Foto Friday

(I post this top photo of the peacock shaking himself into a threatening position only to show the different types of feathers peacocks have. I found this fascinating since I had never seen those back ones before! God is a magnificent artist, if you ask me.)

Ever go to a zoo, snap lots of pictures, come home and while you are looking them over, realize they all look the same...

Boring??

As you look at all the photographs of snouts, beaks and faces peering through wire fencing, you realize photographs just can't equal the fun of actually experiencing it in person. LIKELY, you are feeling like the pictures don't do the animals justice.

And they probably aren't.

While I know that nothing can beat the actual experiencing of it, I think it is quite possible to get a few good representative shots of the animals and how wonderful they are.

If you notice in your photographs that you have lots of fencing or that you are always looking down on the animals, you are representing them as caged beasts and that's no fun. Plus, it adds a very impersonal feeling to the moment.

Here is something I do often when photographing caged things (flowers, animals, etc.)

I get down to their level and I put my camera as close to the fence as possible, sometimes even resting on it.

By doing so, you are peering your lens through the fence holes, eliminating those distracting fencelines and creating a clear picture.

Getting down on their level helps to portray the personal-ness (is that a word?) of the moment. They aren't just an animal you took a quick glance of through fencing. There was interaction. There was a moment of exchange.

These photos were taken of a caged peacock but getting on its level and shoving my camera up to the fence-hole allowed me to get a much more memorable picture of the exchange.

It doesn't have to be animals at a zoo. The subject could be anything whose view is being partially obstructed by cages, fences, holes, cracks.

So my challenge to you this week would be to try and take some photos of things behind fencing and see if you can do so without actually photographing the fencing. See if you notice the difference...

Ciao.