Asiatic elephant herd with calf

[Ajit Huilgol]

Probably the best place to see large herds of Asiatic elephants in India, is along the Kabini River in Karnataka State. Herds begin to congregate on the banks of the river in March when other sources of water have dried up. This congregation lasts till May and early June when the monsoons arrive and there is plenty of water available everywhere. A herd typically consists of the matriarch and her sisters, daughters and calves. Whenever they sense danger, they surround the calves and form a formidable barrier as can be seen in this image.
Species: Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus)
Date: March, 2010
Location: Kabini, Karnataka, India
Equip: Canon 1D Mlll, Canon 500 f4 lens
Specs: ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/320s, beanbag on vehicle

Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques.

[Ken Watkins]

This is a very nice sighting. To my mind the river is a little bright and spoiling the overall serenity of the scene perhaps a little crop from the top would help. I presume you were shooting downhill?

As I would love to visit Nagarhole NP, I would be most interested if you could let me know how the sightings were.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Nice. Moving slightly to the left would have helped in hiding the tree stump. Unfortunately, the vehicles used there result in a high angle. In this case, a lower angle, would have ensured less of water. It is always difficult to compose when there are number of animals, with each one looking at a different direction. However, you have done well. The two birds, myna on the right and the pipit on the left, talks about the relationships.

Ken,
Nagarhole is a nice place. The sightings of leopards is good there. You can also find dholes (cuon alpinus), often mistakenly called as wild dogs. You will also find Gaur (Bos gaurus), often mistaken as Bison.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[David Thomasson]

Very interesting behavior, especially to a city dweller like me!:cool: I love the soft quality of the light.

I agree with the comments about the brightness of the river and also the stumps in the background. It's pretty straightforward
work to darken the river, remove the stumps, and also open shadow details a little, especially around the calf.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7417/elephantso.jpg

[Morkel Erasmus]

nice behaviour and light! repost does it for me. I always marvel how these ellies could look so different from our African elephants.

[Ed Cordes]

The shadow detail in the repost is much better. I like the behavior depicted.

[Ken Watkins]

David,

Fabulous repost!

[David Thomasson]

David,

Fabulous repost!

Many thanks.

[Hendri Venter]

Lovely scene and image. They grouped so nicely together. The ears looks much smaller than the african version.