Shampoo - Elephant Style

[Douglas Bolt]

Canon 7D, 70-200 f4 @ 97mm f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400.

We watched a large of elephants cross the river and when they reached the shore, they immediately started dusting themselves. It was an impressive sight, both the crossing and the dusting. With Marlon du Toit on the Chobe.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Douglas!

What a lovely surprise this is, thank you for sharing!

Glad you joined Marlon on this trip to Chobe. I am told the sightings are awesome, and so many opportunities - we are off to Chobe next year in September, your post makes me look forward to this trip even more:)

Love the powdery dust against the blue sky and I think it really makes this image. Good choice in terms of DOF - the other ellies in the frame do not interfere with the "main subject" too much. And I am sure there's much more in your folders from this trip, would really appreciate it if you could share other images:)

Kind regards,

[Douglas Bolt]

Thanks, Gabriela,

We visited Chobe last September. I'm revisiting my photos from Chobe and Mana Pools with Morkel in an effort to relive the experiences. I had hoped to get back to Southern Africa this year, but will have to look forward to next year. Mana Pools and Chobe were both outstanding destinations. Each very different, both in environment and in the way we experienced the animals. For Chobe, we were in a 6 passenger boat and spent multiple hours in individual places giving time to appreciate the daily routine of the animals. Mana was more on the go with beautiful scenes everywhere. And, the opportunity to walk with the animals was amazing. I can't pick one destination over the other. Love to return to both.

I am not pleased with the color of the sky. I tried several tweaks, but never came up with any adjustment that I liked better than the original.

And yes, you are correct. I do have a few more pics from both Chobe and Mana.

Thanks for your comments.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey Doug
It's good to see you posting again - and of course reliving your experiences vicariously in the process of processing them.
I like the plume of dust and the typical Chobe dry season light and tonalities. Not much you could do about the elephants in the BG, the herds there sure are big.
I might have liked to see a tad more room below and on the RHS of the frame?
Give my best to Marie!

[Douglas Bolt]

Morkel,

There is a little room below and behind the elephant. I didn't include it initially due to the tip of an ear on the RHS and a dark hole behind a large rock in the LRC. I cloned both out and I agree the change improves the image. The additional elephants in the frame don't bother me. In fact, they help me remember the moment.

Marie is currently giving our granddaughter a bath and is doing well (with the bath and otherwise). Thanks for asking.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very nice image Douglas, nice action with great timing. TFS.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Douglas -- Very nice image ! the dust is like a star of the show which has been captured very nicely. the light has been handled very nicely and the composition works very well especially i liked the big bull in the BG . I find the grass in the FG a bit high on contrast, can be fixed easily i am sure, TFS !

[Douglas Bolt]

Thanks all, for your helpful comments and suggestions. Initially, the grass and ground on the lower portion of the image looked over saturated to me, so I toned that down. I'm thinking that the grass would compete less with the elephant if I add a little blur in addition to lowering contrast. And, I have now removed the dust spot in the URS of the image.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Douglas - Great timing with the dust bath. Some good suggestions above. Also watch the halos around the elephants. How much clarity have you added? That can sometimes be the culprit with that type of halo.

TFS,
Rachel

[Marc Mol]

Love the dust plume by this tusker here Doug, the low POV works well here, just a shame about the BG ele, but not easy to avoid of course.

TFS