There be giants here...

[Morkel Erasmus]

The northern region of the Kruger National Park is far quieter in many ways than the south. Yes, the game is harder to spot, especially since large sections of the region are covered in dense mopani forest. But, there are also far less tourists, making those sightings you do get less of a rush and more special.

This particular morning was gloomy with intermittent drizzling rain. We went out when everybody else decided it wasn't worth it. It was. We got lions for ourselves for more than an hour, and we also got this big elephant bull.

I created a pseudo-HDR by running 3 exposures from the same raw file into Photomatix. Then did some further PP in CS3. I also created a B&W version, which I like more, but will post that later.

Your comments much appreciated!

Techs:
Nikon D300s with Nikkor 18-200mm VR @ 65mm
f7.1 @ 1/500 SS @ ISO-500

[Harshad Barve]

Morkelbhai
This is beautiful image , lush green in looking so good and elephant poping up nicely
TFS

ps , You are using HDR extensively ;)

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Morkel

A nice looking image and I love the way the Ele is off set to the lhs:)

Looks quite 'punchy' on the colour side, not sure how reflect that is? Might lift the mid tones a tad and lose the small branch right in front of the trunck for a more cleaner image perhaps.

Steve

[Stu Bowie]

I like the vivid colours in this, no doubt, your HDR processing. Good placement of the Ellie in the frame, and you were pretty close. Never been further north than Satara.

[Ken Watkins]

Well that certainly looks a lot greener than the last time I was there!
For me the composition is great but I am not sure about the vivid colours.

[Howard Burkert]

Morkel, I really like your image and agree with Harshad about liking the lush green. I did however visit your blog and must say the B&W image is awesome. I hope you post it also.
Best,
Howard

[Marc Mol]

Beautiful and rich colors here Morkel, with that cloudy sky really standing out with your HDR conversion. Prefer this over the B&W version. (over @ NSN) ;)
TFS

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the kind comments everyone...the colours are vivid but that is how I remember it and what I went for in processing. I actually toned down saturation in the workflow to get closer to how I remember it.

Ken - I must say that this was the greenest I had EVER seen Kruger, especially the north.

Here is the straight-from-camera shot, nothing done...

[Ignacio Yufera]

Great scene. I really like the angle of the approaching elephant and the feeling of its huge size. I know (and love) this bright, almost surreal green on days like this in Africa, and how it can look oversaturated. Not so sure about the reddish tones on the elephant though.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Morkel Thanks for posting the straight out of camera for comparison, I think the worked image is a little over sat, do like the placement in frame and space given !! Did capture the feel and scale !!

[Todd Frost]

I like your chosen comp. Agree on lifting the midtones slightly. Colors are very vivid, Very nice image. TFS
Todd

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks so much for your comments. as said - this is the feel I went for. I do have a B&W version and a 2-tone 'desaturated' version too which I will post in time...

[Ken Watkins]

Morkel.

The original looks to be better colour, but it is your choice!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Ken - I will upload a less saturated one just for you :)
I like the one with 'pop' though...and the B&W more...