Wrinkles and Splashes

[Morkel Erasmus]

I haven't posted to the theme yet, so here goes!
One from a couple of years ago - elephants drinking from Girivana dam in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f18 | 1/50 SS | ISO-450

[Mark Needham]

Awesome textures shown here, Morkel. Lovely conversion too. Very creative techs by using high DOF and slow shutter to get the entire ele clear and also create the "movement" effect of the water. Difficult to get sharpness in the rest of the frame with such a slow shutter, but the ele cooperated nicely by keeping quite still (of course, except for its ear). Very challenging shot technically and you executed it well. :cheers:

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Morkel,
This is a nice shot, and definitely highlights the textures and wrinkles nicely. I like the motion blur of the water drops. The B&W works well.

[Mike Herdman]

How can you not like these Gentle Giants!

Great detail, the motion of the water and ears are a really nice touch. I would have liked to have seen the whole face/ears, but we take what we can get.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel looking at the techs i think it is just what wanted to achieve, very good work in the field .
Conversion works basically, in parts (in key areas ) a tad heavy on the blacks .You brought out some really nice textures and i quite like the play with shadow and light .Your settings worked as treat on the flying water .
Comp works as well as presented .
But i found some really nasty halos , i would reduce those or even better avoid them :S3:.
And last but not least what is missing , Morkel ? Do you get it ? something behind the image :w3

TFS Andreas

[Neil Burton]

A tad dark overall but the textures pop, which I guess was your reasoning! ;)

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - for me this is all about the water spray. For that reason, I would back off on the sharpening slightly on the ele, particularly at the top of the head. The conversion works well. I agree with Andreas about the halos.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, I think you might have retained the water even at 1/200, but gained a bit more sharpness/clarity without loosing the overall look & feel. Overall I too find it a tad dark and it has that feeling of being 'pushed', but that might be the grittiness/reportage you want within the image. Perhaps a bit more image content on the RHS might help if you have it for comp/balance?

TFS
Steve