Underexpose or overexpose a big cat portrait
For a bonus third round after lunch – humans have to eat, too! – we issued a ‘wild card’ challenge. For a creative challenge, Alma invites her photography workshop participants to over- and underexpose some of their images, to produce more of a fine-art feel.
“Cheetahs have beautifully marked faces with eyes that need light to show them off,” notes Christine. “I needed him to be in a position where his eyes had enough light to showcase their wonderful colour, and this was one of the very few images I captured that wasn’t in profile.
“In editing, I desaturated the trees in the background to draw the viewer to the face. To show off the cheetah’s distinctive markings, I lightened the image to increase the contrast.”
Expert opinion
This portrait by Christine has a traditional feel. The decision to tone down the green and yellow of the trees in the edit was an ideal way of bringing full attention back to the cheetah.
With her piercing stare and intense aura, Athena the jaguar is a popular model at the Big Cat Sanctuary. But there are plenty of perils for the photographer here, thanks to Athena’s lustrous black coat.
As a camera’s metering system is calibrated to expose for a midtone, the resulting captures of Athena’s coat will be too light if left unadjusted. So some underexposure will need to be added to produce an image that will be closer to what the human eye sees – and what better subject for the underexposure challenge than Athena?
“When this challenge was issued, a black jaguar sprang to mind,” recalls Garry. “Athena was in the perfect spot, staring out from inside her den, and I managed to catch her looking straight at me. As her den was around shoulder height, I could shoot while standing.
“Due to the dark scene, to preserve the blacks and to keep the scene good and dark but really bring out Athena’s eyes, I dialled in two negative stops of exposure compensation.”
Expert opinion
To underexpose successfully and retain detail is a difficult skill, but you’ve done it well here, Garry.
A tighter crop in editing would not only centralise Athena, but also draw attention away from the brighter log leading up to her den. Our eyes will typically be drawn to the brightest areas of an image, and a quick trick to test this is to sit back from your screen and squint a little at your photo. This will give you an idea of the main focus of the shot, and you’ll find that the brighter areas will come forward.