King (and Queen) of the African Bush

[Jacquesvwyk]

I took this photo while visiting a Game Reserve in Pretoria, South Africa. I would appreciate any feedback or critic. The composition of the photo is a concern to me. What do you think?


The exif details:
Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
File Type: JPEG
MIME Type: image/jpeg
Encoding Process: Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample: 8
Color Components: 3
X-Resolution: 300 dpi
Y-Resolution: 300 dpi
Orientation: Horizontal (normal)

[windrider86]

I'd like to see a hair more space to the front of them and a little less red coloring. Otherwise I love their expressions and the pose.

[Visions]

What a glorious shot! The focus on the two animals is superb and the heads are so balanced - but I do agree with windrider86 that the faces are too close to the left edge. When an animal or human is facing left or right the greater amount of space needs to be in front of the eyes.
Maybe it is the way you cropped the shot? No camera shoots square images so something has been cropped. I would prefer the cropping to be a touch out from the female's shoulder and a little more space added to the left.
We get that gorgeous red headed grass here in Australia too! The evening sun has intensified the colour, I guess.
AJ

[Jacquesvwyk]

Hi AJ, thanks for the advice. I have re-cropped this photo and reposted it to flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/8158866@N03/4638308173/ ). I always crop my photo's before adding them to flickr and must learn to adhere to the fundamental photographic principles.
Jacques

[Visions]

The new crop makes such a difference! Bravo. Now you have a picture worth framing!
AJ