Elephants

[botspur]

This herd of Elephants was approached from a small boat on the Chobe River; we edged the boat to about a metre from the shore. As we sat quietly the Elephants got closer and closer; at one time even too close for photographs to be taken. My movements were restricted as I crouched below the bow of the boat snapping away.





C&C welcome

[Andrew76]

Not sure which is more amazing. The photos, or your experience. It must have been exhilarating!!

[botspur]

Hi Andrew, thank you. I have been very fortunate to have the experiences and everytime is exhilarating.

[Teton Chuck]

Your photos are very impressive. Even though it appears that you took them in mid day light, the texture of the skin is clear. And your perspective gives a sense of size. You have captured a part of our world that is being pushed out, and that is special in its own right. Thank you for sharing.

[Donald]

As Andrew says above, the experience of that must be enthralling. I am very jealous.

As for the images - I wonder if you considered conversion to B & W? The sunlight is very strong and direct and has a major imapct on the colour versions. That could be better managed in B & W, which would also give the added advantage of being able to focus attention on the textures of the skin of the animals. Have you looked at Nick Brandt's website?

[kdoc856]

Clive,

Am so jealous. Nearby, I can get some heart-stopping images of grazing cows and the occasional bored horse. I'll spare you those. Would LOVE to see a B&W version of these creatures- their thick skin is so beautifully textured that I think would translate to being very dramatic. Would love to see more of your photos. Thanks for sharing these

Kevin

[botspur]

Hi Chuck, many thanks for the kind comments, in fact it was very late in the afternoon and my camera (SONY DSCH1) was battling a bit I had to turn off the flash as I didn't want to spook the elephants and have one end up in the boat.

Hi Donald, many thanks I will try B&W, although I'm a bit nervous of doing so. I did visit Nick Brandts web page and his B&W images are very powerful even overpowering at times.

Hi Kevin, many thanks. Believe me I don't take my good fortune for granted and spend hours in the bush whenever I can.

No problem with sharing it's my pleasure.

[Donald]

Hi Donald, many thanks I will try B&W, although I'm a bit nervous of doing so. I did visit Nick Brandts web page and his B&W images are very powerful even overpowering at times.

Clive - May I post a B & W conversion that I've done, just to illustrate what might be possible? Quite understand if you'd rather I didn't.

[Nat]

These shots are awesome, and the experience must have been beyond expression!! I think they would look awesome in black and white.

[botspur]

Hi Donald, only a pleasure for you to post. I will do a conversion this weekend and I'll be interested to see what the differences are between the two of us.

Hi Nat, many thanks for the comments. Elephants are the most fantastic animals to be with in the wild so powerful, majestic and gentle all at the same time, my favourites being baby/young elephants as they are so full of character.

[Donald]

Clive

Thank you for allowing me to post a suggestion re a B & W version of one of your images. This is indeed but one suggestion.

I do believe this is subject matter made for B & W images. I used Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 software to make this.

If you click on this one and view it in the lightroom, then you can use the arrows to flick between this and the colour version.

[Bobobird]

Powerful images made so from a great shooting angle. Well done.

And Donald's b&w is really something to aspire to.

[kdoc856]

Breathtaking. That has GOT to be displayed

[botspur]

As suggested my conversion to B&W using LR3. The biggest challenge that I find is the point at when to stop fiddling in PP and to avoid thinking of the image as “colour”. I’m still not too sure of the ingredients that make a good B&W image and therefore to develop a style that suits the subject. What I did try to achieve was to highlight the texture of the skin by bringing out all the folds and creases but at the same time trying to keep it natural.
C&C most welcome.

[Donald]

Well done, Clive. How do you feel about them yourself? Do you think the B & Ws are better images than the colour versions?

[raghunath]

Absolutely great photos! Any reason for favoring Portrait orientation? Agree that B & W looks great due to the skin texture.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Clive,

I think the sky is a little overpoweringly bright in your second conversion, but Donald's, I felt, was a little dark, somewhere in the middle perhaps

As said elsewhere, love these African shots and am very envious.

Cheers,

[botspur]

Hi Donald, B&W is growing on me and can be very powerful with the right subject. To directly answer the question I do prefer the B&W over the colour in this instance solely because of the subject matter. It has certainly made me look at light in a different way.

raghunath - many thanks. Portrait was used to fit the elephants into the frame from the angle I was shooting I wanted a feeling of height of the elephant.

Hi Dave, many thanks for the input, I also felt mine was a bit too light and I will look at them again to get it right.