Charging Desert Elephant

[Rachel Hollander]

Taken in Damaraland, Namibia in August. This teenager was being ornery and we heard him trumpeting in the distance. Then as he made his way through the herd, he tried to take on any of the others who he passed. Finally he decided to charge our Land Rover and it wasn't a mock charge. I was standing on the seat shooting out of the roof when he decided to charge. I only had time to fire off 2 shots as the guide threw the vehicle in gear (and no time to hold on). This was the better of the 2 but it was still tight at the bottom so I did something I don't normally do and extended the canvas there. How does it look?

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 135mm
1/400
f7.1
ISO 400
EC +.33
HH from safari vehicle, cropped to place ele slightly off center, canvas extended at bottom, levels, curves, selective color adjustments and sharpened in CS5.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel


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[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Rachel,

Your extension, at the left foot, a bit to the right about 20cm in front and beside that foot, there are some round holes/dents. ( I mean the foot which is in front, don't know if my wonder English is here clear enough )
They look nearly the same. I would try with the healing brush or fil / content aware scale, whatever works best there. Also about 50-70cm off to the left, same foot, that darker area looks nearly double, just a bit pulled/stretched. Did you use content aware scale to do so ?
I as well pulled the image in my PS and made a portrait crop. For me it looks there much better, but watch the elephant in the back, right hand side, how you crop. Give it a try, if you like.

Desert elephants, had my journey with them as well. But was all alone, wow, they are aggressive, no coffee drinking with them :Whoa!:

Have a great day

Ciao
Anette

[Andrew Merwin]

Hi Rachel, I like your image very much. The in your face pose of the elephant shows the power of these wonderful animals. I see what Anette said about the added canvas. However, I would have not noticed unless she told me about it. I think it needs a slight CW rotation. The eyes do not appear level to me.

Neat story about the charge & the escaping vehicle. I hope you did not get hurt as the vehicle accelerated away.

[Morkel Erasmus]

tense moment, nicely captured Rachel
I too only really noticed the bottom stretch evidence after reading Anette's comment but my eyes may be tired as it's after midnight and I need to go lie down now :w3
I wouldn't rotate the image. The legs are straight up, the head would bob in the charge and eyes don't need to be level here IMHO.
I might crop from the sides to make it vertical, leaving the BG ellie in the frame and losing the tree LHS?

[Tom Graham]

"...and it wasn't a mock charge."
I have been told (since I'm no ele expert) that in a real charge the ears are folded back and the trunk is curled up inward ?.
Tom

[Morkel Erasmus]

"...and it wasn't a mock charge."
I have been told (since I'm no ele expert) that in a real charge the ears are folded back and the trunk is curled up inward ?.
Tom

I can vouch for the fact that not EVERY real charge from EVERY elephant follows these 'rules'.
Tom, are you questioning the validity of Rachel's encounter/experience or merely asking for clarification of the behavioural facts? :e3

Would you be so kind as to offer a critique on the image as posted too?
:w3:S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Anette - yes, I used content aware scale to extend the canvas. I'll take a look at the areas you pointed out. I'll also look at a portrait crop though I have found with the desert ele images I prefer including a bit of habitat/desert to distinguish them.

Thanks Andrew for the kind comments. No injuries from the quick start :S3:. I do think that the image is level, it is the ele's head that is crooked.

Thanks Morkel, let me know if with fresh eyes you see any other areas. I agree with you on the rotation.

Tom - I have experienced mock charges. This was not a mock charge. He continued to run after us for at least a couple of hundred feet as we pulled away. We then cut a wide circle around the herd and approached from a different direction to avoid him. He continued to trumpet until one of the females (likely the matriarch) reigned him in and calmed him with some verbal interaction. Btw my reaction to your comment was the same as Morkel's. I was there, you were not and my account is accurate. Moreover, this is a photography critque website not a safari website or animal behavior website. My description of the encounter was to provide context to the image and explain why I added canvas, something that I don't usually do. I would prefer that if you comment on my images that you primarily provide constructive feedback on the images.

Thanks again everyone,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, I think you handled the situation very well and at least came back with a couple of images capturing the moment. I bet that 'moment' might have woken someone up who was having a few quiet zzzz's in the vehicle.:bg3:

OK, getting back to the image, firstly can I ask, why were you standing and shooting out of the roof, I would have thought the angle would have been better lower down? Perhaps it's trying to retain more of the environment, but I think this might have been better vertical and coupled with being lower, may have given you a better image all round and isolated the subject & action more, but this is a split second decision/hindsight. I personally feel the 'level' looks OK, it's the slight slope of the BKG that is perhaps throwing things out, and if you do CCW rotate by say 1.5 the Elephant will be leaning to the left, however you will have more of an issue about image content and need to extend the FG even more so I would leave it. I do find the image a little light/thin, perhaps adding some selective colour in the neutrals/blacks and a hint more selective USM would help I feel, just to add a bit more depth. However, you were there and have a better understanding of the overall look & feel. Regarding the crop, with the addition, then I think you did the best you could have, the PP work is not ideal, however as you never really do any, I think you did well, just watch repeat patterns etc, I might just crop a little off the LHS to throw things off centre?

Glad you able to come back in one piece to tell the story of your encounter, as friend of mind (guide/ranger) wasn't so lucky, as a bull elephant trashed him and it took over 4 months to get fighting fit.

Thanks again for an interesting thread.

TFS
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Steve, yes, I imagine if anyone can actually fall asleep on a game drive, this would have woken them. You are correct that the angle for the charging ele would have been better through the window. However, I was standing and shooting the other 2 elephants you see in the bg both of whom were in depressions and yes, I was trying to include some of the desert habitat in those shots. This ele came fast and although we had seen him acting ornery earlier and trumpeting, he really came at us from nowhere and closed the gap quickly. In fact I think you can still see his dust trail to the left side of the image.

I"ll take a look at your suggestions. As always, they are very much appreciated.

Rachel

P.S. Glad your friend has recovered.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Rachel, yep Shaun is OK and still doing a lot of 'On foot' safaris.

As you say, these moments can happen in a flash with NO warning, just goes to show it's still a wild place out there!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel,
i think you handled the situation well under the circumstances.

Like the image as is , besides the quality of canvas extension could be a bit better if you look closely.
Colors , contrast and tones throughout are good for me . Nicely processed ! A small mid tone boost in the soil could eventually look nice .

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andreas and welcome back! I'm looking forward to seeing some of your images from your trip.

Rachel