Australia Zoo
Case Study
This was a challenging shoot. Australia Zoo is a world renowned attraction made famous by Steve Irwin. When they created a new Africa exhibit I was called upon to create some stunning new images for use in all kinds of applications.
The Challenge
Australia Zoo prides themselves in doing a lot of things in house, from building fake rock structures, earthmoving to photography and marketing. However on this occasion they decided to outsource the creation of these images to me.
The biggest challenge was that the Africa exhibit was not yet completed and all of the wild animals were yet to be introduced to each other. They were housed in separate enclosures back of house and the images needed to be ready for the launch of the exhibit. Additionally, other images of the park (crocs, tigers etc) had to work with the Africa images as a family.
Then there’s the elephant in the room, some of the animals have a reputation for being hazardous to your health, think cheetahs, mother rhino with a baby and of course crocodiles!
Australia Zoo, has a policy of getting up close and personal with their animals. Most of their animals are incredibly accessible to the public. So the images needed to have a up close and personal feel to them. Hmmm? Dangerous animals, up close and personal? Better check my life insurance!
The Approach
The high level of finish for these images relied on a wide angle view (for that up close and personal feel) and consistent lighting for each piece of the puzzle. The African animals were shot individually in separate enclosures, some easier to get to than others. For example I shot the giraffe on a ladder over a fence (I was on the ladder), while a staff member fed it carrots. Being sneezed on by a giraffe from a foot away is not fun by the way! Thank god I had a camera between me and it.
The crocodile had to captured out of the water (it would be far too dangerous to be anywhere near the water with a croc in it) and then photoshop magic from my retoucher placed the monster into the water, matching the action that happens during the show. However, I was still close enough to the croc for me to question my sanity. No fences in between us, just me Wes, a few staff and some chicken! They look bigger up close, a LOT bigger!
Once all of the elements where captured, I worked closely with the retoucher to make sure all of the images worked as a family, discussing grades and positioning.
The Results
I think the results speak for themselves. The client used them on everything from billboards and social media to t-shirts and bar-mats. However the real stars of the show (other than the animals) were my retoucher who put this all together and the staff at Australia Zoo who were super enthusiastic about the process and kept me safe the whole time!
Client: Australia Zoo | Product: Africa brand campaign
