Wildlife Gallery - Honorable Mention

This is Djanghou, a captive, adult male, Western Lowland Gorilla, who resides at Howletts Animal Park (Kent, UK). He was sitting in the shadows of his outdoor enclosure, every once in a while he would lean forward slightly, which allowed the bright sun to light up small features on his face and chest. I underexposed the shot to render the shadows as dark as possible. Howletts is a world leader in it's gorilla breeding and wild reintroduction programme, so my title "Solitary Confinement" was purely for moody narrative purposes. This image reminded me of a (human) prisoner kept in dark "solitary confinement", with a shaft of light to convey the solemn mood of the "prisoner". Djanghou however, is as innocent as they get, he is an incredible animal! I converted the original to Black and White, then darkened the blacks and increased the contrast.

Equipment Used: Canon 5D mark II, 500mm F4 + 1.4X, F8, 1/320th.

About the Photographer: Steve Mackay is 35 year old amateur photographer with a passion for all things to do with nature. He is currently based in the South-East of the UK. To see more of Steve’s work, check out his website.