Photography loves a pattern, and the most archetypal and pleasing pattern is a smiling face. And then to have a pattern of four patterns is just splendid. 4 is a lucky number. In Chinese, the word for "4" also means "the landlord is drunk and thinks we already paid the rent." Okay, I made that up. My point is that you've got something really good here as your subject, so I think you made the right decision to keep it centered and not to up the contrast or try to make it "pop" in any way. As it is, it looks like a family snapshot, but it's meerkats! It is this disjoint that is the heart of your photo, and gives it its appeal.
You are dead right about the "backfocus", whatever that is. The detail in the back forms an interesting texture, along with the ground, to foil the nice soft meerkat texture. It's a glorious picture. Sell it to Ranger Rick magazine. I grew up with that mag and remember always being blown away by its photos. |
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