Shy Young Gazelle |
Jerusalem has a beautiful Gazelle Valley, where Gazelles are conserved in their natural environment inbetween the humming city. It's a refreshing green lung for the city, a quiet place where you can come to see some nature and contemplate.
This photo, of a young Gazelle shyly looking at the camera, was taking from just a few meters away. The Gazelles feel safe there, so do not run away from visitors (they have their own area that people are not allowed to venture into).
What do I like about this photo? There's an incredible amount of detail - you can see each and every strand of hair in the fur. The pose is interesting and dynamic, and the reflections in the eye add to the photo. The eye contact upgrades everything. I used an open aperture (f/6.3 - the most open my lens supports at the focal length of 400mm that I used) to have a shallow depth of field, so the Gazelle is in focus and the background is blurred out.
What would I want to improve? An even shallower depth of field to blur out the background more would have been preferable, if my equipment would have allowed it. An alternative might have been to used a lower angle of view, but that might have compromised the composition, as it would have caused more of the head to be hidden.