Make it! Don’t Take it!

When people find out what I do, they say: “You take pictures, don’t you?” And I always reply: “No. I don’t take anything! I MAKE photographs.” My photography improved instantly once I adopted the attitude that I was “making” a photograph. Suddenly, I was more aware of what I was creating. I instantly began to have more control over the nature and quality of my photographs. “NEVER let the camera have the last word.” What I mean by that is this: the images you get straight from the camera are just ingredients, they are just fast food, they are unfinished as far as I am concerned. The camera gives you the cake, but the cake needs icing before serving.

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Testimonial

Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia – 2008
My first purchase (besides candy bars) as a child was a Cub Scout camera that cost $6.25 back about 1952 or 53, and I have been buying and using cameras ever since. However, my first photography class wasn’t until March, 2008, when I attended a digital photography [...]

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Simba Sex

Mating habits of Simba (lion)
From time to time, in my photo safaris in Africa, we are lucky enough to discover lions mating, and this is always a superb photo opportunity as well as a terrific education.   The following photos were made in the Samburu region of Kenya.
The Lioness is the Boss
The lioness seems to control [...]

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Love this Giraffe!

Thank you, Joani White!
Good job.  Good photograph.
Let me tell you why I think this is such a fine photograph.
1.   It follows Mzungu’s Big Five Rules for creating great photographs:  One – Background emphasises the subject and produces no visual competition; Two – The Subject is the only star on the stage; Three – the Edges [...]

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