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Thread: Tusker at play

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    Lifetime Member Colin Driscoll's Avatar
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    Default Tusker at play

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    My these Indian tuskers are huge. This one was at the water's edge just playing, grabbing bunches of grass, squeezing them and swing them around. Maybe a bit tight but I wanted to emphasise the bulk. Removed a stump from behind the end of the animal's left tusk. The little dots in the bg are insects and the haze is early morning fog/smog.

    5D3 100-400 @ 400 f6.3 1/250 iso125 taken from a boat on the Kabini Reserviour, Nagarahole NP, Karnataka, India.

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Colin, nice 'tusker' and I like the swish of the trunk as he pulls the grass out, adds interest. I think you can afford to drop the Exposure a little, perhaps a third of a stop, but for me, sadly shooting from a boat (nice perspective) the SS is too low, you need more ISO, the subject isn't sharp.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Colin - does look like a big tusker. I like the head on view and the vertical comp. The spray from the trunk adds to the image. In addition to Steve's good suggestions above, there's a halo particularly noticeable on the left side of the elephant as viewed. I also think it needs a slight amount of cw rotation. I also have the 5D3 and 100-400. If I were using that combo I would have gone to ISO 400 or more likely to 800 to get my ss much higher when shooting from a boat. On my Svalbard trip last summer a good rule of thumb was to try to always have a minimum ss of 1/1600 whether shooting from the ship or zodiac.

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Hi Colin, I have not seen these Asian tuskers yet, so it is great to see them here. Agreed that the image a little bright and yes there is a strong halo on the left tusk. I started out 2 years ago with a T3i and the 100-400 and I had a hard time getting sharp images at 400mm. I'm sure my technique was no good, but later I learned that one of the "secrets" to get sharp images with that lens is not to use any filter. I had long sold the lens, but perhaps Rachel can comment since she has the same lens. Ceraintly with the 5D3, you can afford to shoot routinely with an ISO of 800 or more.

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    Lifetime Member Colin Driscoll's Avatar
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    Thanks for the comments and advice. The reason that I have had so many low iso shots was because one of my custom settings was on Auto iso, which I will change. Loi, I learnt a while ago not to use any filter on the 100-400, or any tele for that matter. I do have some other shots of this big ele and I'll check if any of them are sharper. As for the halo, I think it must have come from S&H because I didn't do any selective bg work.

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    Forum Participant edwardselfe's Avatar
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    Hi Colin - I do however think that the slow ss that gave the trunk some movement is one of the best bits of this shot!
    Ed

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Colin , i do not think this too bad . Could be a tad sharper and darker , but i like the pose of this big guy and the BG is ok too, specially we do not see many Asian elephants posted here.
    So thanks for posting .
    TFS Andreas

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    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    A big boy! Good comments made already, Colin, I would add that the head looks sharp enough (at this size) for me and I like the motion in the trunk. I'd go darker with more midtone contrast to boot.
    Morkel Erasmus

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