I thought I’d write a brief something more as a reminder to myself than anything else. This is one of those do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do scenarios, as it’s something I keep kicking myself for; I chop off the animal’s tail.
Not literally of course. Purely photographically, but it feels like almost as much of a sin, mainly because of how much I’ve warned against it.
After spending time with the Nkoveni female leopard and her cub a few days ago, this was a photo that came out in the post-sighting review:
Tail tip, Cut off. You know that emoji of someone slapping their forehead in exasperation? Insert it here.
Granted, I was using a 100-400mm lens so couldn’t have zoomed out anymore, but knowing that the cub was probably going to get up to some kind of antics the moment it climbed the tree, I should have positioned the vehicle further away to compensate for this.
This next photo from earlier in the sighting is far more pleasing to the eye:
The tail is entirely in the frame and the paws up tell of what the cub is busy doing (leaping up to the right). Compositionally it’s not great; I should have left more space on the right and positioned the leopard further left, but at least the tail is in picture.
Anticipating the animal’s movements is more than half the battle.
One can see how the tail in the first picture leads your eye out of the frame. Look, the picture itself is nothing too special, although the moment is great, but the tail leading out of the frame is serious no-no! And it’s not only for tails; horns, feet, whiskers… Most of the time – but not all – you want to keep the entire animal in the frame. I’m only referring to shots in which the majority of the animal is visible. If it’s a close-up of a leopard’s eye then forget about the tail.
I’m sure I’ve written about this before, but seeing that first photo made me feel like I should say it again.
Have a look at the following two images of the Nkoveni female, who had just caught an impala:
The original photo (below) has the whole of her tail visible, but in this sighting, keeping the wider framing detracted somewhat (I felt) from the intensity of the moment; her eyes and the death-grip she had on the impala’s throat were all that mattered, so cropping in to get rid of the tail was necessary.
If the tail does need to go, make sure you do it properly. Only cutting out an inch doesn’t help.
To avoid accidentally cropping things out when photographing wildlife:
- Zoom out
- Use a Wider Lens
- Position further away
- Anticipate the animal’s movements (this includes its extremities) and compose accordingly.
By following the above steps (which literally take a matter of seconds), hopefully you can avoid this photographic blunder that I keep making!
It happens to me all the time. I cut something off. Luckily we live in the digital age and it is not a total disaster as when we used film. Great tips.
Glad to know I’m not the only one who cuts off tails and other body parts when taking photos! I’ve done it a couple of times when paws/hooves are obscured in the long grass and I have taken a photo/series of photos only to notice that I have cut off where the paws/hooves would have been showing if it wasn’t for the long grass.
I frequently missed ear tips on closeups–until Trevor helped me out!
They all look good James. Will keep this in mind for next time. Thanks for the “tip”
I have to say, James, that although I agree with you on getting the whole leopard in the picture, they DO have awfully long tails, don’t they? Not always easy to get them in the pic. Wendy M
Haha this true Wendy; I’ve often underestimated how much the tail is going to lash out!
…and thereby hangs a tail (;
Good advice, James! And it’s consistent with your prior advice to backup and give some context to your shots. Thanks for the reminder.
I take your comments to heart and have been dismayed to see an ear, horn or tail lost in the frame. I guess the answer is to carry two cameras – for wide angle and another for zoom.
I meant to say, dismayed by my photo errors!!
My first Africa trip, I was so excited to capture everything I was seeing that all of my composition lessons went out the window. A week in the bush and 6000 photos later and I started to settle down a bit so by the time I got to Londolozi (saving the best for last, of course), I was a little happier with my shots. Still, a do-over is required (or at least that’s my excuse) so I’ll see you all in a few weeks! I’m as excited as the first time but again saving Londolozi as my last stop so hopefully by the time I get there, I’ll be settled in 🙂
Good for you, James, in your willingness to share your bloopers…ahem….photographic mistakes! We ALL have done that for countless reasons, but thanks for the reminder!
I wouldn’t worry, I once had a drink 🥃 with a photographer who had won Wildlife Photographer Of The Year for his work with Wild 🐕 Dogs. His comment ( back in the days of Fuji Velvia) was that he only got one decent photo per roll.
Haha Ian I’ve heard the same thing from many great photographers; they say they knew they were really starting to nail it when they were getting 2 or three great photos from a sighting instead of only 1 or 2!