Elephants

Caught this shot of a baby elephant and mother in a herd. Looks a little flat with respect to DOF, but not sure this is a bad thing. Added a little contrast to spice it up. C&Cs welcome.

G

My first thought...great unique shot.
My second thought...what did I get all over my screen?
Oh! The elephant is throwing dirt on itself which is cool but distracting.
I'd like to see what others say and whether you should get rid of it or not.

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Originally Posted by GB1

Caught this shot of a baby elephant and mother in a herd. Looks a little flat with respect to DOF, but not sure this is a bad thing. Added a little contrast to spice it up. C&Cs welcome.

G

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I'm taken with just the shear mass of elephant depicted and I think the flatness helps make it one mass. And yet the mother and calf (is calf right??) stand out showing that they’re alive, not just a mass of boulders. I can't imagine the weight and power of what you have shown here. – TF

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Originally Posted by GB1

Caught this shot of a baby elephant and mother in a herd. Looks a little flat with respect to DOF, but not sure this is a bad thing. Added a little contrast to spice it up. C&Cs welcome.

G

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I went for it!

Decreased the contrast, brightness and saturation and increased the exposure. Then I cropped to move the mother off center.

I think the paring works better here and the baby looks more vulnerable.

Or not......

No expert MB but have to say
* I like the crop (although I like the original compostion equally)
*HATE the decreased contrast, brightness, saturation and increased exposure - grass looks almost totally blown out and the herd doesn't look much better, also looks like the white balance is thrown off now that nearly all of the shading subtlties have been oblitereated.

Asante, folks (that's Thank You).

I see what you mean Frog, though him throwing that stuff all over the place is actually what originally drew me to take the shot. There wasn't initially anything special about the composition, but after looking at the shot, as OldClicker mentioned, I personally like the 'wall' of elephant there :D It sort of reminds me of an offensive line on an NFL team .. You Ain't Getting Through!

Here's another shot taken a second or two beforehand -- no dirt. Booo. Not as exciting I think .. But what do I know about elephant protocol?

Thanks Clicker. I definitely see the mass of elephant here, and the flatness does make it seem like a wall. I forget how many there were but I think the pic got most of them, so say 10-15. They are so huge.. eating machines btw. I've seen on nature shows how they have to cull them every now and then. I wonder what would happen if man wasn't around and they just kept multiplying (as they have no other nature enemies)... What would eventually happen to all the trees? Stripped bare, and then there would have to be a massive die off due to starvation.. and not just for the elephants.

MB, I agree with exactly what Jetrim wrote. Composition is OK, sort of even with the original, but woooooah.. you've turned my elephants into albinos! Maybe it's a Halloween thing? :) That white grass in the foreground is especially strange.. looks like IR film. But I guess for an expt it's different. Perhaps with a different color scheme it might click - blue, red, ..? (remember the blue elephant in the bar in Star Wars?).

Thks for commenting too Jetrim!

Here's the other shot.

G

EDIT - this pic seems a little magenta compared to the other. Guess it needs work ...

GB, I love the color in the second one, although the dirt flinging definitely adds to the shot... Also the off-center mom (or is it dad?) looks nicer.

My only nit-pick, which I am sure you could not have avoided, is the grass hiding the lower parts... could you have climbed on top of the transport?? for a higher angle??

Nice shot, the first one that is!

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Originally Posted by MarcusK

GB, I love the color in the second one, although the dirt flinging definitely adds to the shot... Also the off-center mom (or is it dad?) looks nicer.

My only nit-pick, which I am sure you could not have avoided, is the grass hiding the lower parts... could you have climbed on top of the transport?? for a higher angle??

Nice shot, the first one that is!

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Marcus - Thanks for the reply. No I was way too motion sick to do any climbing. Don't ever do a safari w/o motion sickness medicine (Dramamine, etc). I might be able to crop a little of that grass. I have some other shots of elephants that I may post later.. they're not as good IMO, but who knows how others will see them ...

G

I do prefer the second shot you posted. It seems to have more depth to it, the elephants ears are more prominent, which is a plus for me. It just seems to be a better photo to me.

I'm loving all of your Africa shots BTW. Keep them coming.

Just to let you know, the second is ok but I still prefer the first.

I prefer the first one also! The greens where much more appealing even with the harsh light. The composition was nice. i like what Oldclicker said about the rest of them being the like of boulders, yet showing life in your subjects

I would own the first one, I am a total elephant freak though lol Leave the dirt, thats what they do! I also like the last one, the texture of the skin is great, but needs dirt :D I am also loving your shots from this trip. Thanks for sharing them!

First one has too much "clutter" for me.........I like MB1's crop but don't like the desaturation and brightening.

Len

Thks for commenting, everyone. I have many shots of the elephants but the 'cluttered' ones seem to take the cake, mud and all.. (someones a twist on a common theme can distinguish it). I may do a print of this one.

Lori, I'm a lion freak myself, as long as they don't try to eat me :D

Gb