Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Mountain Gorilla populations in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda, are on the rise due to the engagement of surrounding communities. Unfortunately, the Mountain Gorilla has a slow reproduction rate, so the recovery has not reached a level close to what is needed to remove them from the endangered species list. When I saw this mother gorilla cuddling her baby, I thought of their future and would like viewers to have their heartstrings pulled and potentially be motivated to support their conservation.
Other Information
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Image Description
Shooting in Bwindi is challenging not only because of the hike/climb to get to the Moutain Gorilla families but also due to the dense jungle foliage, rain, and mud, fire ants everywhere. The gorillas go from ignoring the human visitors to playing-dashing all over the place, eating, and sleeping- lots of sleeping. I used my 85mm portrait lenses the most because they were up close and personal. Catching the gorillas, not eating, sleeping, or hiding by foliage, was a mighty challenge during our hour with them. I only shoot monochrome, so what you see is what I got.
Technical Details
I did edit it out branches and leaves that were in front of this pair and cropped closer than I would have liked to minimize distractions. Besides removing the distractions, the image was denoised, and I did little else.
Specific Feedback
I am looking for Conceptual, Emotional, and Technical feedback. I am a conservation photographer so I am looking to appeal to my viewers in support of conserving endangered species.
This is wonderful Karin. I love the expressions and the direction of their looks. The lighting is great, and the details are sharp and clear. Welcome to NPN. I’m looking forward to following your posts.
Welcome to NPN !
It is beautifully captured ! I really like how the subjects lead the eye from young one to mother and beyond. A touch more room at the top may help.
It’s a small point, but the way her left arm just grazes the frame edge creates a point of tension. A slight crop would fix it. If you find or add more canvas on top you could also leave more room on the right, if you want to keep the square format.
I like the image as posted. It does not convey to me a mother cuddling her baby. I find there to be a lot of tension which is good given your intentions. Mom’s eyes, upward look, facial expressions and the way she is holding her baby with both arms convey her intent to allow noone to harm or take her baby from her. It is obvious baby trusts Mom. A very moving and powerful portrait.
Hi Kasey. Thanks for sharing this wonderful scene. The poses and angles here work so well together. You have a natural triangular shape that is incredibly strong. I do have a couple of thoughts regarding the crop…
Diane mentioned the right edge (her left elbow). I totally agree with this. The black sliver there is a distraction, so I think you could crop in a bit.
More importantly (and perhaps more controversially ), I think you could crop from the bottom here. Yes, losing 5% or so would cut her bottom arm essentially in half, but the reason for this is actually because of the lighter tones above. The bare skin of the baby and the mom’s face are wonderful highlights. They are drawing our eye inward, and are a huge part of what makes this work… but they’re also dominating the upper half to two-thirds of the frame. The bottom part (mom’s arms, especially her right/bottom arm) are fading into shadow. This is exacerbated by the very tight crop above the top of her head. The main show is above, and the bottom sort of gets lost.
Loosening the crop at the top—if you have room in the original canvas—could improve this a little, but I really don’t see anything wrong with taking off a bit from the bottom. Because the details down there are sort of muddy anyway, you don’t lose much by cutting her arm off.
I have never done this before, but I feel you have such a strong image here that I’m going to try and illustrate my point visually… please forgive me if this is too much!
The triangle is so bold, and what makes this such a success… but you can see where it lies in the frame. To me the darkness beneath starts dragging against it. If there were more empty space above her head, then perhaps there would be better balance between top and bottom, but right now the bottom feels too heavy to me.
Overall, a wonderful image, but I do think these small changes could make it even better.
Max. I am speechless. Thank you so much for all of your feedback and the illustration. I see exactly what you are saying, and I will adjust the shot immediately! I cropped the lower portion tighter because the mother’s feet were in the lower portion; they were oddly positioned and distracting. Using your triangle illustration as a guide, I will find room at the top to eliminate the heavy bottom. I REALLY appreciate all the critique points.
I see what others have said and the benefits of the suggested edits, but all I can really say is that the gaze of the young one combined with the distant gaze of the mother make this an incredibly compelling image. You pushed the button at the perfect moment. So well done.
), I think you could crop from the bottom here. Yes, losing 5% or so would cut her bottom arm essentially in half, but the reason for this is actually because of the lighter tones above. The bare skin of the baby and the mom’s face are wonderful highlights. They are drawing our eye inward, and are a huge part of what makes this work… but they’re also dominating the upper half to two-thirds of the frame. The bottom part (mom’s arms, especially her right/bottom arm) are fading into shadow. This is exacerbated by the very tight crop above the top of her head. The main show is above, and the bottom sort of gets lost.