Elephants crowding in for a drink

[Nancy Bell]

Photographed last month along the Chobe River near Kasane, Botswana, from the photo river boat. We saw elephants every day along the river. It was fabulous! I never tired of photographing them as something was always different and I love to watch any kind of animal behavior. Although I took several images of the ellies at this point, I only liked this first image. For the next images the moving boat put me too close for the 600 and too far for my 70-200.

Canon 1Dx, Canon 600 f4 L IS (rented), 1/1250, f6.3, exp. comp. -1/3, ISO 800.

comments and critiques very welcome.

[Don Railton]

Hi Nancy

This is a wonderful image..! and the light is simply gorgeous.. I especially like the 'layers' of Elephant. I have no suggestions, only envy. On second thought maybe the stick in the water could go?? not convinced however.

DON

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful, Nancy! It looks like the smallest one is the bravest and the biggest one is the most afraid to enter the water! Nice sunset colors!

[Neil Burton]

Did you pull the shadows on the middle elephant, specifically the foot area? COuld be the light off water but looks a little too PP'd? Otherwise that is cracking light, cracking detail and a cracking shot. Chobe is a special place, I yearn to return!

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Nancy you captured a nice tranquil scene in gorgeous sweet golden light with very nice colors in the whole image .The eles are not too crumbed up just enough separation between them.A slight movement to the left would have been a bit better ,but easy to say from here.The log in front is kind of "destroying " the scene, not much to do about.Maybe it would have been "too" perfect.I am with Neil about the shadows on all of the elephants and not only the middle one,because you have deep shadows on the log .

Still looking good .

TFS Andreas

[BenBotha]

I agree about the log. The rest is really stunning-nothing to add. This just reminded me how I miss the bush!
Ben

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Nancy - gorgeous light and the boat gave you a nice low pov. I agree about the shadows. Love the slight splash of water in the front too. Keep them coming.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Nancy a lovely scene, perfect location, a nice open drinking spot towards the end of the day.

If my memory is correct, you hired both 500 & 600, I think the 500 would have been the better choice, as you would have more space around and, if needed, just a small crop for composition, as I feel it's a wee bit tight on the edges for me. I would also have preferred less symmetry on the edges too. The light looks great, but agree on the blue, I think all you need to do is ease back on the saturation. Curious on the depth of shadow, the calf has some nice rich tones & shadows towards the rear, but the adults I feel are running a little thin, personally i would expect to be the same as the light comes from over your left shoulder? Having the heads staggered in an almost diagonal line is nice, likewise the calf with it's outstretch trunk, although at a quick glance, some may get confused with the drinking trunk. Not sure, but perhaps the whole crop could go up a tad, WDYT?

How did you get on with the 1DX, tempted, or have you bitten the bullet?

TFS
Steve

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks everyone. I'm not exactly sure what the advice is on the shadows. Do you mean deepen the shadows on the ellies? I did not process any of the ellies individually, but as a group. Now that I look at it, I do think the water is a bit too saturated. This is full frame and only cropped to straighten so I cannot provide any additional space. Wish that log was not there also.

Steve, I have bitten many bullets. I now own the 1DX and the 200-400 with internal 1.4. I found it too restrictive with either the 500 or 600. Ah, perfect would be having a huge variety of lenses like golf clubs in a golf bag. Then I would want a camera caddy-person to hand me the proper lens at the proper time!! :tinysmile_shy_t:

[Steve Kaluski]

Do you mean deepen the shadows on the ellies?

Indeed, I just thought they would be consist, not to worry, thanks for the feedback.



I now own the 1DX and the 200-400 with internal 1.4. I found it too restrictive with either the 500 or 600.

A good combo & investment Nancy, I hoped that having a variety of lens options Canon may have supplied a 'caddy person' free of charge, oh well... :bg3:

[Loi Nguyen]

Sorry for coming late to the party. Gorgeous light and great behavior. All have been said regarding the shadow (or lack thereof on the adult elie) and the tightness of the shot. On my last trip, I constantly changed TCs to cover the focal length between the 70-200 and the 500. The 1.4X on the 70-200 is a good option, but you need to be more careful with action shots in low light. I got burned with the focus not quite sharp as I used to the ease of the 70-200f2.8 without the TCs. Loi

[Morkel Erasmus]

Love that "across the water" angle you get shooting from a boat on the Chobe, Nancy - gorgeous afternoon light indeed, during my trip in March we had overcast afternoons most of the time (with storm clouds which was nice).
Nice angle of the light too, hitting the elephant textures just right. Good points made above, and congrats on your new toys! Now you need to bring them to Africa to test them out :5

[Gabriela Plesea]

Great image Nancy, and I apologise for coming in so late, saw this while at work but never got to comment due to hectic (but filled with fun) week-end. Love this, did not really take notice of the log until I read the comments, so good were the ellies that I paid no attention to any distractions.

It's all in the light, isn't it so? Lovely detail on the subjects and I just love the colours, the warmth. Morkel is right, you need to test your equipment under (South) African skies, we have lots more ellies for your new 200-400:w3, as well as other wildlife:bg3:

Great work, hope there's more where this came from?

Kind regards,

[edwardselfe]

Beautiful image - i would also lose some of the water below and darken the shadows. Might need to reduce saturation after darkening shadows to compensate.
Ed