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Thread: Mana Magic

  1. #1
    BPN Member Morkel Erasmus's Avatar
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    Default Mana Magic

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    Hi folks - just back from an epic safari to Mana Pools.
    The predators stayed away in daytime due to the full moon, but the quality of light and the quality of elephant interactions on foot far surpassed the lack of sharp-toothed sightings.
    I only have 2 weeks before leading another safari to the Great Migration, but will aim to be as active as humanly possible until then.

    We found this elephant bull and a younger one roaming the floodplains directly behind our camp yesterday morning. There was some haze from fires in Zambia that made for interesting light and conditions. I know the SS is low, was shooting in much less light minutes before the sun peeked out here and only changed my SS a couple minutes later. It is sharp though.

    After completing this session - we simply strolled back into our camp to grab a quick coffee before heading out to find some more photographic subjects. This place remains my all-time favourite safari location of all those I've visited in Africa. I can't see it being dethroned very soon!

    Simply processed this very quickly in Lightroom CC and then exported at the right size for BPN (normally I take it to PS first and then finish my workflow).
    I opted to keep some of the cooler tones in the image as well, as it was quite cool and the colours do reflect that way early morning in Mana if the sun is subdued by haze.
    It went to 30 degrees Celcius by 10am though!

    Techs:
    Nikon D800
    Nikkor 300mm f2.8 VR-II
    f4.0 | 1/250 SS | ISO-800
    Handheld - and ON FOOT, as we do in Mana
    Last edited by Morkel Erasmus; 07-25-2016 at 04:13 PM.
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  2. #2
    Lifetime Member Rachel Hollander's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel - This is becoming a classic Mana shot for you. I like the cool tones. I do wish the tusk wasn't intersecting the broken tree trunk. Btw is it missing a tusk or are they perfectly lined up from this angle? I can see a version with some off the top too. The one thing that looks kind of strange to me is that there seems to be an unnatural edge/border in the fg. Is that an edge of the campsite?

    TFS,
    Rachel

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    Publisher Arthur Morris's Avatar
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    I think it's a boy. Agree with Rache--the animal needed to be back about 15 feet... Good job with the EXP.

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    Hi Morkel -- This is such a beautiful image ! The level red colour in the BG is adding so much to the image . Also the huge tree is complementing the elephant very nicely . I think all the elements have come out very nicely for you . I too wish those tusk were not intersecting with the tree .

    Is the elephant on heat ? what kind of behaviour is that with is reproductive organ completely stretched out ?

    TFS !

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  8. #5
    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Morkel a classy Mana shot created by you
    Love the environment , overall color and tone combo ... very well done .
    You should have moved quickly to the left .... to avoid the tusk/tree intersection ....easy to say from my chair
    Superb detail in the important parts of the image .
    Overall very nice work .

    TFS Andreas

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  10. #6
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    Great bull in wonderful location.. Perfect scenario for the excellent 300mm F2.8!

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