Wildlife Photography Virtual Amputation

Wildlife Photography: Virtual Amputation

posted on 6th of february, 2011

Occasionally, folks ask me to critique their images; one of the most common problems I encounter is Virtual Amputation.

When we photograph people, unless we are specifically looking to achieve a certain focus, it is generally a poor idea to cut off the person in the middle of their limbs. We have all seen the wedding photos taken by amateurs that have everyone's face in the middle of the image but the lower legs are cut off at the knees.

Pretty much, the same unwritten rules apply to animals. If you are doing a full body shot, it is usually best not to cut them off at the knees. So, what is virtual amputation? Virtual amputation is cutting off limbs that you do not see.

Many animals like to feed in the water. Long leg birds like Herons and Egrets; Moose, Hippos, etc all like to spend time hunting for food in the water. Typically, the lower half of the legs will be covered by water; sometimes even more will be covered by water. When you frame your image, you need to leave enough room in your image for these virtual (hidden) legs.

Like all rules, there are times it is appropriate to not follow them. I believe the Great Blue Heron with the open beak at the top of this blog is effective without legs because the entire focus is on the perceived action or noise from him.

Enjoy your comments, let me know your thoughts!

Tags: amputation legs limbs photography wildlife

Comments (8)

	Posted by Visceralimage on February 25, 2011 Veyron85; Sorry, can not figure out how to send you a personal message so this will need to do. i looked at your wildlife images, some appear to be taken in zoo but others are great, especially your Owls. Piece of advice, you are cropping to tight; this does not give the buyer room to adjust for where the image must fit on a page. Generally, designers must fit our images into a given space on a page or design so they need room to crop you images. Your Snowy Owl has no room to crop and still keep the entire bird in the image.
	Posted by Sobek85 on February 25, 2011 Great Advice. What do you think of my wildlife photos?
	Posted by Suebmtl on February 10, 2011 Very good advise. Beautiful shots.
	Posted by Iwhitwo on February 09, 2011 Great advise and images as usual John, keep up the good work!
	Posted by Scottysally2 on February 07, 2011 Great shots, especially the close up of the heron. :)
	Posted by Egomezta on February 06, 2011 A great blog, there are too many things to learn from you.
	Posted by Joe1971 on February 06, 2011 It is beautiful photo.
	Posted by Physi28 on February 06, 2011 Yes, I agre totally with you, only in the case calling heron, may be I would have tried to cut a little bit higher (lower chest or so) and not to show a little bit of the legs as it suggests them, of course thus is just a personal sensation..