This chimp is from the "Lowery Park Zoo" in Tampa, FL. My family and I were visiting, we used to live there for 27 years. I meet my good friend Craig Carreno and we had a nice time photographing the primates. After he left, my wife and I went back for some more images. This chimp posed for us for about 1 hour. I probably will not get to go to Africa, so this is a nice visit for me. I love the Lowery Park Zoo's displays. they take as good a care as one could of the animals. An annual pass is under $100, a great deal. I believe this is a slight crop of about 20%, which leaves 80% and a 8x10 print. I choose to go B&W to inhance the chimp's features. To me it makes the tones a stronger draw to the eye. I realize the whites on the forehead are a bit warm, but could not do much about it.
The technicals: Canon EOS-1D Mark II N, Shooting Date/Time 11/1/2012 3:49:32 PM, Aperture-Priority AE, Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/400, Av( Aperture Value ) 2.8, Evaluative Metering, Exposure Compensation -1/3, ISO Speed 400, Lens EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM, Image Quality RAW, White Balance Mode Auto, AF Mode AI Servo AF.
Please leave a comment, all are welcome to express their thoughts. And thanks for looking.
Really nice portrait, Grady. Your chimp looks very calm and relaxed as if she was engaged in casual conversation with you. A real classic pose - she's obviously a professional!
The B&W conversion looks good to me - though I am no expert in that area - nice range of tones.
Good call on the B &W conversion.
I like the starburst effect of the foliage in the BG.
Because the image feels like a conversation (and I talk with my mouth and hands, a good french canadian I am) I would like to see the chimps left hand.
A bit more DOF would have sharpened the nose as well.
A lovely portrait,
Gail
Hi Grady, you like your portraits and this is a good one.
Really like the almost zoom effect BKG and framing/tones in the B/W, they are nicely balanced IMHO. My only comment would be a few more rounds of USM just tightens this up and brings more definition out, plus a slight lightening under the eyes, just to 'sculpt' the form. Although you have the sharpness in the eyes & chin, but it drift off on the nose I think?
Overall, very nice, can we have more please?
TFS
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Hi Grady - I too really like the bg and the conversion. Good choice to go b&w. I agree with Gail on the hand and with Steve on the sharpening of the nose area. I might have tried for a bit more dof to get the whole fact in focus. I too would like to see more.
Hi Grady,
very cool portrait of this very intelligent animal and in real life , almost behaving like us, specially when you see them in a group.
Worked with them during my time in the human monkey section for 4 years, and never forget the time there.This is now more than 25 years ago, from time to time i visit and some of the specimen, still recognize me amongst a bunch of other people.
Like this simple portrait with a good BG, like the tones overall and there is room for improvement like others stated above, but i would leave as is. But i am not a big B/W specialist.
Grady,
Thanks for bringing back memories. Lowery Park Zoo is where I started photographing animals for the first time with my own camera.
Very nice b&w conversion. Excellent color tones.