I tried to mimic the style of my admired photographer Joel Sartore, but this feels more like mere copying, so I don't intend to use this style too often.
Joel Satore shoots the photos for the ark that have a black background in a studio setting. He uses a black (or coloured) background and studio lighting to shoot the animals. So he doesn't need to layer out in PS etc.
As a result he will get the 'edges' looking less stark as there aren't any edges.
He's a great photographer, but there are other things to think about in his work to try out perhaps with better effect..the way he catches light in the animal's eyes, his use of eye and head angles vs animals looking direct into the camera, his extreme close ups etc, that might be worth playing around with, more than cut outs. Few of us will get the chance to shoot a cheetah in a studio. Not to say it's not interesting to do this sort of blackground if you like doing it. Playing around with different ideas can be a lot of fun
@Stefan Verhoeven has posted some great images shot against dark backgrounds (not in a studio) and he's very creative with light..perhaps have a look at a few of his images for ideas of things you can do before the editing.
