Elephant dusk on the Chobe River.

[Tim Driman]

On a recent trip to the mighty Chobe River, we had pulled the boat up to the river bank ( Botswana side ) to enjoy our usual sundowners ( whiskey, ice and soda / red wine ), when a small breeding herd of elephants strolled down to the river for their evening "sundowners"...

Being on a boat, even at very close quarters, doesn't bother elephants at all, so we just sat and enjoyed the spectacle...

As the last rays of sun were disappearing, the light was too dark to catch any foreground detail, and I was certainly not about to use a flash...

But the golden glow presented another opportunity.... Trcky, but worth the try..

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Tim, please can you add the Exif data for the image and any other useful info in relation to taking the image and any relevant PP work.

Thanks

[Tim Driman]

Hi Steve. Sorry. I am a little rusty with all this... Haven't posted for quite a long while...

Canon 1DX / 70mm-200mmf2.8ii ISO 100 ; F20.0 1/80th sec Focal length 125mm

Hand held.

Image taken from a small boat on the river, next to the ellies..

I am using Light Room CC and swith into PS for Contrast / Levels / Unsharp Mask / Noise Reduction then back to LR.

I hope this is OK?

Regards

[Steve Kaluski]

Cheers, you might like to also do the same on you Avian posting :S3:.

[Tim Driman]

He Steve,

Done. As soon as you reminded me, i did the same to the other image..

Best regards

[Morkel Erasmus]

These are special moments, Tim.
A few things bug me about the shot...
1. it feels slanted (it may be an illusion but it does feel like it needs slight CCW rotation)
2. the 2 big elephants needed more separation to make them distinct shapes and help add to the composition
3. same as above can be said about separation between the calf and the middle adult
4. nothing much you can do about the sun (blotch), perhaps crop it out but you might come too tight at the top of the youngster

I like the rim-light and faint dust you captured. I wonder if there isn't a better frame a few seconds later of just the calf (it was moving away from the clutter of the adults)?

Good to see you posting again!! :5

[Steve Kaluski]

Tim, before I add my thoughts on the 'techs' can you perhaps explain the rational to your set up in capturing the image, be good to know rather than me just saying, 'I think...'

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Tim - Welcome back. Morkel has covered the aesthetics of the image and I agree completely with his critique. I would have zoomed out even a bit more since you had the ability. It's a bit too tight on the left and having a wider view might have allowed some cropping later. I too am curious about your settings because if I am looking to do a silhouette and to bring out the color of the sky, it is the one time that I purposely underexpose in the field with very high ss to try to avoid blown HLs. The high ss would also have helped with shooting from a moving boat. Without the need for detail in the silhouettes, you don't need the dof.

It would be great to have your thoughts on other's images as well.

TFS,
Rachel

[Tim Driman]

Howzit Morkel. Happy New Year buddy. Hope you and the team have a fantastic new year... Must tell you about our new composite safari venture ( Photographic, regular, golf and culinary safaris - Have an office in the USA and one soon in Germany. Only upmarket, bespoke tours, all guided with FGASA and pro-wildlife guides ) . We must talk as there is something for you guys in this... If you are interested..

OK now the image: Oooops. Yes there is a better frame, I have an eye appointment on Wednesday. Bwahahahaha! .. Need new specs ;-)


It was levelled, but this certainly could be tilted a little. We were crouching in a small boat ( Spent six nights on the Pangolin Voyager and got some scary stuff, which I will be posting as time goes by.. Will be at Jaci's Camp for 7 nights at the end of February.)

I will dig out the correct frame and post that... Much better... Thanks for the heads up.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Light is beautiful in itself yet not so easy to capture, Tim. I agree with you: definitely worth the try, although in this instance the bright sun in the URC takes away some of that lovely "energy" in the beautiful sky and its golden splendour. I notice the same gold in the rim light around the subjects, there's a tinge of red too and it adds some much needed mystery. Had the elephants been more separated, this image would appear a lot more harmonious to me.

Jut a few thoughts for now, everything has already been covered by Morkel in his critique above. I sincerely hope you find the "correct" frame, one that communicates with us even better and gives more meaning to your recent experience with those majestic creatures.

Kind regards,

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Tim, Morkel has given a good platform to overall comp, however the techs are all over the place IMHO, hence my earlier question.

Firstly on a boat you need a faster shutter speed to counter any additional movement, either from the boat, people moving, or even from yourself and with that kit, no problem, it's nailed. So I'm curious to why you opted for the low SS & ISO 1/80, nothing will be critically sharp? Also as Rachel mentioned, no need for f/20, f/4 I think would have been fine for this and the SS would have come up too. But the last part I'm really curious, NR on a file from a 1DX at ISO 100, I would be most grateful if could please send me the RAW, I would be very interested to see file and perhaps offer some more help. For what it's worth my default is ISO 800, but if you have time, please look at this shot at ISO 12,800 and I will post at some point ISO 25,600.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/132129-Up-close-and-personal-ISO-12-800

Tim, you have some of the best kit on the market, it's design to help you and make life easier to capture cool images like this, but just a thought, are you using back button focus, is the camera really set up correctly etc etc????

Just trying to help here Tim.

Cheers
Steve

[haseeb badar]

Hi Tim -- I Think everything is covered in the above comments and certainly great suggestions for you . I can see where were you going with this shot and certainly a very nice attempt but the suggestions given to you will help you produce much better results the next time you encounter such situation .

TFS !

[keith mitchell]

All I can add Tim it must have been a great experience to have been there with that lovely sky and those magnificent Elephants ,would love to do the same.

Keith.

[Mark Needham]

Hi Tim -- Lovely light and great sighting here. :cheers: Morkel has summed up most of the main issues here that would take it up a few notches. Also, there are quite a few dust spots in the top left that I would remove - easy fix.