The Wild and the Wonderful

Shot for a safari company this sums up the relaxing moments at the end of a busy day in the bush. Technically it was a challenging shot. Having the sun in the frame will cause most cameras to produce overly light images or silhouettes of your subjects. In the past it would take several Polaroid’s to nail down the correct setting, thankfully today’s high resolution digital cameras provide instant (and cheaper) feedback. Location and timing was also an issue. Light levels drop dramatically as sunset approaches so the images have to be taken quickly and exposures recalculated accordingly.  There was also the ever present threat of clouds covering the top of Mount Kilimanjaro which would have meant a reshoot on another day. Lastly as you can see the setup was in prime lion country and as any good guide would tell you dusk and nightfall are the carnivore’s favorite hunting times!

This image was shot in Venice for use as a fine art print. Contrasting to the fast pace needed to capture the Kenya landscape this one required several hours waiting time. The good news is that there probably isn’t any other city in the world where I’d rather waste time! I heavily research the places I intend to visit, Google earth provides a great overview of the area and from it I develop a brief so I know exactly the right camera position, time of day, angle of light, etc. As often happens, this particular location was found by chance. Anyone who has visited the city or watched Angelina Jolie in The Tourist knows that the waterways are as busy as the streets. I wanted to portray something timeless and give the scene a renaissance painting feel. Most of my time was spent waiting for speed boats and the very efficient water buses to pass, even then I had to wait for the tell tale wash to level out.  After all was clear I had to hope a gondola would appear. Eventually things came together and a bird even cooperated by flying into the frame at the right spot. Interestingly no photoshop was done; the colors, tones, etc were all emphasized at the time of the shot using various camera techniques.

*Written by Guest Writer Bryan Pereira, who has been a professional Travel and Fashion photographer for over 25 years.  Educated in the UK he has won numerous awards and is now based  in Toronto. Assignments have taken him from shooting high fashion in Milan to wildlife in Masai Mara. In this article he gives us a behind the scenes look at two of his favorite contrasting images.

* See Bryan's facebook fan page address:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryan-Pereira-Photography/33737952120