Elephants

[botspur]

A great few hours spent with elephants. Being primarily grazers the open and marshy grassland was an ideal place to find them as it provided both water and fresh, sweet grass. I waited a long time for them to line up and this was the best grouping/separation I could get.

[Rufus]

Your patience has been well rewarded, Clive. There are lots of positives to this photograph: lush greens, great colours in general, splendid DOF with the background interest still in sufficient focus, and marvellous detail in the elephant hides. On my screen (and only IMHO) it appears that their dark undersides could benefit from just a little lightening of the shadows to make it perfect.

[Geoff F]

Good photograph. Those shadows which David mentioned look a lot better in the Lightbox view.

[botspur]

Thank you gents for the feedback and comments.

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[rpcrowe]

Great placing of the animals. It does take patience and it really adds to an image.

[1claire]

Patience is indeed a virtue, I do like this photo.

[tbob]

Well done. A variant you might try is a crop with just the three in line.

[botspur]

Thank you all, Trevor I did consider a crop as you suggested but I felt that the elephant at the end gave it a bit more balance.

[LePetomane]

Great photo. I have a quick question. I spend a lot of time in the wilderness around big (but not that big) animals. Are those things potentially dangerous?

[botspur]

Hi Paul, as with all wild animals they can be dangerous. Most often the conflict will come from ignorance on the human side, getting too close, approaching a female and calf or a bull elephant in musth etc. Some areas where I visit the elephants are very temperamental so are given a lot of respect and space, other areas the elephants are very relaxed. Being a nature field guide it does help to know behaviour and read warning signs.

[Tom Barry]

Beautiful photograph, well worth the wait.

[LePetomane]

Clive, thank you for your response. Kind of like our moose and grizzly here.