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Knowsley Safari Park - 2011
We often say You have to go out to take pictures which in many cases is very true. Knowsley Safari Park, isn't actually that far away and not somewhere we visit very often. The area was home to a former RAF airfield which closed at the end of World War 2. The Park has been created on the grounds of Knowsley Hall, ancestral home of Lord Derby, the Safari Park Opened in July 1971. There are an amazingly over seven hundred animals. We'd planned a visit this summer, alas not to be due to Covid. The Safari drive is interesting and exciting, to see the animals in a natural environment.
During our visit there I took so many animal shots but this one is one of the few I decided to process. There's something about Meerkats that you simply have to take, their character, the way the always look after each other and the make you smile.
The portrait orientation adds height and space to the meerkats pose. This image was created by using a mix of textures which removes the original background and creates something more interesting, natural and pleasing to the eye. There's a total of 33 layer in all. I've created several more Meerkat images since then, mainly taken at Chester Zoo.
On the Look Out
2015 Welsh Mountain Zoo
The second of my meerkat images is also a zoo image. The background is created from the enclosure and sky from the original shot.The grass and pebbles was from another images.
The techniques used are ones that I used as demo's in my workshops. There's many Gold Medals been achieved by people who attended. I was actually told by a member of a club, that I shouldn't copy people and create your own work. I resigned myself that whatever I do people will simply copy my work, if only they released every time they do I have to reinvent myself, which is hard work. All so they can get a Gold Medal.
A meerkat is a small mongoose found in Southern Africa. They are eusocial, and form packs of two to 30 individuals each that occupy home ranges.They use a broad variety of calls to communicate among one another for different purposes. The image has the typical looking up for predators, pose but I liked the one dosing off in the background.
A couple of textures and and overlay which create mood and emotion. The background also adds a more natural environmental feel to the image. Layer 29 in 4 groups in total.
