Hi folks - new to photography - feedback welcome :)

[Will_89]

Taken with the Canon 550d with the kit 18-55mm lens
Any critisim & feedback would be much appreciated

Asiatic Lion @ Chester Zoo by Will_Williams, on Flickr

 

[rueboy]

Welcome, nice camera and nice shot, It would prob have been better to have got right up close to the fence that way it would more or less vanish.

Think the B/W works well.

 

[TCR4x4]

Although I do agree with the comment above, I do also quite like the fence there. It adds a bit more context to the shot.
I would have maybe put the lion either left or right a bit so it wasnt in the middle of the frame, but the B&W works well.
Good attempt.

 

[MTaylor]

Welcome to the forum! That's a great shot for a newbie! Keep working at it and don't feel afraid to experiment with the camera!

 

[Will_89]

Thanks for the comments guys

rueboy There was a safety guard-rail preventing me getting any nearer to the fence. I agree a closer shot would have looked better, maybe when I buy a telephoto lens I'll attempt a similar shot.

TCR4x4 I think originally the lion was more 'right' of the frame. Maybe I should have left it as it was I cropped the image - mostly being grass & more fence. Burned the edge to help draw the eyes onto the lino.

MTaylor Thanks I'm glad you like it

 

[weybourne]

...I do also quite like the fence there. It adds a bit more context to the shot.
I would have maybe put the lion either left or right a bit so it wasnt in the middle of the frame, but the B&W works well.
Good attempt.

I agree. The fence emphasises the captivity and being black and white helps focus the viewer onto that, imho. I would probably crop off the top of the picture to below the tree-line - I find that there's too much room for my eye to wander - especially towards the gap in the trees, framed by the far fencing and the near mesh.

 

[tezmed]

if your restricted on how close you can get, you could use a zoom lens (on the assumption youmay have one?) and stand further back for the same shot composition (although slightly to one side would be better). then you'd barely even notice the fence there at all.... either that or use your existing lens from a further distance and then do some cropping after...

 

[Will_89]

weybourne Thanks for the tip I've already done a fair bit of cropping. Any more & I think it might downgrade the quality. Maybe I could burn that region a tad

tezmed I have a telephoto on order which I'm really excited about Coming next week!!