Bull Elephant

[Hilary Hann]

The same elephant I presented a while ago in b&w. Spent a bit of time with him as he was very congenial. We stopped a fair way away and he just kept coming very close so that we would drive away again, letting him decide how close he wanted to come the next time. As you can see here, very close as it turned out. Some of the even closer views are useless as I ended up with all sorts of strange compositions.

Mara North Conservancy.
5DMk2; 24-105 @ 60; ISO 800; F9; 1/400 Nearly full frame, hand held.

[Ken Watkins]

This a nice "big unit" .

The tusks look a bit uneven but I do not mind a bit, nice colour & nice leg lift.

I suppose the hills in the BG could be considered as "distracting", hard to avoid where you were, at least you got them straight

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Ken. The tusks are uneven, the left hand tusk is his 'tool' and was very worn down. It is hard to see at this angle but in some of my other photos you can see the smooth worn bit. One of the more noticeable examples of how an elephant can be very one sided.

[Harshad Barve]

I liked this very much Hilary , Elephants looks very nice when presented in colors , excellent image , Liked it lot
TFS

[noelle zaleski]

Beautiful image Hilary, must be amazing to see in person.

[Robert Amoruso]

Very nice Hilary. I like the info on the tusks.

Good composition with everything where it should be (level, more room in front of animal then behind, good spacing top and bottom).

Good DOF too. Just what it needed.

[Todd Frost]

Well done Hilary. Good exposure, color and sharpness. As Robert put so well, comp is spot on. Good texture in the elie as well.
TFS
Todd

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Superb tusker, makes for an impressive image, love the composition and excellent detail TFS

[Hilary Hann]

Thank you everyone, appreciate the comments.

[Marc Mol]

One very impressive tusker, captured close up in superb lighting.
TFS

[Dumay de Boulle]

Superb comp and IQ...Great image Hilary

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Marc and Dumay.

[Grant Atkinson]

Hi Hilary, superb ele shot, great texture and comp, I like his bulkiness which you have conveyed here. Also liked the depth created by the hazy blue line of hills. Excellent shot
Grant

[Hilary Hann]

Thanks Grant, I'm glad you picked up on the bulky feel which I tried hard to get by using a wider angle. It works on some animals but looks ridiculous on others. Cheers Hilary

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice 'big old unit' Hilary, the elephant that is.

Great detail and love the BG, almost a banded, layering/strata feel, but think the B/W works best.

TFS
Steve

[Morkel Erasmus]

very nice Hilary - well exposed with good detail
I agree with Steve, the B&W takes the cake by a small margin but wouldn't mind if this were mine (our elephants are normally in thick bush and tall grass)

[Hilary Hann]

Steve and Morkel, thanks for the comments … I'm leaning towards the b&w but was interested to see how this came up in colour.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

The perspective here is awesome . The huge guy with the vast expanse of grassland behind him makes it complete !