Zebra

Moving into an almost purely fantasy realm this photo and indeed those others within the series which I have seen offer something playful with a hint of something sinister. Perhaps it is just the idea of something clown like that so many find inherently evil that gi es this but the darker make up, deep tones and somewhat reluctant looking zebra give an air that there is more than meets the eye.

The whole image has clearly been impeccably styled, each element brought in for very deliberate reasons even if you don't try to think about them and indeed I don't attempt to claim I know the intentions of those creating the piece. The attention to detail it gives though is fantastic and is only let down in the background which makes things feel slightly as if it was a case of here is the zebra and we must shoot where it is. This may of course have been the case but for me the styling is so extravagant that to have simple fencing in the background jarrs slightly. It could easily be argued though that this is only noticeable because I am searching through the shot to find as much as I can.

Technically the majority of the shot is handled with grace and subtle but considerable skills. Flare is delicately exposed to give a shimmer but not overwhelm and the tones within the rest offer something darker than you'd expect for such brightness without ever looking like the shot had to succumb to shadow, everything is rich with contrast. The slight flaw for me is in the subjects placement, having two like this balances the shot nicely but as a whole they lean off to the left and leave a little too much space on the right of the frame. This is of course again something seen through really spending longer than average searching out every detail and hardly detracts from the image without this search.

Overall another great success from one of the mot talented togs I have seen on here in a gallery full of great shots.