Animal Farm – Trying a fresh perspective
8 Feb
Visiting a farm meant lots of opportunities to take portraits of a different kind. Unlike portraits of people where care must be taken in choosing a flattering angle to shoot at or selecting a lens focal length that doesn’t cause subjects to look distorted (e.g. big nose, disproportionate head size, etc), animals aren’t as fussy as their human counterparts.
In fact, the animals in the next couple of shots took a huge liking towards my camera and kept trying sniff out the source of the rapid “click, click, click” sounds. This allowed me to get very close and take shots from a unique close up angle.
Sheep are known to be timid, but not this one. This sheep got so close he left snot and moisture on my lens, but nothing a quick swab with the t-shirt couldn’t fix. Also, when they are in so close, you absolutely have to go into manual focus mode. I chose to focus on the eyes and leave the rest of the sheep’s face a blur.
While I’m a strong advocate of getting out there to make or chase the pictures you want, sometimes, it pays to be patient for good pictures to come your way, literally. I was sitting on top of a log reviewing pictures when this curious alpaca saw me from afar. Slowly and gradually, he started making his way towards me and before I knew it, he was a mere few feet away. Sensing the opportunity, I lifted my camera up as if offering food and he couldn’t help but stick his nose in for a whiff. Two clicks were all I had before he decided to move on to greener pastures, so to speak.
Tiger, Snowdon: Thanks guys!...
fwah…. all so near?
Very very near! Can even hear their breathing.
lol. not scare they lick your lens?
Wow… very nice shots with the close-ups =)
Tiger: Not really. A quick wipe would have done the trick.
Andrew: Thanks bro!