Elephant trunk

[Steve Kaluski]

Following on from Rachel's posting for this months theme and apologies as it's the same subject in both senses of the word, but I am doing this remotely as I'm away. Like Rhino's, Elephant hides provide an excellent source in which to work from. B/W was too stark & cold for me and I really didn't want to go into a Duo or Quad tone as I felt in this case, retaining the natural colour would work better.

Steve

Subject: African Bush Elephant - close-up of trunk (Loxodonta africana)
Location: SA
Camera: Canon 1DX
Lens: 70-200f/2.8 HH
Exposure: 1/320s at f/11 ISO800
Original format: Portrait, very slight crop.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Awesome details and perfect sharpness Steve! I like the texture, the shadows cast and the comp. cool image!

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Steve - You must have taken this as he came close to fill the frame at 70-200. He was a bit inquisitive. I like that it is instantly recognizable despite having no context. Your usual excellent job on details, sharpness and bringing out the texture. Perhaps a little dark due to the laptop but that also may have been what you wanted.

TFS,
Rachel

[Steve Canuel]

Lots to look at here Steve. In addition to the patterns on the skin, I also like the transition from light to shadow.

[Steve Maxson]

Lots of interesting detail throughout the frame and everything is sharp. Nice detail in the shadows too. For those who don't see elephants regularly, this would be a puzzle to identify.

[Hazel Grant]

ditto to compliments above

[Douglas Bolt]

Very creative. Super texture and I like the slight color tones.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve , what to say ??
Other than very good work as expected in field and darkroom .
Very strong and still smooth transitions between the tones , superb job , i can see a toned version with some brownish touch .

TFS Andreas

[Dvir Barkay]

very nice image, really like this one, good processing and all. Maybe if the light was from your back you could get a more even light on the trunk and so a completely even compo, but then it could lower the contrast in the skin so not sure how that would work out.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Folks.

Dvir, if you had even light the image I feel would look flat and lack interest, light IMHO is the key factor here to create & emphasis more the texture & tones. If light was behind me, so head on to the trunk, again, you would loose the definition and very little shadow.

[Andre Pretorius]

Well done Steve!

Looks like a B&W version of a Vevia 50 ISO image!

Love the texture..

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Steve,

This image makes me think of a column in an Egyptian temple - very effective and thoughtful processing, I love the subtle tones, textures are superb!

Warmest regards,