Russ Burden

Russ Burden - Taken in Birmingham where I spent a lot of my childhood as my dads side of the family are from there, we used to travel to safari parks so these provide a good memory, the sheer beauty of nature brings me back to the joy of seeing my first tiger or lion and being utterly transfixed on them.

Russ Burden has two loves in his life, photography and teaching. He combines these passions by teaching workshops to aspiring photographers in what he calls “the perfect marriage of the two jobs that I love.” he feels as if he's never worked a day in his life because his work is his passion. He is the owner of Russ Burden photo safaris. He was born and raised in New York, and began his working life as a primary school teacher, a job he held happily for 17 years. During this period he spent many summers photographing out west as “the Rockies were always in his blood.” He, his wife, and 15 year old son finally moved to Denver and during his last years of teaching he introduced an instrumental program designed to help kids follow their dreams, this program changed a lot of lives including his own. He finally decided to become a professional photographer and follow his dreams, since then he has been immensely successful being a multi time winner of Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice Award.

Image Analysis:

This image depicts a Cheetah staring directly into the camera, acknowledging its presence as if the photographer is this mysterious being animals have never quite seen before. We will never really know what animals are thinking just as animals don't know what humans are thinking. Russ Burden has intentionally framed the picture so the Cheetah is at the forefront and well in focus, whilst the background it out of focus. I particularly like this shoot as it shows the love for animals getting so close to them purely to document their existence for anyone viewing. I particularly like this picture as the Cheetah looks like it has so much character positioning its body and looking over it to face the camera. For me this creates the mood of Optimism, as although these animals are described as dangerous and harmful by the general public, they are absolutely beautiful and managing to photograph such sparks of nature is an honour I would love to have. I will take inspiration from Russ Burden by travelling to Birmingham West Midlands Safari Park and documenting the sheer beauty that is the animals there. I will also attempt to distort the backgrounds so the foreground of the pictures are the main focal point to emphasise just how amazing these animals are.

Response:

canon EOS 500D, iso 320, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 500, shutter speed 1/250, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 400, shutter speed 1/60, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 320, shutter speed 1/200, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 800, shutter speed 1/250, f stop 5.6

canon EOS 500D, iso 320, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 1000, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 6.3

canon EOS 500D, iso 400, shutter speed 1/100, f stop 4.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 1250, shutter speed 1/200, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 400, shutter speed 1/100, f stop 5.6

canon EOS 500D, iso 400, shutter speed 1/300, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 1250, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 5.6

canon EOS 500D, iso 400, shutter speed 1/250, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 200, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 800, shutter speed 1/60, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 200, shutter speed 1/300, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 100, shutter speed 1/200, f stop 5.0

canon EOS 500D, iso 100, shutter speed 1/100, f stop 5.6

canon EOS 500D, iso 300, shutter speed 1/200, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 200, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 7.1

canon EOS 500D, iso 300, shutter speed 1/200, f stop 7.1

Editing Process:

For this image I first adjusted the exposure and contrast as i felt the image was too bland in colour behind the giraffe. Following that i wanted to highlight its features by increasing the highlights to allow it to stand out more, and to bring out more detail i lowered the whites and blacks whilst increasing the texture and clarity accordingly. i also increased the noise reduction to reduce the likelihood of grain. i wasn't happy with the background so I decided to add a layer mask of the sky. I decided to add some colour to the sky by making the temperature, hue and tint combine to create a light blue to reflect the sky instead of the dull white cloudy mess that was prior. I wanted to add some more detail to the giraffe so i next created a layer mask for the subject. I finally increased the highlights, exposure and contrast which allowed the giraffe to be a lot more visible then it had been prior to the editting process.

Original Image:

Developed Image:

canon EOS 500D, iso 250, shutter speed 1/400, f stop 7.1