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Love the colours, photo is not sharp enough for me though, it looks like its been over cropped.

Hi...let's see (step by step) which aspects of this shot could have been executed a bit better.

1) Your main theme is way too centered, use the all mighty rule of thirds next time or choose a vertical composition

2) Light and colors are dull...allthough the shot was taken around 10am, the sun in certain places in Africa (mainly in south Africa) at that time is already way up giving poor quality light and colors which lack depth and character. Things thouh change dramaticalally in east African equator countries were the sun due to the angle of the earth retains it's warm light even untill midday

3) The left side of the buffalo is totally underexposed, a fill in flash would solve the problem

4) The surroundings (mainly the background) are chaotic and distractive, too many branches too many leaves distract the viewer's attention from your theme.

Finally I would suggest that you should avoid in the future record portrait shots with no action or mood of the animal captured, unless colors and light are perfect and your subject has that kind of face expression that makes your photo dynamic....otherwise you end up with a static passport-like portrait shot.

Regards from Greece, Teo

Anthony,

Thank you for your comment.

Best regards.

G

Theodore.

Thank you for your honest critique, I can asure you that I will remember your advice.

Best regards from South Africa.

G

I love these animals. My second favorite african mammal behind the Hyena. I have to agree with the suggestions here although with that kind of eye contact the bulls-eyeing of the buffalo can make for a very powerful image.

Thank you Joseph.

G

Hi G,

You did an excellent job here.

The older Point and Shoot camera is limited, and certainly not the best suited for this difficult task. However, you got the nature (action) shot and that is what it is all about.

Nice accomplishment.

Best Regards,  Mike

I'm a wildlife biologist, and I think you've done a very good job at capturing this buffalo in its habitat.  I'm not at all bothered by the tangle of branches -- that's how it should be.  I'm not bothered by the lack of detail on the shadow side -- it makes the animal look even more ominous or dangerous.  The color in the vegetation helps break up the centering of the animal in the frame, and given the thick understory I doubt that you had much choice at this particular moment.  I suppose if you wanted an action shot, you could have taken a few steps forward and thrown a rock, but otherwise you've shown this animal in the way that it spends the majority of its life.  And if you used a point-and-shoot as someone suggested (I didn't look at the details), I'm even more impressed.  Nice work.