Critique Style Requested: In-depth
The photographer has shared comprehensive information about their intent and creative vision for this image. Please examine the details and offer feedback on how they can most effectively realize their vision.
Self Critique
I like the composition—this is exactly where you find these birds and how they hunt.
I think it is a bit soft, likely to his movement, boat movement, camera movement, poor lens focus
Creative direction
Principally an artistic documentary image
Specific Feedback
Whatever you wish
Technical Details
Canon 1N; Cano EF 70-200mm; Fujichrome Velvia 100; handheld
Description
The African jacana (Actophilornis africanus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae, identifiable by long toes and long claws that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their preferred habitat. Jacanas are found worldwide within the tropical zone, and this species is found in sub-saharan Africa.
It is always best to capture these birds when a foot is in the air so that the size of their feet is obvious. Since I was shooting film at the time of this capture (1998) I missed the best opportunity but was unaware because, unlike today 's digital cameras, with instant back-of-the-camera feedback, one doesn’t know what is on the film until it is developed. In this situation processing was delayed until after returning to the USA.
As a member of a small group of tourists who had no experience in photography, wild animals or Africa, it was challenging to convince them to be quiet and stop moving around in the vehicle. Approaching wildlife and having them not reacting to us, but rather only their native environment, meant making more unusable images than one would prefer. The solution was to get away from the crowd. I ended up in a separate vehicle or boat with only the owner of the Safari company and one other serious individual. The owner commented at the end of the trip that we had encountered more species and numbers of animals within the species than on any previous safari.