Unit 2 Relationships - 2nd Artist - David Lloyd

For my 2nd Influence I am looking at a Wildlife photographer called David Lloyd, who is originally from New Zealand, but living in London, he came to the UK in 1989, his favourite places are Kenya and Botswana, which can be seen in his 'Safari' work, he runs safari's for ambitious young photographers, interested in getting into wildlife photography, although he does a lot of safari work, I'll be looking concentrating mainly on his British Wildlife Photography, however, I will take aspects from his wildlife photography, such as his composition and his action shots, two examples of his work (one British Wildlife Photography, the other Safari Wildlife Photography) are displayed below.

Photograph 1 - British Wildlife Photography

'Red Deer'
'British Wildlife Photography'
David Lloyd
July 2011

Deconstructing Lloyds Work & What I like about his Photography
What really influences me about David Lloyds work is his stunning photographs, as you can see in the image above named 'Red Deer', the simplicity of having a deer in the centre of the image with a short depth of field, really makes for a dramatic and powerful photography, the camera he uses is a Nikon D800E, this is a DLSR, he started taking Wildlife Photos in the UK from 2008, despite this photograph being very simply, the subject (Deer) is making direct eye contact with lens, so it feels like the Deer is looking at you from a viewers point of view, firstly your eyes are drawn straight towards the deers antlers, so Lloyd is trying to portray the power that this animal has, your eyes are then drawn towards the eyes, the deer does not seem scared or anxious in the photography, he looks strong and powerful, with a serious facial expression. The way you can only see the head and then a faint outline of the deers body adds to the dramatics of this photo, although the deer looks strong and powerful, he is also alone, deers normally are in herds, the faded grasses in the foreground may represent his herd, which he has lost, the out of focus grass may represent the herd fading away, and that he is all alone, in which case, could make the viewer feel sad and sympathetic.

Photograph 2 - Great Migration Photo Safari 

'Fighting Lions'
'Great Migration Photo Safari'
David Lloyd
2013

Deconstructing Lloyds Work & What I like about his Photography
The photograph above is another one of David Lloyds Wildlife photos, despite the first photo 'Red Deer' was taken in a completely different shoot, the same themes run throughout his work, the theme of 'Power' and how power is portrayed in nature, I also believe he follows the theme of 'Survival' and Strength, the image above shows one of his Safari photographs, two lions fighting, he uses the same technique as photo 'Red Deer' of having the most dramatic part of the photo in the centre, this image has been made more dramatic as he has changed it into black and white. The scars on the lions show also follows this theme of 'Power' and 'Survival'. When I do my Wildlife shoot, I could experiment with Photoshop, changing the images into black and white and seeing if this makes the message of the image stronger. The message of fearlessness also enrols into this photograph.