YOUR PHOTO

When a picturesque scene appears Zelda Herridge, who farms with sheep, cattle and game in the Kalahari, makes the most of it with her Canon EOS 550D.

From dust to dusk

“The roan antelope is by far my favourite wild animal. During a drought, we feed them later in the day. We were running late that particular day and put the feed out a little later than usual. It was then that this guy came closer and I was able to take a lovely picture. This has become my favourite sunset photo. The dust that the antelope stirs up as he comes closer simply makes the picture.”

Zelda was on the scene and, thanks to her photo, we’re also able to experience it.

This photo works for a number of reasons. You know exactly where to look as the antelope is smack in the middle. As we’ve said before, a focal point in the middle of the photo is usually not that desirable.

But Zelda circumvents that rule in a subtle way: while the antelope is in the centre, he’s moving to the side. That adds a kind of energy to the pic and you can see where he’s heading in your mind’s eye.

The same is true of the flare: it’s usually distracting, but in this case it provides an additional dimension because the antelope is stepping in its direction. In addition, it is green – a colour that is nowhere to be seen anywhere else in the photo.

The horizon does not run straight through the picture, but makes a dip where the antelope is walking. It adds even more weight to the focal point – and the single tree on the right balances nicely with the two smaller ones on the left.

If you look closely, there is a second antelope in the picture. On either side of the middle one, there are two straight lines of shadow. It is the shadow of the ‘other’ antelope’s legs.

This one’s is only visible between the horns of the front antelope, but because it is in the distance and in the dust, it has a lighter shade and doesn’t distract from the focal point.

This is a beautiful moment to look at – again and again.

Delicate weatherman

“I have a great love for dragonflies and always keep an eye out for them. When I see one outside, we know we’ll be getting rain that night or the next day. They never disappoint, even if they only send a few drops.

They’re curious creatures and turn their head toward me as I take a pic. It seems as if they’re posing for it. It was overcast on the morning I took this pic and it started to rain later. So, they are my lucky charms. I like the detail on its little body you can see here.”

The dragonfly’s eyes are the focal point, of course, but it’s also obvious where Zelda crops the body and the wings.

Such an element is often distracting, because it feels like part of the photo that is there isn’t visible.

But in this case, the image goes out of focus here because of the shallow focus depth (the lens aperture was f5.6). So there is little to no detail and therefore doesn’t bother you.

The composition lines of the dragonfly’s body and wings run diagonally through the photograph like a large cross, and the pattern is repeated subtly in the background.

The green twig or leaf at the back has similar lines, and balances as negative space against the detail of the dragonfly.

Three angels

“I like silhouette photos. These are my two kids, CJ and Zelmeri, on either side of their cousin. We live between two dunes and the kids love playing there. Like most evenings, we walked up the dune so my two could show it to their cousin and then play for a bit.

They were up and down the dune – and when they got tired, sat down to take a breather. I realised it would make a nice photo and sneaked a pic. Kids are active, but as you can see in the photo, they can sometimes slow down long enough to appreciate the beauty of nature.”

This is a good example of a silhouette photo – it looks as though the three children were carved from a single block. You see enough detail on each of the kids that also tells you more about them.

The vertical blades of grass in front of them gives away their direct surroundings, but look at how much detail there is in the clouds: almost nothing except for colour.

Though you do see enough of the clouds so your subconscious completes the picture. Zelda also used a shallow focus depth (f5.6) and therefore the clouds are out of focus.

This was a good decision because had the detail of the clouds been visible, it would have drawn your attention away from the silhouettes.