Bird Photo Competition 2 2018 : Entry Number 35

In these days of media saturation, it's difficult to create an image that stands out, especially when images are first viewed at a small size, such as on a webpage of thumbnails or on the screen of your phone. Many excellent images never get viewed full size simply because they failed to generate sufficient interest at thumbnail size. One solution is to create an image that's as simple and bold as possible - which photographers often refer to as 'graphic'. This silhouette of Ostriches on a skyline is a great example of the approach, the line of 50-or-so birds being the only thing that stops the frame being roughly half black and half white. With such images, the concept of 'intrusion' can be used to great effect, namely where one colour zone 'bleeds' into the other to form a focal point or subject, as the Ostriches do here. This image will definitely have more appeal for photographers-who-do-birds than for birders-who-do-photos, but there's something about it that can be appreciated by anyone.

In March 2017, I joined the charity African Initiatives to photograph a story on the Maasai women of Northern Tanzania. Our journey to reach Loliondo District at the tip of northern Tanzania started early in Arusha where we were greeted by two Maasai guides with a Land Cruiser. To my delight, they had decided our 8-hour route would take us directly across the plains of the Serengeti. After 5-hours of driving, with the light dimming and still very much in a land of endless horizons, we found ourselves navigating through a bumpy dip in the terrain where our driver stopped for a convenience break. As we got out to stretch our legs, I spotted a flock of Ostriches springing across the brow of the hill above. Fortunately, my Nikon D810 with with Sigma 150-600 lens was in hand, and I was able to quickly boost my ISO up 1250 and capture this long range shot (at 330mm, f10, 1/1250sec) before the flock disappeared 30 seconds later.