Saving Wild Cats

Fig 15: An image
from Ashley’s
banner.
A Day with a Dance
Photographer
Before releasing captive animals into the wild, suitable
areas must first be found. The requirements of these
areas are generally that they are within a range historical
to the species and that they are far enough away from
the current wild population to avoid breeding between
the two. It is believed that it is better to try to introduce
a new population as apposed to building upon the
existing one(s). This will prevent genes that have arisen
due to captivity being passed on to the wild population
and reduces the risk of potentially harming the fitness
and chance of survival as a species.
Other requirements would be adequate space and
an abundance of prey. For tigers, the requirement is
at least 100 km2 per tiger. Areas of this magnitude are
not available in China and perhaps controversially, four
Southern China Tigers (two males and two females)
were released in South Africa in 2006 and 2007. This
drew criticism due to the fact that tigers were never
native to Africa and with only a 13% success rate of
captive born species being reintroduced, many are of
the opinion that money and efforts are best spent on
conserving already wild populations. This low success
rate can be attributed to a captive raised animal’s lack
of experience in instinctive behaviours. These include
hunting, exploring and avoidance of humans and
predators. Captive animals are also more susceptible
to disease and so this can also impede their chances of
survival.
Fig 14: A captive Amur
leopard (Panthera pardus
orientalis) leaping from a
climbing structure
Releasing Captive Cats
Projects such as the release of tigers in South Africa
provide animals with live prey in order to help develop
hunting skills. Few projects however ensure captive
animals are not accustomed to humans. Given the
degree of involvement humans have in caring for
animals in captivity this would be difficult to enforce.
However, releasing animals that do not view humans
as a threat leaves them vulnerable at the hands of
poachers. Ensuring that release areas are protected and
are not within close proximity to areas where humans
live is one way to eliminate this problem.
Although animals may suffer stress as a result of
captivity, many zoos demonstrate a high level of care
for the animals they keep. Allowing people to visit
zoos increases awareness of conservation projects
and the vulnerability of endangered species. This in
turn helps raise funds to facilitate projects and, using
Amur leopards as an example, the majority of funds
contributed to the conservation of wild animals are
raised by zoos. Efforts are also being made to improve
conditions and animal enclosures within zoos. Breeding
programmes within zoos and specialised breeding
centres serve as hope that more and more captive
animals can be successfully released into the wild with
the ultimate goal of regenerating population numbers
and saving endangered species from extinction.
Ashley Holmes (pictured
top right) is a Leicester
based photographer who,
after a career in finance,
began making a living from
photography approximately
four years ago. Starting out as an event photographer
at sports games and tournaments, Ashley now focuses
primarily on dance photography.
I met Ashley for the first time at Groby Community
College where the dance school, Dance Addict’s, were
performing. This was their first show independent of the
college and the dancers involved ranged from three year
old beginners all the way to senior level dancers in their
teens.
Inside the college, the walls leading to the theatre are
lined with photographs of past performances, displaying
a sense of pride and documenting the history of the
school and its students. As the photographer of these
images, Ashley points out a few of his favourites and also
shows me one that is of his own daughter.
‘I fell into dance
photography after
photographing
performances that my own
daughters were part of ’ he
explains. ‘I soon realised
that outdoor photography
in bad weather wasn’t
something I enjoyed very
much so I moved over to
dance where performances
take place inside’. Working
mainly with local dance Fig 17: Ashley in action.
schools, Ashley’s goal is to
document the show and
produce images that act as a lasting memory for both
parents and the dancers themselves. As well as capturing
all the action of the performances, Ashley also attends
the dress rehearsal and at some shows even sets up a
small studio where dancers can pose for portrait images.
Watching the dancers perform can be quite an
emotional experience especially when it involves the
younger ones. You can therefore see the importance of
Ashley’s work and the role he plays in encompassing
that proud moment of a parent seeing their child on
stage. For that reason he focuses on
individuals rather than group shots.
‘Parents don’t tend to want a group
photograph. They prefer an
image of their own child that
they can display proudly in
their home and look back on for years to come’.
Ashley explains to me that when photographing a
Fig 16: Ashley Holmes
dance performance, lighting is the main challenge. As he
has no control over the stage lights and is unable to use
flash, he must do all that he can in camera to overcome
the dark conditions, spot lights and multi-coloured
lights that make up a dance show. Shooting without a
tripod on a Canon 5D Mark II and almost always using
a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens, Ashley uses high ISO,
fast shutter speed and wide aperture. Each plays an
important role in the final outcome of his images. High
ISO accounts for the dark lighting whilst wide aperture
allows as much light as possible to enter the camera. This
then allows the use of a fast shutter speed, which freezes
the movement of the dancer.
Fig 18: The lighting
at a dance show
can prove tricky at
times.
After the show it’s time for a quick turn around in
selecting the best images, editing if necessary and
making them available for dancers, teachers, friends and
family to view online. Ashley offers generous discounts
for the purchase of multiple images and his website
testimonials are filled with great reviews and people
thanking him for extra images and excellent deals.
So what does the future hold for Ashley? Continuing
with dance photography whilst pursuing and expanding
on his portrait photography are his main goals. ‘Anyone
with a camera is a photographer. The main thing is
to keep yourself motivated to get out there and do it
professionally’.
You can view Ashley’s images and find out more on his
website at www.ashleyholmesphotography.co.uk
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