Making Gorilla faces

[Nancy Bell]

I photographed this Mountain Gorilla in Rwanda in the rain forest. The Silverback in this troop was just a youngster when Diane Fossey worked there. With that in mind I thought an aged film-strip look would be fitting. This particular youngster was enjoying chewing on a thick stem and making these expressive faces while we were less than 15 feet away. It was an amazing adventure!

Processed the gorilla in PS. Added the framing with a texture and removed parts of it with one of the eraser shapes using varying opacity.

[Dennis Bishop]

Using a sequence like that in a triptych that looks like a film-strip was a great idea. The composition is terrific, and the gorilla stands out clearly even though its habitat is shown. Very nicely done.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Nancy, I love the expressions - they are priceless. The film-strip is a great idea

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Nancy, very nicely assembled. The expression in the third frame is priceless!

[Paul Lagasi]

This is one cool triptych..just the right images for a 3 image sequence..gorillas one of my favourite animals...very well done

[denise ippolito]

Very creative and fun image Nancy! I might warm up the background colors just slightly to let the gorilla stand out more. Love the framing!
We are leaving soon girl . Just got my muck boots!

[John Storjohann]

Really like this series of facial expressions, Nancy...the large primates, particularly the mountain gorillas, have always been fascinating to me (my profile image on FB is of a silverback). I like Denise's suggestion about perhaps warming the background a bit...it would give additional depth and separation...but that's a minor point.

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you everyone! I did play around with the bkgd colors using saturation, etc. and never got exactly what I wanted. Then the texture muted it even a bit more. I did not want the bkgd detail to compete with the gorilla. Will try a bit different approach. This gorilla cracked me up and I'm glad to have found a way to use the image. As the commercials say..."Mastercard got me to Rwanda, gorilla faces...priceless!"

Denise, I have started to get my gear together also. Looking forward to a gazillion penguins!

[Maureen Allen]

This is wonderful, Nancy. Love the expressions

[Indranil Sircar]

Wonderful composition and expression, Nancy. I am a big admirer of the Diane Fossey's work and it's fantastic that you could visit the rain forest!

[Nancy Bell]

Thank you, Maureen & Indranil. Seeing the Gorillas was one of my biggest desires and it was awesome! Once the guide finds the gorillas we were only allowed to spend a hour with them. In Rwanda there are 7 groups of gorillas that are habituated to people and the business of being guided to a group is very well organized. We were told how to act around the gorillas and how to make a moaning/groaning sound that supposedly means "don't worry, be happy" in gorilla-speak. The gorilla center operates 7 days a week and you certainly need a reservation. We were told that our fees go to the surrounding villages and I like that.