What makes a good image?

This time last week I was on an afternoon/evening game drive in Madikwe, South Africa. The past few days I have been looking over my images and I will admit it has been quiet an emotional roller coaster for me. There is the elation of seeing images I feel rightly proud of; ones where I have progressed and grown as a wildlife photographer. But there is also the frustration at the images that didn't work, either technically or compositionally. 

I had to step back and look at the bigger picture. I had to put my Madikwe portfolio in context. I had to stop looking at the things I was doing wrong as negatives and turn them into positives.

Last night I shared about 50 images with my biggest critic, my wife. As I got to this image I paused. She looked at it and said "no good". I replied "do you remember the sighting?".

At dusk we came across 1 male and 3 female lions. They were on a zebra kill. Clearly the lionesses had made the kill, but such is the law of the bush, the male gets to feed first. And this male didn't want to share. He had taken the kill and stashed it in a very concealed thicket. The lionesses were relaxed but at the same time tried to stalk towards it for another feed. Each directional movement towards the kill was met with contempt by the male who not only became vocal, but then preceded to move the kill further out of reach and my photographic view. 

At the sighting I paused. I found myself frustrated at the view I had. Why was I fighting the foreground clutter instead of trying to tell the story of what I was witnessing?

The branches and clutter provided ample context that this lion was in hiding with his meal. I had to embrace it not fight it. 

I composed the shot, chose an aperture I felt would throw what I needed out of focus just enough to provide the context of the sighting. I wanted to show the kill without it being too graphic (I know some people don't like images of kills). 

And this is the result.

It may not live up to the classical and stereotypical big game wildlife images that we are accustomed to. But I learnt a valuable lesson here. We should challenge our own perceptions of what makes a good image - work with the environment you find yourself in. Don't fight it just to meet others perceptions of what makes a good image!