Macaca fuscata iluminata

One of my biggest concerns with wildlife photography, is that most ofthe subjects have been photographed to death and the pictures arestarting to look more and more alike. The differences between what isconsidered a good photograph and a not so good one often concern thetechnical aspects; better exposure, better shooting technique, betterfocusing, better processing, etc. We seem to have accepted this, asmost of the comments on wildlife images concern exposure, sharpnessand processing. Good composition is a more creative aspect ofphotography that will create better and more original images, but evenwith that the possibilities are becoming more and more limited as thepile of photographs of any given subject is growing and growing andgrowing.

I go to Japan every year to photograph snow monkeys, cranes, swans andeagles, and as a result I have a lot of images of these subjects. Mystandard preparation is to find out what photographs already exist ofthe subjects I'm about to photograph to see what has already been doneand where the possibilities lie to create something different.Composition and viewpoint are usually good starting points, but withmany subjects, all the compositions and viewpoints have been tried before.

In an effort to create more original images of often photographedsubjects, with more room for creativity, I decided last year toexperiment with a technique that macro photographers use all the time,but which is very uncommon in mammal photography: off-camera flash. Ihave posted some earlier efforts here before,

Light is the very essence of photography, and as photographers we aredepending on the quality of the light for the photograph to work.Instead of waiting for the perfect light, and hoping that the subjectwill be there when it happens, preferably with the perfect pose, Idecided to take matters into my own hands and create the light myself.

Here's one where I used off-camera flash in a very unconventional wayon a Japanese macaque. I positioned the flash behind the subject toemphasize the steam rising from the water's surface and I used somemajor underexposure to render the monkey as a silhouette with a nicerimlight.

Curious what you think.

Nikon D3, AF-S VR II 70-200/2.8, 1/125 @ f/11, ISO 200, SB-900(off-camera)

[if you would like to join me on one of my photo tours & workshops,please have a look at my website]

Very well done, not the usual snow monkey photo, when trying something original the method doesn't matter, only the final result, why the hell not use off-camera lighting for nature photography? I like your approach.

Lovely shot. I like this siluette with golden diffusion. 

Simply AWESOME! That's a 7/7 for me. Best regards, Alain

I think you've created an original an very unique image of an often photographed subject. Plus, you've done it very well! Beautiful Photo.

Marsel,

Wonderful backlighting! Very unique!

Regards,

Jim j.

This is truely eye catchy shot...!!!  I really liked the perspective and would like to rate the highest...!!!

The light is priceless, what a beautiful nature shot again!

Good. Obviously, we have all seen hundreds of pictures of these wonderful primates in the water in the winter. At last a different image. Well done. I like the caption even better than the image. It is both a challenge and the core of creative photography to revisit a subject many times without producing the same image over and over again. It is images like this that expose the creative vision behind the viewfinder along with the subject in front of it. I'm glad you posted it and even more pleased that I stopped to look.

Very nice technique.  I love the shot and you nailed it.  From the mist off the water to the water dropping out of the mouth to the backlighting. 7

I think this is a delightfully creative image for the subject at hand and very well executed.  My congrats on a job well done and a most intriguing image.

Beautiful lighting!