This shot has been in my signature for quite a while now, so I think it's about time to show it at a decent size. :-)
I've been wanting to get a shot like this for a long time, and I've been trying for just as long, but it's not easy. The main problem obviously is that you have to first find an elephant with lashes this incredibly long - not all elephants are the same and some even have rather short lashes. And when you find one, then the sun needs to be very low, close to the horizon. These long lashes are the perfect natural sunshades and keep any sunlight from directly hitting the eye, making the eyes either invisible or very dark - the low angle of the sun is necessary to illuminate the eye. And if those criteria are met, then you have to be able to get fairly close in order to actually photograph the eye, and be fast enough to take the shot...
Most of the times the elephants I encountered were either too far away to even try, the sun was too high, the lashes were short, or the elephant simply didn't want to get into the right position. Luckily, this one time everything came together. I had spotted the elephant in the distance and I quickly moved into the same direction, trying to find any elephant paths ahead of it. Elephants are creatures of habit and often use the same tracks to move from one place to the other. When I found one, I looked into the distance to see if the elephant was more or less moving in my direction, and when it did, I positioned my vehicle such that the light was coming from over my shoulder and that there was enough room for the elephant to pass - you don't want to be in the way of an elephant!
After a couple of minutes the elephant walked straight into my direction, and when it walked passed my vehicle, it briefly stopped, and looked at me to check me out. I had just enough time to get the shot.
Hope you like it.
Nikon D2Xs, AF-S VR 70-200/2.8, 1/320 @ f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld, cropped to appr. 75%
Comments
16 commentsBTW nice to see large posting.
Jagdeep Rajput
I think the skin tone below and to the right of the eye is too distracting at it's current level. My eye is drawn there away from the elephants eye. I think I'd like to see less of the oof lashes in the lower right with a tighter crop as well.
Being with elephants is one of my favorite wildlife experiences and planning and executing a shot like this has to be rewarding.
Neil Rossmiller
Hoytsville, Utah
I see what you mean. I guess I could try to tone down that area selectively, but I must say it doesn't bother me that much. Same goes for the oof part of the lashes - for me it is more important to keep the entire length of the lashes inside the frame, as that is what this shot is about. I deliberately chose a relatively wide aperture to get shallow dof, resulting in major oof areas, but more emphasis on the eye.
Well, join the club! They're my favorite animals to photograph and they're fascinating to watch.
Thank you for your comments!
Warm colour of the eye and incredibly long eye-lashes make it a great close-up.
Well planned and brilliantly executed...
Picture perfect.
PS, I just spent some time on your website - outstanding!
Yes, I was very close. All the time while the elephant was walking in my direction, I shot with another camera with the 200-400 on it. When the elephant appeared to be walking past me without looking, I didn't think I would be able to get an eye shot, so I quickly grabbed the body with the 70-200 on it for a headshot. When it did stop and look at me, I could simply not afford to switch again or else I might lose the moment. That said, I wish I would have continued shooting with the 200-400, as I would have been able to get a lot closer even and not have to crop at all.
A few months ago I was in a similar situation in Kenya, and this time I kept shooting with my 600mm - I got a similar result, but with the ear behind the lashes instead of sky. I think I prefer that one, but I still have to upload and process most of the images I shot over the last three months (yikes), so it might take a while before I can show that one.
Great - and very appropriate - title. While this isn't my favourite of the shots of your's that I've seen (owing to how great some of the others were!), this is still a very, very interesting shot. I particularly like the simplicity of the composition. I have to admit that I didn't notice the spot Neil is talking about at first, so while he has a good point, I doubt that too many others are picking up on it. The only small nit I have here is one of personal preference - I find the out-of-focus zone in the near foreground (extreme left edge of frame) just a tad distracting. While I realize the technical reasons why this region is out-of-focus, and can understand why for some this out-of-focus zone would help keep the attention on the in-focus elements (and thus have a positive associated with it), my preference here would be for a single gradient of in-focus to out-of-focus elements.
Cheers...thanks for contributing this image and all the concise and insightful comments to the images of others - it's much appreciated!
Brad