Let's Stay Together ...

[Mario Moreno]

During our last tour to Addo we spent a lot of time at Hapoor Dam shooting impressive herds of elephants which is the focus of our trips to Addo. Every afternoon at around 13:00 these pachyderms would slowly make their way towards Hapoor Dam . Most days at the dam we would see over 300 individuals that presented us with a huge variety of photo opportunities. In this image I tried to capture the emotion that these gentle giants show when interacting.

EOS 5D MKII - 600 mm - 1/800 sec @ f7.1 - ISO 400 - Evaluative metering - Manual mode

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Mario, and Welcome again.

Firstly when posting on the web or creating an image for projection you need to ensure the image is converted to sRGB. This link below will help you and ensure your image is 'fit for purpose'.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/62351-Saving-for-Web-in-PS

It's amazing how such big old units can be so gentle and this does show the tender side of these animals. As an image I like the concept, but for me it doesn't really work. Wether it is the crop I am not sure, perhaps a wider POV might have been better with the whole of the animals in, plus some habitat??? But I do see why you went for the tighter crop, is this FF or have you cropped it?

I would add some selective sharpening to bring out more of the detail and perhaps boost some contrast, but ensure the eyes are masked out as you do not want to lose any more detail there. Having the RH eye visible would have been good/bonus. Personally I would clone out the small white spec RHS near the edge in the BKG, plus the small point of the tusk peaking past the trunk, as for me it catches my eye and the loss would not be detrimental to the image, but no deal breaker if you kept it in. In addition I would also soften the white highlight in the BKG on the LHS to. By ding so it with keep the focus on the two elephants. I quite like the hint of sky in the V just to add a bit of colour to the monochromatic colouring.

Having looked at it as a B/W I think I prefer the colour.

Hope this helps.

cheers
Steve

[Ken Watkins]

Mario,

I like the composition of this very much, but feel it needs just a little more work to make it really pop.

Firstly I can see a slight magenta cast on my monitor, but it could be my monitor.

Then a little more oomph plus a a slight round of smart sharpen, saving to JPEG as this resoultion nearly always needs another round of sharpening.

Here is a repost which I hope you like.

Just off to get my map to find out where Hapoor Dam is as we will be in Addo in April (after the Easter holidays:bg3:)

[Mario Moreno]

Ken, I must admit that you did a fantastic job at sharpening this image for web view. It looks way better ........ Thank You !

[Mario Moreno]

Hi Steve. Thanks for your comments and suggestions which I think have been solved by Ken below. I did forget to export as sRGB ...... This image is a FF and is one of many many images taken at Addo. The amount of elephants around us was overwhelming. I will be posting many more from this very productive trip.

[Ken Watkins]

Mario,

Thanks very much for your thanks:bg3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Mario - Nicely seen and Ken's repost has taken this up a notch. Did you by any chance take any shots of just the crossed tusks?

TFS,
Rachel

[Mario Moreno]

I think I did Rachel ........ Will have to go through my images and double check. Thanks for your comment !

[Morkel Erasmus]

What a lovely moment here. I can imagine this making a very nice B&W image...will have to check it out elsewhere I presume :w3
I like the sharpening Ken applied but might tone it down just a wee fraction...

[Steve Canuel]

Nice moment and a great photo for studying textures.

[Marc Mol]

Love the framing & comp on this one Mario, with Ken's RP enhancing nicely, well done.
TFS

[Arthur Morris]

A loverly moment for sure, but like Steve, I am not quite sure why this does not work well for me.... The repost is a big improvement. I am thinking that the BKGR lower left and lower right is a big part of what bugs me here as it pulls my eyes from the two old elephants.

[Sid Garige]

Mario,
Excellent timing and wonderful comp. Love the symmetry and brilliant moment very well captured.
Ken's repost takes it to next level.

Thanks for sharing.
Sid

[Dumay de Boulle]

This thumbnail really caught my eye, superb image and I love what ken did!

[Mario Moreno]

Thanks Dumay ... and agree that Ken gave it the extra oomph

[Pieter de Waal]

I like the interaction captured here Mario, especially the interlocked tusks. Look forward to seeing more from this visit.

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent timing and wonderful comp. and repost rocks
TFS