Gentle Giant Statue

[Morkel Erasmus]

Created this image in the quieter northern sector of Kruger in December.

Just liked the pose and the colour contrast of this old bull who had been dusting/mudding himself and was standing in gloomy overcast/drizzling weather against the lush greens of a wilderness that had not seen that much rain in a long time.

All comments most welcome as always...

Techs:
Nikon D300s with Nikkor 200-400mm f4 VR @ 200mm
f4.0 @ 1/1250 SS @ ISO-400
Exp +0.3

[Ken Watkins]

A very nice looking elephant, the colourd are a bit too strong for my taste, but the principle problem I have is with the tree above his head.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Ken. no saturation applied here. colours really were that vivid. I know the tree will bother some, but the bushveld is not the Kalahari so you have to deal with trees all around you :) I actually feel the tree gives it a 3D feel.

[Steve Kaluski]

I think the colour tone of the elephant is probably about right, however, I might suggest a slight tweak in curves just to lighten him a bit, plus a hint in selective colour, as there is still detail in there that adds to this 'Big old unit' and, the image. Is he too central, well I like these guys on their own as depicted, you just get the whole feeling of them, plus the trunk is 'doing something' which is a nice touch. Agree with Morkel, there will be some that find the tree distracting, others, like me, do not and this is an image of a great beast, in habitat/environment setting, so for me, the tree stays in. A good 'stock' shot for me.

Steve :)

[Marc Mol]

Agree with all that Steve has touched on, just love the colour on this old guy, good use of the overcast conditions Morkel, really enhancing nicely.
TFS

[D. Robert Franz]

Man, I too saw some huge bulls in the Northern Kruger. I Like the placement of the bull here, it works for this image. The sky would have been troublesome but you dealt with it fine. You make me want to come back, its been a few years since I've been to SA....

[Robert Amoruso]

The headon view is quite powerful. Though I would have preferred not to have the tree in the BG, you can clone out that OOF plant in the FG.

[Alfred Forns]

I'm fine with the tree and think it adds to the image, would tone down the green saturation, understand it was probably like that but does look strong !!

Did well with the settings and got lots of detail on the elephant !!!

[Kiran Khanzode]

Beautifully done, Morkel ! I would take that tree in the BG anyday than have bland/empty sky behind him, it's the habitat !! You chose a nice frame with the ears fanned out, nice colors and sharpness too !

Well done !

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the kind feedback Kiran, Al, Robert, Dale, Steve & Marc...

I will certainly keep the tree, but here is a repost with the front bush done away with and the saturation on green and yellow channels dropped substantially. I am trying to refrain from cloning too much these days, so this is just an indulgement - I'll stick to the original for now :)

[Danny Laredo]

Superb image Morkel. Love the colors here and head on view.

[Callie de Wet]

Hi Morkel, the 1st thing that caught my eye was the skin detail. You nailed and PP this very well. A lot of the comments are subjective IMO, I have seen Kruger greener that what you depict here. The overcast nails the colours also a bit truer than in the normal harsh light one encounter there. Mooi Man!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thank you Danny & Callie...
:)

[John Blumenkamp]

Hi Morkel... a strong, powerful image in my opinion, and I love the head-on capture. I like the environment shown, including the tree, etc. Nice image!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks John...

[Austin Thomas]

Repost does it Morkel. What a great character you found.

Well done.

Austin

[Danny J Brown]

Fantastic shot, Morkel. Also, I think the tree looks great in the background.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Danny & Austin!

[Vinay Lakshman]

WOW what a huge guy , the speciman itself makes this image a winner for me . TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

appreciate it, Vinay!