Photography Tip – Evoke emotion
For news of the heart, ask the face.
–West African saying
My aim in wildlife photography is to create images that evoke an emotional response in the viewer. When we have an emotional reaction to a photograph our brains tell us a story. The heart informs the mind. Not everyone has the same response, that’s the beauty of art. In my experience, the more compelling the photo, the more universal the emotional response.
Staying at home due to COVID allowed me to review thousands of images in my photo archives. I found some I didn’t know I had! They brought back wonderful memories of moments when the light, the behaviour of an animal, or the setting captured my attention. Here’s a story behind an image I rediscovered and processed this morning.
Our guide Dickson knew where a pride of lions sheltered on the Olare Motorogi Conservancy adjacent to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. He drove us there after an early morning rain. When we arrived at a dense line of shrubs along a creek bed there were no signs of lions. The sound of the Land Cruiser brought some curious cubs to the edge of the bushes. A young male with a scruffy ruff around his neck peered out warily to see who was intruding on his territory.
Here’s how the image looked in camera:
I used post processing (Adobe Lightroom software) to enhance the feeling of the moment. I cropped the image creating a portrait, lightened the face, sharpened the eyes, and darkened the surrounding shrubs. We notice light before dark – another reason to crop out distracting elements in the foreground. These adjustments draw the viewer’s eyes to the lion’s intense stare. “The eyes are the window to the soul” applies to animal portraits too. I sense caution, suspicion, and defensiveness in his gaze. What do you see?
A couple of lionesses and a younger cub appeared next. The male lion felt safe enough to step out into the clearing. Eventually, 20 lions emerged! The bushes were like a gift that kept on giving. I have several photos of the pride, but none do justice to the experience of so many lions miraculously appearing and heading for high ground behind us.
Gesture is another way to arouse emotion. On a game drive later that week, we found a bigger male lion, probably about 2 years old. At this age the boys take some time away from the pride to learn to hunt on their own. Eventually males are kicked out of the family, so it is essential they know how to fend for themselves. The lion was lying alone on a mound of earth. This gave me the advantage of an eye level point of view. A lower viewpoint adds drama.
This fellow looked beat up. Scratches on his face and his furrowed brow gave him a grumpy demeanor. Perhaps he was having a tough time going solo. Imagine being kicked out of the family with little experience to fend for oneself.
Lost in thought he ignored us completely. Being up close allowed me to zoom in and focus on his huge paws. Sometimes a part of an animal can tell a story all on its own.
My what big paws you have! squealed the prey.
All the better to take you down with, snarled the predator.
He was handsome, he was interesting, but I didn’t have a story. We waited for something to happen. Then he did what domestic cats do, he used those big paws to clean his face and wipe away the pesky flies. When I saw the image on my computer I felt sad.
Ubuntu is a Zulu word that means we don’t exist on our own – we are all connected. I am who I am only because of who we are all together – that includes nature. Cropping, converting to black and white and deepening the darker areas, took a bland image to a dramatic image with an implied story – grief and loss – or perhaps prayer?
I grieve the decline of lion populations and habitat loss due to human wildlife conflict and climate change. If the lion in this image weeps, I weep with him. If he is praying, I pray with him. What impacts lions impacts all of us. When we protect lions, we protect ourselves.
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