So the other night, our friendly rabbit, who has been visiting the yard for a while, made another appearance following a late afternoon rain shower. So as not to scare him away as he decided to eat my plants, I made a few photos through the windows in our backdoor.
After he moved on, I went out see if the butterflies had returned. I need to find out where they go during a rain storm. After a bit, a butterfly, some moths, and other insects reappeared, so again I took the opportunity to make a few more photos.
And these photos got me thinking about all of the wildlife photos that I take. I get close and I tend to isolate the subject, leaving very little room for anything else. Even when using a telephoto lens, I still tend to move as close as possible and with these shots, sometimes it’s too close (due to the minimum focusing distance) and then when working on them, I may crop them to get even closer.
What is it about the closeness, the detail, that I find so fascinating. I often think about this when looking at photos or other artwork, that I find the smaller the size the more intimate, they draw you in, they invite you to look more closely. But if that were true, why make the subject of my work so isolated, the subject dominating the frame, that makes an obvious point? It keeps you back and no matter the size, you don’t need to get close to see the subject, the detail…..to have the opportunity to connect with the photo.