BBC credits wildlife photographer
BRYANSTON - Resident and wildlife photographer, Isak Pretorius was awarded the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year for Bird Behaviour.
Since Pretorius can remember, the competition has been a great inspiration to him. He believes the biggest wildlife photographic competition in the world has set the benchmark in the industry, and was thrilled when they selected his image as the winner.
“Their high standards of selecting the best, unique, artistic and un-manipulated images really appeals to me,” said Pretorius.
According to Pretorius, capturing birds in flight demands a good understanding of light and composition, and requires good technical skills and hand-eye co-ordination.
“Good nature photography is a product of good natural light more so than any other genre of photography,” he said. “It is soft golden light of early mornings or late afternoons that gets a wildlife photographer’s blood flowing. Soft light is one of the most powerful creative elements that produce striking images.”
Pretorius is certain editing skills cannot substitute for good light. The vivid colours of an image are the result of the photo being captured in good light.
“Although every digital photograph requires a little bit of contrast, sharpness and saturation, I don’t enjoy editing my images too much, and want to make the image look as close as possible to the view I had through my viewfinder at the time,” he said.
Landscape photographers become obsessed with taking photos in these conditions. Their routine consists of early mornings to catch the sunrise, long afternoon siestas, and shooting again during late afternoons and early evenings. Pretorius often visits the bush to capture something specific.
“Having a subject in mind always helps, but nature is unpredictable, which is part of the reason that we love going to these wild places,” said Pretorius.
“You never know what you might find, and the challenge is to identify the scenes or moments that will make good photographs.”
Pretorius is a professional wildlife photographic guide and offers exclusive photographic safaris at wildlife hotspots in Africa.
He believes if he shows people the beauty of the continent’s wildlife and wilderness, and gets enough people to care, it would be “our best chance of saving the natural world that we love”.
Details: www.theafricanphotographer.com
