your reasons for leaving the loose crop certainly make sense. And given your score, it seems that your cropping choice was also quite the solid one! Congrats on the high placement and the new PB.
Love the high contrast silhouette. Love the B&W. Not so much a fan of the centered composition. I have the feeling the this shot would be even more powerful with the left 1/4 removed. Good work.
I was going to start off that I think a vertical orientation would have better complemented/subtley alluded to the height of the giraffe and the tree, but studying the composition more I think you made the better choice of horizontal. I get the feel of a wide open savanna - wide and majestic in scope and then, one lone tree with this great giraffe strolling up to it. The B&W and the silhouettes of the main subjects with the negative space of the sky just focuses my attention all the more to the tree and giraffe. Simple and beautifully minimal in presentation.
I love it. That is the perfect African Plains/ Serengeti image that everyone associates with. Superb shot. I hope you do well with this. Africa in its simplest and most raw. My 1st 10 after 218 votes.
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