Research

John Shaw - Animal Photography

John has been a professional nature photographer since the early 1970s. His work has been published in many publications and books, including National Geographic, Nature’s Best, National Wildlife, Audubon, Outdoor Photographer, and many others. In 1997 he received the first-ever Outstanding Photographer Award given by NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association).  Nikon chose him as a featured Legend Behind the Lens in 2002, while Microsoft designated him an Icon of Imaging in 2006.  He has been part of Epson’s Stylus Pro fine art print makers group since 2001.

(http://www.johnshawphoto.com/bio-2/)

Animal Photography 

John Shaw

I went to South lakes Wild Animal park, with the intention of replicating many pictures from John Shaw's collection, however the weather conditions and other aspects such as positioning made it near impossible to replicate, most animals where inside or just weren't in the positions i needed. I did however managed to get one photo, of the penguins that was a close replicate to John Shaw's Photo. It is not as close up as John shaw's but still has very similar aspects, to his such as the framing, rocks above (although different rocks), with the penguins situated in the middle. and the water beneath. and there is actually the same amount of penguins in the shot which is quite lucky. I prefer Johns shaw's photo to my own as the angle is a lot better, the penguins can be seen clearer and the coloring is better. the only angle shot i could get was from above which proves to not be the best angle for these animals. 

The other animals i tried where either not the same animals that John Shaw had in his collection or not in position. however here is my collection. I really like the portrait photos of the giraffe i photographed, and with a little editing managed to bring out the coloring to make it more striking. 

John Shaws Collection

Analyse- Penguins, The picture of the penguins for me is quite evenly spaced out between the spaces of the top and bottom, the penguins are in the middle and i like the fact the colors with the wall and the water are the same colour this makes the penguins stand out more. It looks like the exposure has been changed to make the white of the penguins stand out.  

          My Own Work            

I love this photograph of the Giraffe, i feel it shows the giraffe has character with the face it is pulling, i also feel it is positioned rather well, as it is dead centre and the face is straight on. I have edited this photo, i have changed the saturation of the photo to make the colors stand our more, and i have changed the contrast a little to make it a bit darker, i have also sharpened it a little. I have however found that the photograph is too grainy to be printed clearly at a large scale.

Photo shoot - I went to South lakes animal park in the lake district , UK to photograph the wild animals in somewhat a natural setting. I tried not to have the enclosures visible in the photos as to imagine them in the wild. This photo shoot proved rather difficult to do as it was a rather busy day, people got in the way, and the weather was less than suitable for the shoot. most animals where inside or not visible. however i did manage to get some decent shots. i have edited most of them due to weather conditions and it being rather dull. So i used saturation and exposure to make them brighter and more colorful. Next time i would hope the weather is better so i can use natural light for them, making the photos better and as unedited as possible. and i think i would chose a different zoo, as there wasn't really much of interest there for me,  apart from the big cats. 

This photo is not one from the zoo, but is one of John Shaw's collection,  which i like, as i really like the contrast between color and black & white in the picture, the bright green really makes the panda stand out, he has used the rule of thirds well having the panda on the right hand side of the picture instead of in the middle. i would guess that he has used a large aperture to capture the panda and the grasses in the front. I think this because there is blurring in the background suggesting it is not focusing on all of the photo. 

Health and Safety.

It is very important that you think about the safety implements when photographing in a zoo,as these are wild animals and are very unpredictable.

• You must remain a safe distance from all wildlife and remain outside all enclosures unless you have permission otherwise. 
• Make sure you do not go too close to fences, especially when photographing animals such as big cats. 
• Make sure you keep a firm hold on your camera, especially when at heights (such as viewing boxes) you do not want to be dropping your camera into enclosures.
•  Be careful when near certain mischievous animals, such as monkeys, giraffes, elephants. As they may try to steal your equipment.
• Be sure to bring waterproofs for your camera, and other equipment incase of bad weather.
• Always use dry hands when touching electrical equipment
• If you bring a tripod, make sure it is in a secure spot before attaching your camera.
• Make sure all equipment is in good condition and is ready to use
• Make sure you warn people around you when using flashes, they may have epilepsy.
• Make sure to read and abide by all zoo signs and rules. 
• Always be careful of any thieves whilst walking around the zoo, your equipment to expensive and you may not realize someone picking up a bag, keep your eyes on all equipment. 

