http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/sperm-whale-sri-lanka/Shane Gross's photo of the Sperm Whale is extremely captivating. The sharpness in center draws the viewer in immediately. There is a mystic stillness in this photo. What Gross is interested in is the beauty of form. He is interested in the simplicity of this form, as he leaves it alone. He chooses not to tamper with the beautiful, natural quality that is already there. He captures a natural element in a very elegant light in this well executed photo.
The range of contrast is expanded with deep shadows and harsh, but not overly harsh, highlighting. There is still a softness to the skin of the whale, as Gross did not over expose the photo. This use of exposure illuminates the whale giving it life and a space. The fin of the whale almost seems to be 3-dimensional, jumping out at us as we look at this photo. There is a wholeness to this photo. I suspect the photo editor also dodge and burned the photo to properly show the form of the whale.
What Gross also takes careful note of is balance. He pays attention to the shape of his subject, leaving negative space at the top of the photo strategically to create this balance. He sees that the fin of the whale is large and demands attention. He lets the fin retain that attention by leaving this negative space above the form. The dark bottom of the gradient shadow in the background anchors the photo and creates a steadiness in the composition. To create a fully balanced photo he also must crop at an appropriate size. He crops with space on the right and left that are similar sizes in width to the height of the space he left at the top.
These deep shadows are very dramatic and draw the viewer in to the focal point: the fin. We are then guided upwards by the spine of the whale, drawn in by the simplicity and imperfect symmetry of this natural, textured form.
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