Watching other people’s home movies and pictures from their holiday can, at times, be quite an ordeal.
The same can be said for looking at other people’s images from a recent safari.
An image like this might remind you of the amazing leopard sighting you had when you were in the bush, but… your friends and family might not share your enthusiasm for this amazing sighting if the image does not really convey the spectacle you witnessed.
So what can you do?
Since wildlife photography is about telling a story, do it in threes.
By doing this, and presenting your work in threes, you will be able to much better share the beauty of the amazing sightings you had when you were out in the wild. This will also help your family follow the stories you have to tell about your amazing adventures in Africa, or elsewhere.
So how does it work?
For every sighting try and take three images. These images will, step by step, get your viewer closer to the subject and allow you to tell a more complete story.
The first image should set the scene and place the subject in it’s natural environment.
The second image should be the ‘main course’ and the image you actually want to show.
The last image is there to show a little bit of detail as you end your story.
Make sense? Here is my story.
On a partly overcast morning, we were following a lioness through the bush. It seemed as if she was looking for something. As the sun broke through the clouds, she ended up in a thicket where she proceeded to look around some more, before settling in to sleep the day away. Every now and then she would lift her head to look around, all the time breathing quite heavily, as by now the clouds had disappeared and the summer heat was setting in.
Now, there is no way I can show all of that in one image while I tell the story to all the family members I have forced to sit down in the lounge and ‘appreciate’ my images.
The answer? Tell your story in three!
If you are heading out into nature this weekend, look for stories. Shoot them in threes. Show them to your friends and remember to also upload a few to the Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest!
See you next week!
Gerry van der Walt
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