Steve Bloom, One hell of a photographer

jdini76

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Mar 16, 2001
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The polar bears look photochopped

Edit: The picture with the cubs sleeping on the mother's back.
 

T9D

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Dec 1, 2001
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Wow those really are amazing. I came in here thinking "yeah yeah another "awesome" photographer". But I got to say these were way better than I could have imagined and the best I've seen. Very impressive.
 

AmpedSilence

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Oct 7, 2005
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wow... If those are the good ones; I would like to see the thousands that probably didn't make the cut.
 

DrPizza

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Mar 5, 2001
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Yes... elephants can swim.

Definitely nice pictures. I'm not sure, but a couple look to be photoshopped - particularly the two dolphins jumping out of the water? That looks more like something you'd shoot at marineland superimposed over an ocean background. AFAIK, dolphins don't jump out of the water like that naturally, and certainly not with that kind of timing. If they do jump out like that naturally, then two things happened: the luckiest timing in his life to be able to capture an image like that + skill to actually take a decent picture like that.


If you enjoy such photos of animals, check out fuzzybabybunny's gallery (link is in his sig) - he has some excellent photos (I particularly like one of the orangutan pictures; my wife really liked one of the skyline pictures.)

edit: the two eagle picture - something doesn't look right in that one either; the elephants in the water - is he on location somewhere with incredibly clear water and a white sandy bottom? Or were those taken at one of those really nice zoos where you can go downstairs and see half above water/ half below water?
 

Excelsior

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May 30, 2002
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Originally posted by: DrPizza
Yes... elephants can swim.

Definitely nice pictures. I'm not sure, but a couple look to be photoshopped - particularly the two dolphins jumping out of the water? That looks more like something you'd shoot at marineland superimposed over an ocean background. AFAIK, dolphins don't jump out of the water like that naturally, and certainly not with that kind of timing. If they do jump out like that naturally, then two things happened: the luckiest timing in his life to be able to capture an image like that + skill to actually take a decent picture like that.

Of course they jump like that in the wild. :confused:
 

DrPizza

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Originally posted by: Excelsior
Of course they jump like that in the wild. :confused:

How about that... I never realized that they jumped vertically like that; I thought they always had a lot more horizontal motion to their jumps. Still, it looks more like two dolphins trying to hit those little red balloons simultaneously and the balloons and stage were photoshopped out in favor of a beach and sky.
 

DrPizza

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Okay, I did some digging. First, let me state that I don't have the skills that Steve Bloom does. I'm not trying to say that his work is of poor quality. However, is work is *not* pure photography, or even photography with a *little* digital manipulation to clean it up.

It's been pointed out that even Steve Bloom himself admits to manipulation of his photos. Translated quote attributed to Steve:
"Photographs are raw materials, which I shape to archieve estetical perfection. The computer offers me all possibilities of the traditional darkroom and at the same time some advantages of a studio. Where necessary I change vague backgrounds and remove disturbing lights. I remove elements from a scene or add aother ones. Sometimes I change the angle of light a little to archieve a lighting effect that is only possible in a studio and not in nature. With some photos I make minor changes, with others significant changes.
The thought that there would be a perfect photograph is strange to me. Thats why I try to change the visual harmony in each of my photos before publishing"

Thus, I'd consider what he does to be exceptionally beautiful and skilled art. But, I think it still crosses the line when calling them photographs. Well, some of his work probably qualifies as photographs... other pieces probably qualify as digital art. It's a shame that he doesn't distinguish which is which on individual pieces.

So, the dolphins jumping simultaneously from the ocean... was it 2 dolphins jumping simultaneously at SeaWorld? Or was it two separate jumps by 2 dolphins at different times joined together digitally on a computer? To capture such a shot in the real world would be absolutely incredible. To create such a shot electronically? Well, that just takes a tremendous amount of skill. Do his photos show that he's an incredible wildlife photographer? Or do these pictures show that he's an incredible photoshop expert?

 

ghostman

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Jul 12, 2000
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Originally posted by: jdini76
The polar bears look photochopped

Edit: The picture with the cubs sleeping on the mother's back.

That's exactly what I thought when I scrolled through the pictures. All the other ones look fine, but the polar bears made me stop and look again. Still, some of those shots are incredible.