Ghost in Grey

[Morkel Erasmus]

No need to guess where this phantom was photographed as he moved across the plains without a sound. One of only 3 elephants we saw during our previous trip to Etosha - we arrived with the rains and the elephants disappeared with the rains into the thickets...

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6 | 1/1000 SS | ISO-180

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Beautiful setting and simple yet pleasing image Morkel! Awesome POV and nice walking pose.

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Morkel - nice 3D feel to this one. Good placement in frame too with nice textures in the skin. This works well.

TFS,
Rachel

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely detail and differential focus, glad you said Etosha - 'cos I a would not have known! The upturned trunk tip adds interest too.

[Jamie Douglas]

This is sharp buddy and just right. Sweet how the soft light has created zero shadows and the nice 3D feel as Rachel mentioned.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Beautiful photo but I'm not too fond of the somewhat unnatural look about the elephant (perhaps what you guys call '3D'). It's almost HDR-ish. Which should appeal to the HDR lovers, of course. The elephant is a bit too light in comparison with its surroundings (unless it's coming from a roll in white powder dust somewhere). Beautiful scene, though...

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks a lot, folks.

Tobie - I'm the first that cringes at the unnaturally done HDR look you refer to. The elephants in Etosha really do appear this white and pale, it's the result of the fine white dust of the area that the bulls like to dust off with after bathing. If you've never been there, I can highly recommend it!

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Thanks a lot, folks.

Tobie - I'm the first that cringes at the unnaturally done HDR look you refer to. The elephants in Etosha really do appear this white and pale, it's the result of the fine white dust of the area that the bulls like to dust off with after bathing. If you've never been there, I can highly recommend it!

Morkel, I've had an idea that white dust was behind it, that's why I've mentioned it. It reminded me of the powder dust that brought our 4x4 to a standstill due to clogged air filters during our last Botswana tour, after crossing the Makgadikgadi pans. Never been to Etosha (still one of my dreams) but I imagine that it's very similar.

Well, all I can then say is "Well done - excellent photo, making me look forward to my upcoming Chobe tour in September"!

[Anette Mossbacher]

Hi Morkel,

very nice elephant, I like this image very much. Looks great. Somehow this one looks very familiar to me

Have a great week

Ciao
Anette

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Morkel,
really like this bull shot from Etosha . Like the oncoming pose and the slight curled trunk , sniffing for you ?! Checking you out.
In a real nice world the tree on RHS would be not there or fully there .
Good detail in the subject , but i would go for slightly more mid tones , not much.
But the colors are looking a bit strange for you, think the sky is too cyan and there is cyan in the elephant , too.

Reason could be the untagged image…….and that from you Morkel .

Still love it , images of the big Etosha bulls .

Cheers Andreas

[gail bisson]

I really like this.
The composition really appeals to me and I like the upturned trunk tip.
Great POV as well.
Gail

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks folks - Andreas, that's strange as the file I opened up from my drive is sRGB embedded
Anyhow, worked on the overall colour a bit, and darkened it slightly with a hint more contrast on the big boy.
WDYT now?

[Andreas Liedmann]

hi Morkel,
now it has an embedded profile .
And looks better too.

TFS Andreas

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Thanks folks - Andreas, that's strange as the file I opened up from my drive is sRGB embedded
Anyhow, worked on the overall colour a bit, and darkened it slightly with a hint more contrast on the big boy.
WDYT now?

Aha! If it looked like this from the start, I would not have complained about the HDR'ish look in my first reply. See, I knew it could be better...

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks Tobie and Andreas. Just shows why a critique forum like this is invaluable

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel, good spot by Andreas, surprised it slipped the net so late, LOL, as Rachel is very hot on that, likewise Anette on blue cast.

Certainly the RP is stronger in both look & feel, can't comment on colour as such as I'm away, but it's a huge improvement. I also like the way it has an almost 3D feel. IQ is cracking, but I think that is because often we see your images with a far higher ISO. Nice work.

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hi Morkel, good spot by Andreas, surprised it slipped the net so late, LOL, as Rachel is very hot on that, likewise Anette on blue cast.

Certainly the RP is stronger in both look & feel, can't comment on colour as such as I'm away, but it's a huge improvement. I also like the way it has an almost 3D feel. IQ is cracking, but I think that is because often we see your images with a far higher ISO. Nice work.

TFS
Steve

Hey, I can't help it that my killer sightings are in shoddy light most of the time