Big Bison © 1999 John A. Lind

• Olympus OM-10 with Manual Adapter
• 50mm f/1.8 F.Zuiko (SC)
• Kodak Elitechrome 100
• f/5.6 @ 1/1000th
• White River Park, Indianapolis, Indiana, September 1999
• Just behind the Indianapolis Zoo is this large bison made of wire.  I had a difficult time getting the contrast out of the scan that is present in the slide without blowing out too much of the other highlights.  This is a case where, in spite of the medium speed film, a neutral density filter would be handy.  On a bright sunny day like this one was and a top shutter speed of 1/1000th the largest aperture for a proper exposure was f/5.6 which didn't have a shallow enough depth of field to blur out the zoo wall behind the bison.  Thus, the block pattern on the wall and its sharp line with the sky distracts a little from the subject.  This is otherwise an interesting perspective of the bison.  I had to get on my knees looking up at it to get the prairie grass aound the bison's feet.  Note also the bison's eye is placed at the upper left "Rule of Thirds" intersection and its left hindquarter at the lower right one.  The back makes an approximate slope connecting the two.  This perpsective of looking up and the slanted back lends the image a sense of power and dominance, which would be expected for an animal such as a bison.  Getting a decent photograph of a scupture made of a single color, dark material such as the wire used in this one is all about lighting, shadows and contrast to bring out the correct shapes and textures.  I specifically went back at about half-hour intervals to look at the sun angle and shadows to try to optimize this.