Elephant Crossing

[Morkel Erasmus]

From our recent Kruger trip...

We were crossing a low-water bridge over the Olifants ("Elephant's") River and aptly noticed a few elephants crossing the stream (which was quite formidable considering it was towards the end of the dry season) to get to an island in the middle in order to feed on some reeds.

I captured a few frames and liked this one the most, as the elephant was more submerged in the others. The late afternoon light helped too.

Techs:
Nikon D3s with Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6 @ 1/1600 SS @ ISO-720


I know some will want the elephant more to the RHS of the frame...when the elephant was more to the LHS it was almost submerged so I would have gotten this whole scene with a little bit of mammal sticking out of the water......I do feel it works to convey the scene and story as is...what do you think?

[dankearl]

Morkel, I don't mind the position in the frame, he/she is reaching the shore.
I would like smaller aperture/more detail in the habitat.

[Harshad Barve]

Liked it as posted
TFS

[Tom Graham]

I love the bridges crossing Olifants River!!!
Would also like more detail in background. Usually for "animal-scapes" I like everything in image sharp.
Tom
ps - here is view from another Olifants Bridge, Sep 2009 - Nikon D40x, 18-200 mm at about 60mm, probably f8, 1/250

[Brendon Cremer]

Great image Morkel, lovely colours, but im going to go against the grain of what being said already, the comp doesnt work for me, the ele needed to be more to the left of the image, in this image you i do understand tho that you couldnt have helped that as it would have included too much of the vegetation on the right, do you have a shot with the ele closer to the rocks on the left? I like the DOF here as there is only one ele and the focus is nicely on him, in an image such as Toms with multiple animals the smaller F stop works well.

[Dumay de Boulle]

I like the incl of environment. The angle is good and the colors look great. Nice comp. One of the best places to watch Elephants in the world...I miss the KNP. Will definitely pop in there on my time off.

[Stu Bowie]

IMHO, this works for me. If the ellie was back on the left, he would be competing with the grey of the rocks. You have framed him nicely here, and the DOF is spot on. My 2c.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Morkel , the image works for me as well, like the positioning of the elephant and agree with Brendon's comments regarding DOF which in this case is spot on with the BG slightly OOF. Was this on the Balule bridge - allways a good spot with a nice low angle.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks a lot for the varied and honest feedback, folks. That's what it's all about.

Brendon - I have some with the ellie a bit further to the LHS but none with such a nice pose, and the water was quite deep around the rocks so she was quite submerged...

Regarding "DOF", I agree with Tom in one sense an 'animalscape' needs more DOF...but in my perspective an animalscape is typically captured at a wide angle, for my tastes anything from 12-100mm , getting those far off trees in focus with the 500mm lens would have required a ridiculous f-stop

[Marc Mol]

Happy with your placement & f/5.6 as well here Morkel, love the lighting & overall colour too.
TFS

getting those far off trees in focus with the 500mm lens would have required a ridiculous f-stop

Took the words right outta my mouth!

[Robert Amoruso]

Morkel,

I am AOK with the elephants position in the frame. What I suggest is a crop from top to either just above or below the vegetation along the water's edge.

[Jason Kinsey]

Morkel, love the DOF and the placement in the frame as well. Nicely done!!!

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thank you Marc, Robert and Jason for your views...

Robert - interesting suggestion...I am normally a fan of a pano crop but wanted to show the depth here with the large trees at the back.

Here is a pano crop - interested to hear your thoughts?