Equipment

Nikon D3200, Nikkor 18mm-50mm & Nikkor 50mm-200mm Lenses, Sun flare lens cap, lens caps, Camera strap, camera bag, memory SD card 4gb.

Software, Photoshop, Picasa, Foto.com, Photoshop elements







Villager Jim


Villager Jim is a local wildlife photographer living in the picturesque village of Foolow deep in the heart of the peak district in Derbyshire, UK. He is well known for his beautiful photos and uses them for things such as canvases, calendars, cards and cushions. He has many great testimonials on his webiste http://www.villagerjimsshop.com Some of which are - Editors choice in the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2013/14 , "Helen Skelton meets ‘Villager Jim’ - also known as the Banksy of the wildlife photography world. Jim’s stunning work has been going viral across the internet but his identity has remained a secret....." BBC TV.

Analysis of some of villager jims photos

Villager Jim 
"Things that go squeak"

This image was taken from one of Villager Jims collection, It was taken in his own back yard,It is an image of a small mouse that is "hiding" in the crack of a barn door. It has been featured in Villager Jims own collection on photos on the social media site, Facebook. These photos are used for display purposes, such as canvases, calendars, cards etc. https://www.facebook.com/VillagerJim

I think it is giving the message to always check the smallest insignificant spaces, as you will never know what you can find. It fits into my own project work as i am talking about nature photography and this is a great example of small farm animals, especially ones that you wouldn't normally go to a farm to photograph. It influences me to search harder for all sorts of animals not just the generic horses,cows, sheep that you would usually find.

This photograph of a Robin out of Villager Jims collection really caught my eye, i love the fact that the photo is very sharp and the colours really compliment each other well. He has used the rule of thirds well in placing this robin on the right hand side and the fact the robin is looking to the left, really helps the robin curve into the picture. He has also given just enough space on the other side to make it look right. For me the exposure is perfect and i wouldn't change anything about this photograph.

These two photographs are of VJ (Villager Jims mini photographer) and Deidre the blue tit. Villager Jim has a great sense of humour and is always taking pictures with funny content or funny captions to go with them. You can really tell he has real passion for his work. I chose these two photographs because currently Villager Jim is keeping his identity a mystery and they sum him up pretty well. In the first picture i feel he has used the rule of thirds well having one focus (VJ) on one side, and the other focus (Deidre) on the other side, they are also in line with the diagonal of the frame from the right hand down. the colours work well together and he is using a small aperture to capture only the front of the picture, the background is blurred.
The Second picture is very similar to the first in how it is set up, he has used a small aperture to blur the background and has both VJ and Deidre on the same sides as in the previous picture, just at different angles and different zoom. These two pictures have good exposure and good framing/positioning and the only thing i would change would be on the second photograph, i can see a white speck on the top right hand of the picture, and just above the blue tits head aswell , i would use the spot healing brush on photoshop to get rid of these white marks.   

     

Analyse cows

Health and Safety:

Jim takes most of his photos at home, so he doesn't really need to plan any form of transport as he lives in the countryside. He does however need to know how to carry his equipment when out in the fields and up hills. He needs to make sure everything is secure and his bags are zipped up and that all his equipment is in working order, however if he is at home he has easy access to his spare parts and chargers etc so it isnt much of an issue. Jim does however need to think about the animals  and how they will react/act with him being near them and how they would react with any noises he could make with equipment. He also needs to be careful around animals such as horses and cows as they could possibly try to eat or trample on his equipment. The safety of the animal must also be considered when photographing them in there natural habitat or otherwise. Villager Jim also has to take into consideration the weather forecasted for that day and if he will need any thermals, or waterproofs for bad weather, any waterproofing for the equipment and he must also think about carrying an emergency phone around with him and telling people where he is going, incase he gets lost of injured along the way. 

 My photos : robin (done), cow

 i have used the crop tool on photoshop to crop the photo as i felt there were too many branches for the robin to be the main focus. The Robin is now the main focus and is in the middle of the photograph. 

I have also zoomed in a little so you can see the picture clearer. Because after i cropped the photo it stayed the same size as the picture above.

I have no finished with photoshop and by using picmonkey.com i have changed the highlights and shadows to make the colours stand out a bit more.

I have now used the spot focusing tool to blue out the branches to make the robin stand out even more from the picture, being the only thing in focus.

My finished photo  (one to blow up as final 10)

Health and Safety
Equpiment