Yummy Eichhornia

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hello folks back from my trip to India ,
i had a great trip , albeit not all of my wishes came true . A lot has changed in 9 /14 years after my last visit to Kaziranga / Bandhavgarh and not for the better when it comes to photography or just wildlife watching .
As a personal note i experienced an increase in visitors and hectic within in the parks due to more safari vehicles , specially when it comes to Tiger sightings . I felt really disappointed when it came to such event ....... even if i got to see a tiger .
I almost forgot how difficult it is when one is not the driver and is addicted to driver/guide knowledge how to approach animals and find the right angle of light .......
Anyhow i really had a great time .... specially in Kaziranga where things went a bit slower .

So here is my opener from my trip ... more to come

Canon EOS 1Dx
EF 500 IS L + 1,4 TC
HH

F 9 ; Iso 1250 ; 1/2000 sec

Processed with DPP 4 and PS CC ; cropped slightly for leveling

Hope you like it

Cheers Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Andreas - Welcome back and a fun image to open with. Nice details and colors. The spray of water adds. Only thing I might do is burn the specular highlight above and to the right of the ele in the darker part of the bg and similarly burn the brighter branch below your copyright notice. Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas, welcome back from me too.

Well sadly, your intro confirmed/reenforced my thoughts of Bandhavgarh, although I think they have stopped the rule where you had to go one circuit before going off within the park? Avoiding the Gipsy jeeps within frame is as hard as locating a Tiger, so again, I fully appreciate your frustration, but hope the next location was more fruitful. A tough call too with Drivers/Trackers!!!

I like the POV here being almost at eye level with the elephant, but wonder (if possible) going lower may have provided a better backdrop and avoided this layer 'sandwich' background. Having the trunk clutching a clump of food is nice, likewise the swish of the tail. The spray I'm 50/50 on as to whether it adds to the image or not. If you have it, then a little less on the RHS and more on the left I think would help, but I have no idea if this is FF or crop?

TFS
Steve

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

HI Andreas! Welcome back! I am glad you had a great trip. I understand the fenzy related to tiger sightings & that the number of vehicles are increasing. Only problem is they can get a bit unruly! Looking forward to your images. I like this one. Well exposed and nice action & water splash. I just wish for a bit more room below.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Andreas -- Welcome back and great start with this image ! I liked the angle and the splashing water and the details are good as usual . nicelydone . i too think a bit of crop from the rhs and some space on the left will lift this image much more .

TFS !

[keith mitchell]

Hi Andreas good to see you back,all sounds a bit hectic to a loner like myself .Really like your bathing Elephant and agree with others re a bit more at the bottom.It must be great to try to photograph these animals.

Keith.

[Andre Pretorius]

Hallo Buthi!

Welcome back from the busy far places!
It seems the places where one can be at peace with the wildlife AND capture it, is becoming less and less..
It seems as soon as there is a tarred road to a destination, it is ruined- death by TAR..:eek3:

I like your Ellie, albeit it looks weird not to see any tusks..can be a plus when it comes to poaching..
He reminds me of a toddler in the bath with water splashing everywhere!
F9 worked well to get tail in.
Agree with Steve on comp.
I want to see more!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Andreas I have been anticipating your images and I am not disappointed the light on the elephant is super. After some deliberation I am not crazy about the three horizontal stipes of the background but not a great deal you could do about really.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hello folks thanks so much for your comments .... as always much appreciated .
Yes i have more space to the left , but no more space at the bottom . I had to rotate the image a fair bit , bad field craft when handholding :t3.
Going lower .... yes i could have gone lower , but the guide in my back was already not feeling well as i jumped off the gypsy to get lower POV ..... normally not allowed to get off the vehicle . He allowed me to stay so i did not want to cause even more negative issue ..... I tried to get off the vehicle for the rhinos , he refused !!!!
Specially after we got charged twice by one of them .....i would have stand the ground but the driver and guide decided to move ......

Andre as this is the asian elephant , no tusks with a female and many males also do not have them . If you look closely you can see the tiny bit of tusks on the RHS of the jaw .

Steve sadly no difference with Bandavgarh and Ranthambore when it comes to madness at tiger sightings , as far as i have heard . Fancy driving routes in Ban , always changing from year to year . Just 20 % of the park is open for game drives and it has 3 zones , back in 2002 there was just 1 big zone ( Tala) .

Hope this helps ..... thanks again , Andreas

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Andreas,

I like the pose and spray of the elephant very much. I might also would get rid a bit of the mentioned highlight.
LHS more space mentioned but I do understand, it is not always possible to get what we want :w3

Looking forward to be in this park in 2 weeks time. We need to chat next week about this one. The usual way :2eyes2: when it works on my end !

Have a great eve and a great weekend

Ciao Anette :w3

And yes, I have the plans :wave:

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Anette thanks for your comment , much appreciated .
Good to hear the plans are going on ......:wave:

[Gabriela Plesea]

Welcome back dear Boetie:wave:

Please accept my apologies for coming in so late. I only managed to look at two images last night so I saved yours for this evening - quite a treat and I cannot wait to learn more about your trip and sightings!

There's something sweet and gentle, and somehow playful about your Indian Ellie... The smaller ears (in comparison with the African elephant) and (almost) lack of tusks make this character look like an oversized mouse to me:) The water spray certainly adds to the image and so does the busy trunk and tail. Well exposed, nice techs, good thinking with F9.

Nice and sharp Andreas and colours look good. In terms of comp I would consider taking off just a tad from the RHS.

Looking forward to more Andreas - we are off to spend some time with Mr. Walker this week-end, back on Monday and hopefully we can have a chat if you are around?

Have a super Sunday:w3

Warmest regards,

[Andreas Liedmann]

Thank you so much Gabriela for taking your time and type a comment , as always much appreciated .
Will try to show as much as possible , just for you , we need to chat soon ..... about this and other stuff :wave:

Cheers yours big brother