Learning to Control My Trunk

[Rachel Hollander]

I have tons of images of elephant calves from my recent trip. This youngster seemed enthralled with tossing his own trunk around and trying to control it. I know most will say ss is a bit low but I was in a private vehicle and going for more dof to get the outstretched trunk mostly in focus.

Canon 5D3
100-400 II @ 400mm
1/350
f8
ISO 1600
HH from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp, curves, color adjustments and sharpened in PSCC.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel, what a cute little elephant! Nicely framed, good soft light, good DOF but as you said the SS could have been higher. That pink tongue really takes this to the top.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- This is one of your finest from your recent trip. Loved the moment, especially the expression and the tongue is a real bonus. The framing works for me as presented and good call on DOF but you could have easily upped that iso to atleast 3200 for a better ss. But I really enjoyed viewing this image , superbly done. TFS !

[Marc Mol]

Cute & cheeky moment Rachel, love the eye contact & tongue poke!

Pushing it with the low s/s, and surprised you still have the trunk tip sharp, so it paid off here! Nicely seen

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the shot, it is amusing to see the playful youngster. The colours/tones on the hide seem just a little indistinct to me, I provide an alternative for your consideration

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks all. I'm glad you like this one. Jon - there's no attachment to your post.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks all. I'm glad you like this one. Jon - there's no attachment to your post.

There is you must have seen it as I was attaching!

[Rachel Hollander]

Strange. Thanks for the rp. Looks good.

[John Mack]

Looks very sharp to me. Shutter speed worked out well. Nice you have a nice view of the tongue. The comp is nice as well.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel a very cool frame ...what i do like the most is the open jaw , as i feel we hardly see it in this way . Comp , colors and tones in general are working fine together from my POV. A very well timed frame at capture ....congrats to the execution in the field .
The RP by Jon is ok at first sight , but i feel it introduced some harsh elements in the hide. While you had it soft , does fit better from my POV ..... specially in flat light like in this shot. Just my take .
My suggestion would be ...burning the HL slightly in the hide and add some tonal variation to it ...i.e. via soft light layer .
TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks John and Andreas, much appreciated.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Dear Rachel,

This is incredibly cute, typical ellie youngster trying to figure out the use of its trunk, LOL.

Timing was great here, nice to see that little open mouth and the eyes are visible too, fantastic pose and the framing works well. I also think it's pretty sharp for 1/350s and BG looks good:)

Colours look natural. Maybe Andreas is right and you could work on tonality a bit more? On second thought...how about a B/W version too?

Lovely capture and it put a smile on my face, let's see some more from your trip!

Warmest regards,